Azimuthal correlations of electrons from heavy-flavor decay with hadrons in p+p and Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV

TL;DR

This study investigates how electrons from heavy-flavor meson decays correlate with hadrons in proton-proton and gold-gold collisions at 200 GeV, revealing modifications in jet structure due to hot dense matter effects.

Contribution

It extends heavy-flavor correlation measurements to Au+Au collisions, providing new insights into heavy quark interactions with quark-gluon plasma.

Findings

Away-side jet shape is modified in Au+Au collisions.

Jet yield is suppressed in Au+Au compared to p+p.

Heavy-flavor electrons show significant medium effects.

Abstract

Measurements of electrons from the decay of open-heavy-flavor mesons have shown that the yields are suppressed in Au+Au collisions compared to expectations from binary scaled p+p collisions. These measurements indicate that charm and bottom quarks interact with the hot-dense matter produced in heavy-ion collisions much more than expected. Here we extend these studies to two-particle correlations where one particle is an electron from the decay of a heavy-flavor meson and the other is a charged hadron from either the decay of the heavy meson or from jet fragmentation. These measurements provide more detailed information about the interactions between heavy quarks and the matter, such as whether the modification of the away-side-jet shape seen in hadron-hadron correlations is present when the trigger particle is from heavy-meson decay and whether the overall level of away-side jet suppression is consistent. We statistically subtract correlations of electrons arising from background sources from the inclusive electron-hadron correlations and obtain two-particle azimuthal correlations at sqrt(s_NN)=$200 GeV between electrons from heavy-flavor decay with charged hadrons in p+p and also first results in Au+Au collisions. We find the away-side-jet shape and yield to be modified in Au+Au collisions compared to p+p collisions.