Dynamical Quasiparticle Model Research Articles

Exploration of the phase diagram within a transport approach

We study equilibrium as well as out-of-equilibrium properties of the strongly interacting QGP medium under extreme conditions of high temperature T and high baryon densities or baryon chemical potentials μB within a kinetic approach. We present the thermodynamic and transport properties of the QGP close to equilibrium in the framework of effective models with Nf=3 active quark flavours such as the Polyakov extended Nambu-Jona Lasinio (PNJL) and dynamical quasiparticle model with the CEP (DQPM-CP). Considering the transport coefficients and the EoS of the QGP phase, we compare our results with various results from the literature. Furthermore, out-of equilibrium properties of the QGP medium and in particular, the effect of a μB- dependence of thermodynamic and transport properties of the QGP are studied within the Parton-Hadron-String-Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach, which covers the full evolution of the system during HICs. We find that bulk observables and flow coefficients for strange hadrons as well as for antiprotons are more sensitive to the properties of the QGP, in particular to the μB - dependence of the QGP interactions.

Exploring jet transport coefficients by elastic scattering in the strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma

We study the interaction of leading jet partons in a strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma (sQGP) medium based on the effective dynamical quasi-particle model (DQPM). The DQPM describes the non-perturbative nature of the sQGP at finite temperature $T$ and baryon chemical potential $\mu_B$ based on a propagator representation of massive off-shell partons (quarks and gluons) whose properties (characterized by spectral functions with $T,\mu_B$ dependent masses and widths) are adjusted to reproduce the lQCD EoS for the QGP in thermodynamic equilibrium. We present the results for the jet transport coefficients, i.e. the transverse momentum transfer squared per unit length $\hat{q}$ as well as the energy loss per unit length $\Delta E =dE/dx$, in the QGP and investigate their dependence on the temperature $T$ and baryon chemical potential $\mu_B$ as well as on jet properties such as the leading jet parton momentum, mass, flavor, and the choice of the strong coupling constant. In this first study only elastic scattering processes of a leading jet parton with the sQGP partons are explored discarding presently the radiative processes (such as gluon Bremsstrahlung). We present a comparison of our results for the elastic energy loss in the sQGP medium with the pQCD results obtained by the BAMPS and LBT models as well as with other theoretical approaches such as lattice QCD and the LO-HTL and also with estimates of $\hat{q}/T^3$ by the color string percolation model (CSPM) and the JET and JETSCAPE Collaborations based on a comparison of hydrodynamical calculations with experimental heavy-ion data.

Transport properties and equation-of-state of hot and dense QGP matter near the critical endpoint in the phenomenological dynamical quasiparticle model

We extend the effective dynamical quasiparticle model (DQPM)---constructed for the description of nonperturbative QCD phenomena of the strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma (QGP)---to large baryon chemical potentials, ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}$, including a critical endpoint (CEP) and a first-order phase transition. The DQPM description of quarks and gluons is based on partonic propagators with complex self-energies where the real part of the self-energies is related to the quasiparticle mass and the imaginary part to a finite width of their spectral functions (i.e., the imaginary parts of the propagators). In DQPM the determination of complex self-energies for the partonic degrees of freedom at zero and finite ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}$ has been performed by adjusting the entropy density to the lattice QCD data. The temperature-dependent effective coupling (squared) ${g}^{2}(T/{T}_{c})$, as well as the effective masses and widths of the partons are based on this adjustments. The novel extended dynamical quasiparticle model, named ``DQPM-CP,'' makes it possible to describe thermodynamical and transport properties of quarks and gluons in a wide range of temperature, $T$, and baryon chemical potential, ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}$, and reproduces the equation of state of lattice QCD calculations in the crossover region of finite $T,{\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}$. We apply a scaling ansatz for the strong coupling constant near the CEP, located at $({T}^{\mathrm{CEP}},{\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}^{\mathrm{CEP}})=(0.100,0.960)\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$. We show the equation of state as well as the speed of sound for $T>{T}_{c}$ and for a wide range of ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}$, which can be of interest for hydrodynamical simulations. Furthermore, we consider two settings for the strange quark chemical potentials, (I) ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{q}={\ensuremath{\mu}}_{u}={\ensuremath{\mu}}_{s}={\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}/3$ and (II) ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{s}=0,{\ensuremath{\mu}}_{u}={\ensuremath{\mu}}_{d}={\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}/3$. The isentropic trajectories of the quark-gluon plasma matter are compared for these two cases. The phase diagram of DQPM-CP is close to PNJL calculations. The leading order pQCD transport coefficients of both approaches differ. This elucidates that the knowledge of the phase diagram alone is not sufficient to describe the dynamical evolution of strongly interacting matter.

QCD at finite chemical potential in and out-of equilibrium

We review the transport properties of the strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma (QGP) created in heavy-ion collisions at ultrarelativistic energies, i.e. out-of equilibrium, and compare them to the equilibrium properties. The description of the strongly interacting (non-perturbative) QGP in equilibrium is based on the effective propagators and couplings from the Dynamical QuasiParticle Model (DQPM) that is matched to reproduce the equation-of-state of the partonic system above the deconfinement temperature T c from lattice QCD. We study the transport coefficients such as the ratio of shear viscosity and bulk viscosity over entropy density, diffusion coefficients, electric conductivity etc versus temperature T and baryon chemical potential μ B . Based on a microscopic transport description of heavy-ion collisions we, furthermore, discuss which observables are sensitive to the QGP formation and its properties.

Diffusion coefficient matrix of the strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma

We study the diffusion properties of the strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma (sQGP) and evaluate the diffusion coefficient matrix for the baryon (B), strange (S) and electric (Q) charges---${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{q{q}^{\ensuremath{'}}}$ ($q,{q}^{\ensuremath{'}}=\mathrm{B},\mathrm{S},\mathrm{Q}$) and show their dependence on temperature $T$ and baryon chemical potential ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{\mathrm{B}}$. The nonperturbative nature of the sQGP is evaluated within the dynamical quasiparticle model (DQPM) which is matched to reproduce the equation of state of the partonic matter above the deconfinement temperature ${T}_{c}$ from lattice QCD. The calculation of diffusion coefficients is based on two methods: (i) the Chapman-Enskog method for the linearized Boltzmann equation, which allows to explore nonequilibrium corrections for the phase-space distribution function in leading order of the Knudsen numbers as well as (ii) the relaxation time approximation (RTA). In this work we explore the differences between the two methods. We find a good agreement with the available lattice QCD data in case of the electric charge diffusion coefficient (or electric conductivity) at vanishing baryon chemical potential as well as a qualitative agreement with the recent predictions from the holographic approach for all diagonal components of the diffusion coefficient matrix. The knowledge of the diffusion coefficient matrix is also of special interest for more accurate hydrodynamic simulations.

Properties of the quark‐gluon plasma created in heavy‐ion collisions

AbstractWe review the properties of the strongly interacting quark‐gluon plasma (QGP) at finite temperature and baryon chemical potential as created in heavy‐ion collisions at ultrarelativistic energies. The description of the strongly interacting (non‐perturbative) QGP in equilibrium is based on the effective propagators and couplings from the Dynamical QuasiParticle Model (DQPM) that is matched to reproduce the equation‐of‐state of the partonic system above the deconfinement temperature from lattice QCD. Based on a microscopic transport description of heavy‐ion collisions, we discuss which observables are sensitive to the QGP creation and its properties.

Shear viscosity to electrical conductivity ratio in the quasiparticle models

We examine the temperature dependence of the shear viscosity η to electrical conductivity σ ratio, as well as the specific shear viscosity and the scaled electrical conductivity in QCD with light and strange quarks. Our calculations are performed in kinetic theory under the relaxation time approximation combined with the quasiparticle model. We compute all transport parameters using the isotropic and transport cross sections and compare our results to a class of quasiparticle models for the QGP with Nf = 2 + 1. The results depending on different schemes are examined. The ratio (η∕s)∕(σ∕T) quantifies the relation between the relaxation times of gluons and quarks and specifies their comparative role in the evolution of the QGP. We find an excellent agreement with the (η∕s)∕(σ∕T) ratio deduced from the dynamical quasiparticle model in which the quasiparticles are characterized not only by their effective masses but also by finite widths.

Exploring the partonic phase at finite chemical potential within a covariant off-shell transport approach

We report on the extended Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach in the partonic sector by explicitly calculating the total and differential partonic scattering cross sections as a function of temperature T and baryon chemical potential μऔ on the basis of the effective propagators and couplings from the Dynamical QuasiParticle Model (DQPM). We calculated the ratio of shear viscosity η over entropy density s, i.e. η/s is evaluated using the collisional widths and compared to lQCD calculations for μB = 0 as well. We find that the ratio η/s does not differ very much from that calculated within the original DQPM on the basis of the Kubo formalism. Furthermore, there is only a very modest change of η/s with the baryon chemical μB as a function of the scaled temperature T/TC(μ B). This also holds for a variety of hadronic observables from central A+A collisions in the energy range 5 GeV GeV when implementing the differential cross sections into the PHSD approach. Accordingly, it will be difficult to extract finite μB-signals from the partonic dynamics based on bulk observables.

Exploring the partonic phase at finite chemical potential in and out-of equilibrium

We study the influence of the baryon chemical potential μB on the properties of the Quark–Gluon–Plasma (QGP) in and out-of equilibrium. The description of the QGP in equilibrium is based on the effective propagators and couplings from the Dynamical QuasiParticle Model (DQPM) that is matched to reproduce the equation-of-state of the partonic system above the deconfinement temperature Tc from lattice Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). We calculate the transport coefficients such as the ratio of shear viscosity ɳ and bulk viscosity ¶ over entropy density s, i.e., η/s and ¶/s in the (T, μB ) plane and compare to other model results available at μB = 0. The out-of equilibrium study of the QGP is performed within the Parton–Hadron–String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach extended in the partonic sector by explicitly calculating the total and differential partonic scattering cross sections (based on the DQPM propagators and couplings) evaluated at the actual temperature T and baryon chemical potential μB in each individual space-time cell of the partonic scattering. The traces of their μB dependences are investigated in different observables for relativistic heavy-ion collisions with a focus on the directed and elliptic flow coefficients in the energy range 7.7 GeV ≤ .

Transport coefficients for the hot quark-gluon plasma at finite chemical potential μB

We calculate transport coefficients of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) within the dynamical quasiparticle model (DQPM) by explicitly computing the parton interaction rates as a function of temperature $T$ and baryon chemical potential $\mu_B$ on the basis of the DQPM couplings and partonic propagators. The latter are extracted from lattice QCD by matching the equation of state, entropy density and energy density at $\mu_B$= 0. For baryon chemical potentials $0 \leq \mu_B \leq 500 MeV$ we employ a scaling Ansatz for the effective coupling which was shown before to lead to thermodynamic consistent results in this range. We compute the ratio of the shear and bulk viscosities to the entropy density, i.e. $\eta/s$ and $\zeta/s$, the electric conductivity $\sigma_0/T$ as well as the baryon diffusion coefficient $\kappa_B$ and compare to related approaches from the literature. We find that the ratios $\eta/s$ and $\zeta/s$ as well as $\sigma_0/T$ are in accord with the results from lattice QCD at $\mu_B$=0 and only weakly depend on the ratio $T/T_c(\mu_B)$ where $T_c(\mu_B)$ denotes the critical temperature at finite baryon chemical potential.

Exploring non-equilibrium quark-gluon plasma effects on charm transport coefficients

In this article we investigate how the drag coefficient $A$ and $\hat{q}$, the transverse momentum transfer by unit length, of charm quarks are modified if the QGP is not in complete thermal equilibrium using the dynamical quasi-particle model (DQPM) which reproduces both, the equation-of-state of the QGP and the spatial diffusion coefficient of heavy quarks as predicted by lattice QCD calculations. We study three cases: a) the QGP has an anisotropic momentum distribution of the partons which leads to an anisotropic pressure b) the QGP partons have higher or lower kinetic energies as compared to the thermal expectation value, and c) the QGP partons have larger or smaller pole masses of their spectral function as compared to the pole mass from the DQPM at the QGP temperature. In the last two cases we adjust the number density of partons to obtain the same energy density as in an equilibrated QGP. In the first scenario we find that if the transverse pressure exceeds the longitudinal one for small heavy quark momenta $A$ becomes larger and $\hat{q}$ smaller as compared to an isotropic pressure. For heavy quarks with large momentum both, $A$ and $\hat{q}$ , approach unity. If the partons have less kinetic energy or a smaller pole mass as compared to a system in equilibrium charm quarks lose more energy. In the former case $\hat{q}$ decreases whereas in the latter case it increases for charm quark with a low or intermediate transverse momentum. Thus each non-equilibrium scenario affects $A$ and $\hat{q}$ of charm quarks in a different way. The modifications in our scenarios are of the order 20-50\% at temperatures relevant for heavy ion reactions. These modifications have to be considered if one wants to determine these coefficients by comparing heavy ion data with theoretical predictions from viscous hydrodynamics or Langevin equations.

Exploring the Partonic Phase at Finite Chemical Potential in and out-of Equilibrium

We study the influence of the baryon chemical potential μ B on the properties of the Quark–Gluon–Plasma (QGP) in and out-of equilibrium. The description of the QGP in equilibrium is based on the effective propagators and couplings from the Dynamical QuasiParticle Model (DQPM) that is matched to reproduce the equation-of-state of the partonic system above the deconfinement temperature T c from lattice Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). We study the transport coefficients such as the ratio of shear viscosity η and bulk viscosity ζ over entropy density s, i.e., η / s and ζ / s in the ( T , μ ) plane and compare to other model results available at μ B = 0 . The out-of equilibrium study of the QGP is performed within the Parton–Hadron–String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach extended in the partonic sector by explicitly calculating the total and differential partonic scattering cross sections based on the DQPM and the evaluated at actual temperature T and baryon chemical potential μ B in each individual space-time cell where partonic scattering takes place. The traces of their μ B dependences are investigated in different observables for symmetric Au + Au and asymmetric Cu + Au collisions such as rapidity and m T -distributions and directed and elliptic flow coefficients v 1 , v 2 in the energy range 7.7 GeV ≤ s N N ≤ 200 GeV.

Exploring the partonic phase at finite chemical potential within an extended off‐shell transport approach

AbstractWe extend the parton‐hadron‐string dynamics (PHSD) transport approach in the partonic sector by explicitly calculating the total and differential partonic scattering cross sections as a function of temperature T and baryon chemical potential μB on the basis of the effective propagators and couplings from the dynamical quasiparticle model (DQPM) that is matched to reproduce the equation of state of the partonic system above the deconfinement temperature Tc from lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD). We calculate the collisional widths for the partonic degrees of freedom at finite T and μB in the time‐like sector and conclude that the quasiparticle limit holds sufficiently well. Furthermore, the ratio of shear viscosity η over entropy density s, that is, η/s, is evaluated using the collisional widths and compared to lattice QCD(lQCD) calculations for μB = 0 as well. We find that the ratio η/s does not differ very much from that calculated within the original DQPM on the basis of the Kubo formalism. Furthermore, there is only a very modest change of η/s with the baryon chemical μB as a function of the scaled temperature T/Tc(μB). This also holds for a variety of hadronic observables from central A + A collisions in the energy range 5 GeV 200 GeV when implementing the differential cross sections into the PHSD approach. Accordingly, it will be difficult to extract finite μB signals from the partonic dynamics based on “bulk” observables.

Exploring the partonic phase at finite chemical potential within an extended off-shell transport approach

We extend the Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach in the partonic sector by explicitly calculating the total and differential partonic scattering cross sections as a function of temperature $T$ and baryon chemical potential $\mu_B$ on the basis of the effective propagators and couplings from the Dynamical QuasiParticle Model (DQPM) that is matched to reproduce the equation of state of the partonic system above the deconfinement temperature $T_c$ from lattice QCD. The ratio of shear viscosity $\eta$ over entropy density $s$, i.e. $\eta/s$, is evaluated using the collisional widths and compared to lQCD calculations for $\mu_B$ = 0 as well. We find only a very modest change of $\eta/s$ with the baryon chemical $\mu_B$. This also holds for a variety of hadronic observables from central A+A and C+Au collisions in the energy range 5 GeV $\leq \sqrt{s_{NN}} \leq$ 200 GeV when implementing the differential cross sections into the PHSD approach. We only observe small differences in the strangeness and antibaryon sector with practically no sensitivity of rapidity and $p_T$ distributions to the $\mu_B$ dependence of the partonic cross sections. Since we find only small traces of a $\mu_B$-dependence in heavy-ion observables - although the effective partonic masses and widths as well as their partonic cross sections clearly depend on $\mu_B$ - this implies that one needs a sizable partonic density and large space-time QGP volume to explore the dynamics in the partonic phase. These conditions are only fulfilled at high bombarding energies where $\mu_B$ is, however, rather low. On the other hand, when decreasing the bombarding energy and thus increasing $\mu_B$, the hadronic phase becomes dominant and accordingly, it will be difficult to extract signals from the partonic dynamics based on "bulk" observables.

Single electrons from heavy-flavor mesons in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We study the single electron spectra from $D-$ and $B-$meson semileptonic decays in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=$200, 62.4, and 19.2 GeV by employing the parton-hadron-string dynamics (PHSD) transport approach that has been shown to reasonably describe the charm dynamics at RHIC and LHC energies on a microscopic level. In this approach the initial heavy quarks are produced by using the PYTHIA which is tuned to reproduce the FONLL calculations. The produced heavy quarks interact with off-shell massive partons in QGP with scattering cross sections which are calculated in the dynamical quasi-particle model (DQPM). At energy densities close to the critical energy density the heavy quarks are hadronized into heavy mesons through either coalescence or fragmentation. After hadronization the heavy mesons interact with the light hadrons by employing the scattering cross sections from an effective Lagrangian. The final heavy mesons then produce single electrons through semileptonic decay. We find that the PHSD approach well describes the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$ and elliptic flow $v_2$ of single electrons in d+Au and Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=$ 200 GeV and the elliptic flow in Au+Au reactions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=$ 62.4 GeV from the PHENIX collaboration, however, the large $R_{\rm AA}$ at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=$ 62.4 GeV is not described at all. Furthermore, we make predictions for the $R_{\rm AA}$ of $D-$mesons and of single electrons at the lower energy of $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=$ 19.2 GeV. Additionally, the medium modification of the azimuthal angle $\phi$ between a heavy quark and a heavy antiquark is studied. We find that the transverse flow enhances the azimuthal angular distributions close to $\phi=$ 0 because the heavy flavors strongly interact with nuclear medium in relativistic heavy-ion collisions and almost flow with the bulk matter.

Heavy-quark dynamics in heavy-ion collisions

The dynamics of partons and hadrons in ultra-relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions are analyzed within the Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach, which is based on a dynamical quasiparticle model (DQPM) for the partonic phase including a dynamical hadronization scheme while reproducing lattice QCD results in thermodynamic equilibrium for the equation-of-state as well as transport coefficients like shear and bulk viscosities, the electric conductivity or the charm diffusion coefficient of the hot QCD medium. In this contribution, we report on recent results on the charm dynamics and elliptic flow in Au+Au collisions at RHIC and Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC.

Tomography of the QGP by heavy quarks

The dynamics of partons and hadrons in ultra-relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is analyzed within the Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach, which is based on a dynamical quasiparticle model for the partonic phase (DQPM) including a dynamical hadronization scheme while reproducing lattice QCD results in thermodynamic equilibrium for the equation-of-state as well as transport coefficients like shear and bulk viscosities, the electric conductivity or the charm diffusion coefficient of the hot QCD medium. In this contribution we report on the recent results on the charm dynamics and elliptic flow in Au+Au collisions at RHIC and Pb+Pb reactions at the LHC as well as on the single electron spectra from D— and B—meson semileptonic decays in Au+Au collisions at √sNN =200 and 62.4 GeV. We find that the PHSD approach well describes the Raa and elliptic flow v2 of open charm mesons in Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV (from STAR) and 2.76 TeV (from ALICE) as well as the elliptic flow of single electrons at √sNN = 200 and 62.4 GeV (from PHENIX), however, the large Raa at √sNN = 62.4 GeV is not reproduced at all which might indicate a new ’PHENIX puzzle’.

A dynamical quasiparticle approach for the QGP bulk and transport properties

The properties of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) nowadays are accessible by lattice QCD calculations at vanishing quark chemical potential [Formula: see text], but often lack a transparent physical interpretation. In this review, we report about results from an extended dynamical quasiparticle model (DQPM[Formula: see text]) in which the effective parton propagators have a complex self-energy that depends on the temperature [Formula: see text] of the medium as well as on the chemical potential [Formula: see text] and the parton three-momentum [Formula: see text] with respect to the medium at rest. It is demonstrated that this approach allows for a good description of QCD thermodynamics with respect to the entropy density, pressure, etc. above the critical temperature [Formula: see text] 158 MeV. Furthermore, the quark susceptibility [Formula: see text] and the quark number density [Formula: see text] are found to be reproduced simultaneously at zero and finite quark chemical potential. The shear and bulk viscosities [Formula: see text], and the electric conductivity [Formula: see text] from the DQPM[Formula: see text] also turn out in close agreement with lattice results for [Formula: see text] =0. The DQPM[Formula: see text], furthermore, allows to evaluate the momentum [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] dependencies of the partonic degrees of freedom also for larger [Formula: see text] which are mandatory for transport studies of heavy-ion collisions in the regime 5[Formula: see text]GeV [Formula: see text] 10[Formula: see text]GeV. We finally calculate the charm quark diffusion coefficient [Formula: see text] – evaluated from the differential cross-sections of partons in the medium for light and heavy quarks by employing the propagators and couplings from the DQPM – and compare it to the available lattice data. It is argued that the complete set of observables allows for a transparent interpretation of the properties of hot QCD.

Quark susceptibility in a generalized dynamical quasiparticle model

The quark susceptibility $\chi_q$ at zero and finite quark chemical potential provides a critical benchmark to determine the quark-gluon-plasma (QGP) degrees of freedom in relation to the results from lattice QCD (lQCD) in addition to the equation of state and transport coefficients. Here we extend the familiar dynamical-quasiparticle model (DQPM) to partonic propagators that explicitly depend on the three-momentum with respect to the partonic medium at rest in order to match perturbative QCD (pQCD) at high momenta. Within the extended dynamical-quasi-particle model (DQPM$^*$) we reproduce simultaneously the lQCD results for the quark number density and susceptibility and the QGP pressure at zero and finite (but small) chemical potential $\mu_q$. The shear viscosity $\eta$ and the electric conductivity $\sigma_e$ from the extended quasiparticle model (DQPM$^*$) also turn out in close agreement with lattice results for $\mu_q$ =0. The DQPM$^*$, furthermore, allows to evaluate the momentum $p$, temperature $T$ and chemical potential $\mu_q$ dependencies of the partonic degrees of freedom also for larger $\mu_q$ which are mandatory for transport studies of heavy-ion collisions in the regime 5 GeV $< \sqrt{s_{NN}} <$ 10 GeV.

Heavy flavor in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We study charm production in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions by using the Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach. The initial charm quarks are produced by the PYTHIA event generator tuned to fit the transverse momentum spectrum and rapidity distribution of charm quarks from Fixed-Order Next-to-Leading Logarithm (FONLL) calculations. The produced charm quarks scatter in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) with the off-shell partons whose masses and widths are given by the Dynamical Quasi-Particle Model (DQPM), which reproduces the lattice QCD equation-of-state in thermal equilibrium. The relevant cross sections are calculated in a consistent way by employing the effective propagators and couplings from the DQPM. Close to the critical energy density of the phase transition, the charm quarks are hadronized into D mesons through coalescence and/or fragmentation. The hadronized D mesons then interact with the various hadrons in the hadronic phase with cross sections calculated in an effective lagrangian approach with heavy-quark spin symmetry. The nuclear modification factor Raa and the elliptic flow v2 of D0 mesons from PHSD are compared with the experimental data from the STAR Collaboration for Au+Au collisions at √sNN =200 GeV and to the ALICE data, for Pb+Pb collisions at √sNN =2.76 TeV. We find that in the PHSD the energy loss of D mesons at high pT can be dominantly attributed to partonic scattering while the actual shape of RAA versus pT reflects the heavy-quark hadronization scenario, i.e. coalescence versus fragmentation. Also the hadronic rescattering is important for the Raa at low pT and enhances the D-meson elliptic flow v2.