Transverse Momentum Distribution as a Probe of J/psi Production Mechanism in Heavy Ion Collisions

TL;DR

This paper studies how the transverse momentum distribution of J/psi particles in heavy ion collisions can reveal the underlying production mechanisms, comparing results across SPS, RHIC, and LHC energies.

Contribution

It introduces a method to differentiate J/psi production mechanisms using transverse momentum distributions across different collision energies.

Findings

R_{AA}(N_p) is similar at RHIC and SPS

<p_t^2> and R_{AA}(p_t) differ significantly across energies

Transverse momentum distributions can distinguish production mechanisms

Abstract

We investigate J/psi transverse momentum distribution in a transport approach. While the nuclear modification factor R_{AA}(N_p) at RHIC is almost the same as at SPS, the averaged transverse momentum square <p_t^2> and R_{AA}(p_t) are very different at SPS, RHIC and LHC and can be used to differentiate from the J/psi production mechanisms in high energy nuclear collisions.