Importance of higher harmonics and $v_4$ puzzle in quark-gluon plasma tomography

TL;DR

This paper investigates the role of higher harmonics, especially $v_4$, in quark-gluon plasma tomography, highlighting the importance of event-by-event fluctuations and initial state sensitivity, and identifies a discrepancy known as the high-$p_ot$ $v_4$ puzzle.

Contribution

It demonstrates the compatibility of different harmonic calculation methods, emphasizes the significance of event-by-event fluctuations, and reveals the high-$p_ot$ $v_4$ puzzle challenging current models.

Findings

Multiple methods for calculating harmonics are compatible.

Event-by-event fluctuations are crucial in mid-central collisions.

Current models cannot reproduce high-$p_ot$ $v_4$ data.

Abstract

QGP tomography aims to constrain the parameters characterizing the properties and evolution of Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) formed in heavy-ion collisions, by exploiting low and high-$p_\perp$ theory and data. Higher-order harmonics $v_n$ ($n>2$) are an important -- but seldom explored -- part of this approach. However, to take full advantage of them, several issues have to be addressed: i) consistency of different methods for calculating $v_n$, ii) importance of event-by-event fluctuations to high-$p_\perp$ $R_{AA}$ and $v_2$ predictions, iii) sensitivity of higher harmonics to the initial state of fluid-dynamical evolution. We obtain that i) several methods for calculating harmonics are compatible with each other, ii) event-by-event calculations are important in mid-central collisions, and iii) various initializations of the evolution of the medium lead to quantitatively and qualitatively different predictions, likely to be distinguished by future measurements. We also find that the present high-$p_\perp$ $v_4$ data cannot be reproduced using initial states for fluid-dynamical evolution given by state-of-the-art models. We call this discrepancy high-$p_\perp$ $v_4$ puzzle at the LHC.