Measurement of isolated-prompt photon$-$hadron correlations in Pb$-$Pb collisions at $\mathbf{\sqrt{\textit{s}_{\rm NN}} = 5.02}$ TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports on the measurement of isolated-prompt photon-hadron correlations in Pb-Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV, revealing significant suppression in central collisions and comparing results with theoretical models and other experiments.

Contribution

First measurement of photon-hadron correlations in Pb-Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV, extending the kinematic range and providing insights into parton energy loss in quark-gluon plasma.

Findings

Strong suppression of associated hadron yields in central collisions.

Extension to lower photon transverse momentum compared to previous measurements.

Agreement with energy loss models and comparison with other collider results.

Abstract

The ALICE Collaboration has measured the azimuthal correlation between trigger isolated-prompt photons and associated charged hadrons in Pb$-$Pb collisions at the CERN LHC, at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of \snnfive. The trigger isolated-prompt photons are measured in the transverse-momentum range $18< p_{\rm T}^{\gamma} < 40$ GeV/$c$ and pseudorapidity range $|\eta^{\gamma}| <0.67$. The isolation selection is based on a charged particle isolation momentum threshold $p_{\rm T}^{\rm iso, ch} = 1.5$ GeV/$c$ within a cone of radius $R=0.2$. The associated charged particles are measured in the transverse-momentum ranges $p_{\rm T}^{\rm h} > 1.8$ GeV/$c$ and pseudorapidity $|\eta^{\rm h}| <0.9$. The yield D$(z_{\rm T})$ of associated hadrons per trigger, with $z_{\rm T} = p_{\rm T}^{\rm h}/p_{\rm T}^{\gamma}$, is measured in three Pb$-$Pb collision centrality classes: central (0$-$30%), semicentral (30$-$50%), and peripheral (50$-$90%). An approximation to the standard $I_{\rm AA}$ is computed from the D$(z_{\rm T})$ conditional yields, using NLO pQCD predictions as pp reference. A strong suppression of this ratio is observed in central collisions compared to peripheral collisions. The result extends to a lower $p_{\rm T}^{\gamma}$ relative to those reported in previously published Pb$-$Pb collisions measurements at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV. The measurement is compared to NLO pQCD calculations that include energy loss, and to the CoLBT-hydro model. The results from central collisions are also compared with measurements of jets correlated with isolated-prompt photons and of hadrons correlated with Z$^0$ bosons, both reported by the CMS Collaboration at the LHC, as well as with direct photon$-$hadron correlation measurements reported by the PHENIX and STAR Collaborations at RHIC.