Feeding of the elliptic flow by hard partons

TL;DR

This paper suggests that hard partons in LHC nuclear collisions contribute significantly to elliptic flow by creating wakes in the medium, with a toy model estimating about 25% of the observed flow and exhibiting fluctuations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism where hard partons influence elliptic flow through wake interactions, providing a new perspective on flow origins.

Findings

Hard partons contribute up to 25% of elliptic flow.

Wakes from partons interact and merge, affecting flow.

Significant event-by-event fluctuations are observed.

Abstract

We propose that in nuclear collisions at the LHC the elliptic flow may get a contribution from leading hard and semihard partons which deposit energy and momentum into the hydrodynamic bulk medium. The crucial effect is that these partons induce wakes which interact and merge if they come together. The contribution to the integrated elliptic flow is estimated with the help of a toy model to about 25% of the observed value and shows strong event-by-event fluctuations.