Influence of strangeness on the anisotropic flow of prompt D$^\pm_\mathrm{s}$ mesons in PbPb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV

TL;DR

This study measures the azimuthal anisotropy of prompt D_s± mesons in PbPb collisions at 5.02 TeV to understand charm quark interactions with the quark-gluon plasma, comparing results with D0 mesons.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed measurement of D_s± meson azimuthal anisotropy at LHC energies, highlighting the role of strangeness in heavy-flavor meson behavior in QGP.

Findings

D_s± and D0 mesons have consistent azimuthal anisotropy coefficients.

Strangeness content does not significantly affect D meson azimuthal distribution.

Results constrain models of charm quark interactions in QGP.

Abstract

The azimuthal anisotropy of prompt D$^\pm_\mathrm{s}$ mesons produced in lead-lead (PbPb) collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV is measured using data obtained with the CMS detector. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 0.58 nb$^{-1}$. The azimuthal anisotropy of heavy charmed mesons provides a key constraint on the interactions of charm quarks with the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) medium. These interactions include coalescence mechanisms and parton energy loss in the QGP. The anisotropy is quantified by the second- ($v_2$) and third-order ($v_3$) Fourier coefficients of the azimuthal distribution of the D$^\pm_\mathrm{s}$ mesons. The $v_2$ coefficient is determined in the transverse momentum range 4 $\lt$ $p_\mathrm{T}$ $\lt$ 40 GeV for three event centrality classes, while the $v_3$ coefficient is measured in the range 4 $\lt$ $p_\mathrm{T}$ $\lt$ 20 GeV for a single event centrality class. The results for the D$^\pm_\mathrm{s}$ mesons are compared to those previously measured for D$^0$ mesons. The azimuthal anisotropy coefficients for D$^\pm_\mathrm{s}$ and D$^0$ mesons are found to be consistent within the precision of this measurement, suggesting that the strangeness content of the D$^\pm_\mathrm{s}$ meson does not significantly alter its azimuthal distribution within the measured $p_\mathrm{T}$ range.