Heavy Quark Production in p+p and Energy Loss and Flow of Heavy Quarks in Au+Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV

TL;DR

This study measures electrons from heavy flavor meson decays in p+p and Au+Au collisions at 200 GeV, revealing significant heavy quark energy loss and flow in the quark-gluon plasma, and compares results to theoretical models.

Contribution

It provides new measurements of heavy quark energy loss and azimuthal anisotropy in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC, enhancing understanding of quark-gluon plasma properties.

Findings

Heavy quarks experience substantial energy loss in the medium.

Electrons from heavy flavor decays show significant azimuthal anisotropy.

Results are consistent with models of heavy quark interactions in QGP.

Abstract

Transverse momentum (p^e_T) spectra of electrons from semileptonic weak decays of heavy flavor mesons in the range of 0.3 < p^e_T < 9.0 GeV/c have been measured at mid-rapidity (|eta| < 0.35) by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider in p+p and Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV. The nuclear modification factor R_AA with respect to p+p collisions indicates substantial energy loss of heavy quarks in the produced medium. In addition, the azimuthal anisotropy parameter v_2 has been measured for 0.3 < p^e_T < 5.0 GeV/c in Au+Au collisions. Comparisons of R_AA and v_2 are made to various model calculations.