Quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions from coherent energy loss in cold nuclear matter

TL;DR

This paper investigates how parton energy loss in cold nuclear matter contributes to quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions, emphasizing its importance for accurately distinguishing cold from hot nuclear matter effects.

Contribution

It extends a coherent radiative energy loss model to heavy-ion collisions, providing predictions for quarkonium suppression at RHIC and LHC energies.

Findings

Significant suppression from cold nuclear matter energy loss in heavy-ion collisions.

Model successfully describes suppression patterns at RHIC and LHC.

Cold matter effects are essential for baseline comparisons in quarkonium studies.

Abstract

The effect of parton energy loss in cold nuclear matter on the suppression of quarkonia (J/psi, Upsilon) in heavy-ion collisions is investigated, by extrapolating a model based on coherent radiative energy loss recently shown to describe successfully J/psi and Upsilon suppression in proton-nucleus collisions. Model predictions in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC (Au-Au, Cu-Cu, and Cu-Au) and LHC (Pb-Pb) show a sizable suppression arising from the sole effect of energy loss in cold matter. This effect should thus be considered in order to get a reliable baseline for cold nuclear matter effects in quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions, in view of disentangling hot from cold nuclear effects.