Open Heavy Flavor at PHENIX

TL;DR

This paper presents new measurements of open heavy flavor production at PHENIX, highlighting the significant contribution of $J/\Psi$ to electron yields at high transverse momentum and providing muon spectra in Cu+Cu collisions.

Contribution

It introduces two new measurements: the $J/\Psi$ contribution to electron background and the forward rapidity muon spectrum in Cu+Cu collisions.

Findings

$J/\Psi$ significantly affects high $p_T$ electron yields.

Muon spectra measured in Cu+Cu collisions at 200 GeV.

Enhanced understanding of heavy flavor decay contributions.

Abstract

We report on two new measurements by the PHENIX collaboration regarding open heavy flavor. The first is an additional contribution to the background in the measurement of the yield of electrons at mid-rapidity from open heavy flavor decays. We found that the $J/\Psi$ can contribute substantially to the yield at high $p_T$. PHENIX has also measured the spectrum of muons at forward rapidity from open heavy flavor decays in Cu+Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV.