Elliptic flow of electrons from heavy-flavor hadron decays in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = $ 200, 62.4, and 39 GeV

TL;DR

This study measures the elliptic flow of electrons from heavy-flavor hadron decays in Au+Au collisions at three energies, revealing energy-dependent differences in charm quark interactions with nuclear matter.

Contribution

First measurement of heavy-flavor electron elliptic flow at multiple energies using various correlation methods, highlighting energy dependence of charm quark interactions.

Findings

Non-zero $v_2$ at 200 GeV indicating strong charm-medium interaction.

Lower $v_2$ at 62.4 and 39 GeV suggesting weaker charm-medium coupling.

Energy dependence of heavy-flavor electron flow observed.

Abstract

We present measurements of elliptic flow ($v_2$) of electrons from the decays of heavy-flavor hadrons ($e_{HF}$) by the STAR experiment. For Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = $ 200 GeV we report $v_2$, for transverse momentum ($p_T$) between 0.2 and 7 GeV/c using three methods: the event plane method ($v_{2}${EP}), two-particle correlations ($v_2${2}), and four-particle correlations ($v_2${4}). For Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 62.4 and 39 GeV we report $v_2${2} for $p_T< 2$ GeV/c. $v_2${2} and $v_2${4} are non-zero at low and intermediate $p_T$ at 200 GeV, and $v_2${2} is consistent with zero at low $p_T$ at other energies. The $v_2${2} at the two lower beam energies is systematically lower than at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = $ 200 GeV for $p_T < 1$ GeV/c. This difference may suggest that charm quarks interact less strongly with the surrounding nuclear matter at those two lower energies compared to $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 200$ GeV.