Measurement of D-meson production in pp, p-Pb, and Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC with the ALICE detector

TL;DR

This paper reports on measurements of D-meson production in proton-proton, proton-lead, and lead-lead collisions at the LHC using the ALICE detector, providing insights into the properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma.

Contribution

It presents new measurements of D-meson production across different collision systems and energies, enhancing understanding of heavy quark behavior in high-energy nuclear collisions.

Findings

D-meson yields vary across collision systems and energies.

Results contribute to understanding Quark-Gluon Plasma properties.

Data supports models of heavy quark energy loss in medium.

Abstract

Heavy quarks are a powerful probe for investigating the properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma created in heavy-ion collisions, since they are produced in initial hard scattering processes and experience all the stages of the medium evolution. ALICE has measured the production of $\mathrm{D}^0$, $\mathrm{D}^+$, $\mathrm{D}^{*+}$, and $\mathrm{D}_{\mathrm{s}}^+$ mesons at central rapidity in their hadronic decay channels in various collision systems and energies. We present recent results for D-meson production measured by the ALICE Collaboration in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ and 2.76 TeV, Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}=2.76$ TeV and p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}=5.02$ TeV.