Calculating the rates of charmonium dissociation and recombination reactions in heavy-ion collisions using Bateman equation

TL;DR

This paper models charmonium dissociation and recombination in heavy-ion collisions at LHC energies, using rate equations and Bateman solutions to understand their survival in quark-gluon plasma.

Contribution

It introduces a method to solve charmonium rate equations with Bateman solutions, accounting for dissociation and recombination in an expanding QGP medium.

Findings

Charmonium states show different dissociation behaviors based on binding energies.

Recombination effects significantly influence charmonium yields.

The model aligns with experimental data from Pb+Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV.

Abstract

The charmonium states with their different binding energies and radii dissolve at different temperatures of the medium produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Relative yields of charmonium and thus their survival have potential to map the properties of Quark Gluon Plasma. In this study, we estimate the combined effect of color screening, gluon-induced dissociation and recombination on charmonium production in heavy-ion collisions (Pb+Pb ions) at centre of mass energy ($\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$) = 5.02 TeV. The rate equations of dissociation and recombination are solved separately with a 2-dimensional accelerated expansion of fireball volume. To solve the recombination rate equation, we have used an approach of Bateman solution which ensures the dissociation of the recombined charmonium in the QGP medium. The modifications of charmonium states are estimated in an expanding QGP with the conditions relevant for Pb+Pb collisions at LHC.