A new method for the experimental study of topological effects in the quark-gluon plasma

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel correlation-based method to quantitatively measure charge separation in quark-gluon plasma, enabling investigation of topological charge effects linked to the strong CP problem.

Contribution

The paper presents a new correlation function technique that isolates charge separation signals from background effects in quark-gluon plasma experiments.

Findings

Correlation function shape indicates charge separation presence

Simulations confirm method effectiveness for quantitative analysis

Method isolates charge effects from flow, jets, and momentum conservation

Abstract

A new method is presented for the quantitative measurement of charge separation about the reaction plane. A correlation function is obtained whose shape is concave when there is a net separation of positive and negative charges. Correlations not specifically associated with charge, from flow, jets and momentum conservation, do not influence the shape or magnitude of the correlation function. Detailed simulations are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method for the quantitative measurement of charge separation. Such measurements are a pre-requisite to the investigation of topological charge effects in the QGP as derived from the "strong $\cal{CP}$ problem".