PHENIX Measurements of Single Electrons from Charm and Bottom Decays at Midrapidity in Au+Au Collisions

TL;DR

This paper reports PHENIX's measurements of electrons from charm and bottom decays in Au+Au collisions, utilizing the VTX detector to distinguish between the two sources and analyze heavy quark behavior in quark-gluon plasma.

Contribution

Introduction of the VTX detector data analysis to separate charm and bottom decay electrons in heavy ion collisions, enhancing understanding of heavy quark energy loss.

Findings

Electrons from charm and bottom decays successfully separated using displaced vertex measurements.

Results provide insights into heavy quark energy loss mechanisms in the quark-gluon plasma.

Analysis confirms substantial modification of heavy quark production in Au+Au collisions.

Abstract

Heavy quarks are an ideal probe of the quark gluon plasma created in heavy ion collisions. They are produced in the initial hard scattering and therefore experience the full evolution of the medium. PHENIX has previously measured the modification of heavy quark production in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV via electrons from semileptonic decays, which indicated substantial modifications of the parent hadron momentum distribution. The PHENIX barrel silicon vertex detector (VTX), installed in 2011, allows for the separation of electrons from charm and bottom hadron decays through the use of displaced vertex measurements. These proceedings present the results of the completed analysis of the 2011 data set using the VTX.