An Investigation of Charm Quark Jet Spectrum and Shape Modifications in Au+Au Collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}} = 200 \text{ GeV}$

TL;DR

This paper presents the first measurements of charm quark jet spectra and shape modifications in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC, providing insights into mass-dependent parton energy loss in the Quark-Gluon Plasma.

Contribution

It reports novel measurements of D0 meson tagged jet spectra and radial profiles in Au+Au collisions at 200 GeV, advancing understanding of heavy quark energy loss.

Findings

Observation of modifications in charm jet spectra in Au+Au collisions.

Evidence of radial profile changes indicating jet quenching effects.

Insights into mass-dependent energy loss mechanisms in QGP.

Abstract

Partons in heavy-ion collisions interact strongly with the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP), and hence have their energy and shower structure modified compared to those in vacuum. Theoretical calculations predict that the radiative energy loss, which is the dominant mode of energy loss for gluons and light quarks in the QGP, is suppressed for heavy quarks at low transverse momenta ($p_{\text{T}}$). At RHIC energies, lower energy jets closer to the charm quark mass are more accessible, and could provide key insight into the understanding of the mass dependence of parton energy loss. We report the first measurements of the $D^{0} (c\bar{u})$ meson tagged jet $p_{\text{T}}$ spectra and the $D^{0}$ meson radial profile in jets reconstructed from Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}} = 200 \text{ GeV}$, collected by the STAR experiment.