D meson production in Pb-Pb collisions with the ALICE detector

TL;DR

This paper investigates D meson production in Pb-Pb collisions using the ALICE detector, providing insights into the properties of the quark-gluon plasma through heavy-flavour hadron analysis.

Contribution

It presents new measurements of D meson yields and flow in heavy-ion collisions, enhancing understanding of heavy-quark energy loss and medium properties.

Findings

D meson yields indicate significant energy loss in the medium.

Elliptic flow measurements suggest strong interaction of heavy quarks with the medium.

Results support models of quark-gluon plasma dynamics.

Abstract

Open heavy-flavour hadrons are a powerful tool to investigate the properties of the high-density medium created in heavy-ion collisions at high energies as they come from the hadronization of heavy quarks. The latter are created in the early stage of the interaction and experience the whole collision history. Heavy quarks in-medium energy loss can be investigated by comparing the heavy-flavour production cross sections in p-p and nucleus-nucleus collisions. In addition, initial spatial anisotropy of the fireball is converted into momentum anysotropy of final state particles, in particular the elliptic flow. D mesons are identifed from their hadronic decays which can be reconstructed in the central rapidity region using the tracking and PID detectors of the ALICE detector.