Anisotropic flow measurements in Pb--Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV with ALICE

TL;DR

This paper reports on measurements of anisotropic flow coefficients ($v_2$, $v_3$, $v_4$) in Pb--Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV, testing hydrodynamic models and QGP properties.

Contribution

First measurements of multiple flow coefficients in Pb--Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV with ALICE, comparing results to theoretical models to probe QGP properties.

Findings

Flow coefficients increase with collision centrality.

Experimental data constrains shear viscosity to entropy density ratio.

Results support hydrodynamic description of QGP.

Abstract

Anisotropic flow is a sensitive probe of the initial conditions and the transport properties of the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP) produced in heavy-ion collisions. In these proceedings, we present the first results of elliptic ($v_2$), triangular ($v_3$) and quadrangular flow ($v_4$) of charged particles in Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}}=$ 5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector. In addition, the comparison of experimental measurements to various theoretical calculations will be discussed. This provides a unique opportunity to test the validity of the hydrodynamic picture and discriminates between various possibilities for the temperature dependence of shear viscosity to entropy density ratio of the produced QGP.