Heavy flavour energy loss from AdS/CFT: A novel diffusion coefficient

TL;DR

This paper compares AdS/CFT-based models of heavy quark energy loss with experimental data, highlighting the potential of heavy flavour correlations to differentiate between weakly and strongly coupled energy loss mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces a novel diffusion coefficient model within AdS/CFT frameworks and proposes heavy flavour momentum correlations as a new observable.

Findings

Model with velocity independent diffusion coefficient matches B and D meson data.

Calculated azimuthal correlations differ significantly from pQCD predictions at low momentum.

Heavy flavour momentum correlations can distinguish between weakly- and strongly-coupled energy loss mechanisms.

Abstract

Two AdS/CFT based energy loss models are used to compute the suppression and azimuthal correlations of heavy quarks in heavy ion collisions. The model with a velocity independent diffusion coefficient is in good agreement with B and D meson data up to high $p_T$. The partonic azimuthal correlations we calculate exhibit an order of magnitude difference in low momentum correlations to pQCD calculations [arXiv:1305.3823]. We thus propose heavy flavour momentum correlations as a distinguishing observable of weakly- and strongly-coupled energy loss mechanisms.