Relativistic Langevin dynamics: charm versus beauty

TL;DR

This paper investigates how charm and beauty quarks behave in the Quark-Gluon Plasma using a new framework, revealing mass-dependent energy loss and anisotropy consistent with experimental data.

Contribution

The study introduces a quantitative framework to compare charm and beauty quark transport properties and accurately describes experimental measurements of heavy-flavor mesons in heavy-ion collisions.

Findings

Charm and beauty quarks effectively probe QGP dynamics.

Mass hierarchy influences energy loss and azimuthal anisotropy.

Model successfully reproduces experimental R_AA and v_2 data.

Abstract

The production of heavy quarks (charm and beauty) provides unique insights into the transport properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) in heavy-ion collisions. Experimentally, the nuclear modification factor ${{R}_{\rm AA}}$ and the azimuthal anisotropy coefficient ${v}_{\rm 2}$ of heavy-flavor mesons are powerful observables to study the medium-related effects, such as energy loss and collectivity, on the heavy quark propagation through the QGP evolution. The latest measurements of the prompt and non-prompt open heavy-flavor hadrons allow a systematic comparison of the transport behaviors probed by charm and beauty quarks. In this work we make such an attempt utilizing our recently developed framework. By performing a quantitative investigation of ${{R}_{\rm AA}}$ and ${v}_{\rm 2}$, it is found that both charm and beauty quarks are efficient probes to capture the dynamical features of QGP, in particular the resulting mass hierarchy for the energy loss and azimuthal anisotropy, which are well inherited by the various $D/B$-meson species. Moreover, our calculations can describe simultaneously ${{R}_{\rm AA}}$ and ${v}_{\rm 2}$ data for the prompt and non-prompt $D^{0}$ mesons in central ($0-10\%$) and semi-central ($30-50\%$) Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02~{\rm TeV}$. The predictions for $B$-meson observables for upcoming experimental tests are also made down to the low momentum region.