Open Heavy Flavor Production in Heavy Ion Collisions

TL;DR

This paper reviews the interactions of heavy quarks in heavy ion collisions, highlighting unexpected suppression results and discussing experimental uncertainties and future measurement prospects.

Contribution

It provides a critical review of experimental findings on heavy flavor suppression and discusses challenges in separating charm and beauty contributions.

Findings

Heavy quarks show unexpectedly strong suppression in collisions.

Experimental uncertainties hinder clear interpretation of heavy flavor data.

Future measurement strategies are discussed to improve understanding.

Abstract

The interaction of heavy partons, charm and beauty, with the matter created in heavy ion collisions has been of great interest in recent years. Heavy partons were predicted to interact less strongly with the matter than light partons. In apparent contrast to these predictions, unexpectedly strong suppression of non-photonic electrons from heavy flavor decays has been seen. However, significant experimental uncertainties remain, both in the measurements themselves and in the separation of the contribution from charm and beauty, which have complicated the interpretation of these results. The current experimental situation is critically reviewed and prospects for making these measurements more easily interpretable discussed.