# Measurement of electrons from charm and beauty hadron decays in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} = 8.16\,$TeV with ALICE

## TL;DR

This paper measures electrons from charm and beauty hadron decays in p-Pb collisions at 8.16 TeV to study Cold Nuclear Matter effects on heavy-flavour production, providing insights into initial-state effects in high-energy nuclear collisions.

## Contribution

It presents the first detailed measurement of heavy-flavour decay electrons at 8.16 TeV in p-Pb collisions, comparing with previous energies to analyze CNM effects.

## Key findings

- Nuclear modification factor $R_{pPb}$ shows no significant suppression at high $p_T$.
- Comparison indicates energy dependence of heavy-flavour production in p-Pb collisions.
- Results help disentangle initial-state effects from hot QGP effects in heavy-ion collisions.

## Abstract

Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) calculation predicts that a colour-deconfined QCD matter, Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP), is formed at high temperature and energy density reached in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Heavy quarks (charm and beauty) are mostly produced by initial hard scatterings before the formation of the QGP. Therefore heavy-flavour hadrons are ideal probes to investigate the properties of the hot and dense QCD matter. In Pb-Pb collisions, a strong suppression of the production of heavy-flavour hadrons with high transverse momentum has been observed. A deeper understanding of heavy-flavour production and interaction with the QGP requires detailed studies of Cold Nuclear Matter (CNM) effects in order to clarify the role of initial- and final-state effects on their production. CNM effects include shadowing and/or saturation of partons, energy loss in CNM and $k_{\rm{T}}$-broadening. Such effects on heavy quark production can be studied in proton-nucleus collisions via heavy-flavour decays electrons. High-$p_{\rm{T}}$ electrons are especially interesting because they mainly originate from beauty hadrons. We report the $p_{\rm{T}}$ dependence of the nuclear modification factor ($R_{\rm{pPb}}$) and ratio of cross section of heavy-flavour decays electrons in p-Pb collisions with different collision energies, $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} = 8.16\,$TeV and $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} = 5.02\,$TeV.