Measurement of the D-meson nuclear modification factor and elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02~{\rm TeV}$ with ALICE at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper reports measurements of D-meson production, nuclear modification factor, and elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV, providing insights into charm quark energy loss, hadronisation, and participation in the quark-gluon plasma's collective motion.

Contribution

First measurement of D_s+ elliptic flow at the LHC and application of Event-Shape Engineering to study charm quark coupling in the QGP.

Findings

D-meson R_AA shows strong in-medium energy loss.

D_s+ elliptic flow is compatible with non-strange D mesons.

First application of Event-Shape Engineering to D-meson flow.

Abstract

Heavy-flavour hadrons are recognised as a powerful probe for the characterisation of the deconfined medium created in heavy-ion collisions, the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). The ALICE Collaboration measured the production of ${\rm D}^{0}$, ${\rm D}^{+}$, ${\rm D}^*$ and ${\rm D_s}^{+}$ mesons in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02~{\rm TeV}$. The measurement of the nuclear modification factor ($R_{\rm AA}$) provides a strong evidence of the in-medium parton energy loss. The comparison between the ${\rm D_s}^{+}$ and the non-strange D-meson $R_{\rm AA}$ can help to study the hadronisation mechanism of the charm quark in the QGP. In mid-central collisions, the measurement of the D-meson elliptic flow $v_2$ at low transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) gives insight into the participation of the charm quark into the collective motion of the system, while at high $p_{\rm T}$ it constrains the path-length dependence of the energy loss. The ${\rm D_s}^{+}$ $v_2$, measured for the first time at the LHC, is found to be compatible to that of non-strange D mesons and positive with a significance of about $2.6~\sigma$. Further evidence of a strong coupling of the charm quark to the light quarks of the underlying medium is suggested by the first application of the Event-Shape Engineering (ESE) technique to D-meson elliptic flow.