Heavy flavor production in the STAR experiment

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent measurements of heavy flavor particles in proton-proton and heavy-ion collisions at STAR, including open charm, electrons from heavy flavor decays, and J/ψ production, highlighting results and future prospects.

Contribution

It provides new experimental data on heavy flavor production across different collision systems and energies, and discusses upcoming detector upgrade capabilities.

Findings

Energy dependence of J/ψ production in Au+Au collisions

Direct reconstruction of open charm mesons

Electrons from semi-leptonic heavy flavor decays

Abstract

In this paper, recent STAR heavy flavor measurements in proton-proton and heavy-ion collisions are highlighted. We report studies of open charm mesons, reconstructed directly from hadronic decay products, and studies of electrons from semi-leptonic decays of heavy flavor hadrons. We also present J/$\psi$ measurements via the di-electron decay channel at various collision systems and energies. In Au+Au collisions the energy dependence of J/$\psi$ production measured at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 39, 62.4 and 200 GeV is shown. Finally, prospects of heavy flavor measurements with the STAR detector upgrades are discussed.