# Correlation of heavy and light flavours in simulations

## TL;DR

This paper explores correlations between heavy and light flavors in LHC simulations to propose experimental methods for identifying heavy quarks and understanding their production mechanisms, enhancing analysis accuracy.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel approach using correlation images to distinguish heavy quark origins and improve particle identification in high-energy collision experiments.

## Key findings

- Correlation images can help separate electrons from b quarks.
- Correlation shapes assist in distinguishing prompt and late D meson contributions.
- Method enhances particle identification when combined with silicon vertex detectors.

## Abstract

The ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) ring is designed to study the strongly interacting matter at extreme energy densities created in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. In this paper we investigate correlations of heavy and light flavours in simulations at LHC energies at mid-rapidity, with the primary purpose of proposing experimental application of these methods. Our studies have shown that investigating the correlation images can aid the experimental separation of heavy quarks and help understanding the physics that create them. The shape of the correlation peaks can be used to separate the electrons stemming from b quarks. This could be a method of identification that, combined with identification in silicon vertex detectors, may provide much better sample purity for examining the secondary vertex shift. Based on a correlation picture it is also possible to distinguish between prompt and late contributions to D meson yields.