Transverse momentum dependence of D-meson production in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN = 2.76 TeV


The ALICE collaboration A., Adam J., Adamová D., Aggarwal M., Aglieri Rinella G., Agnello M., ...More

Journal of High Energy Physics, vol.2016, no.3, 2016 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 2016 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2016
  • Doi Number: 10.1007/jhep03(2016)081
  • Journal Name: Journal of High Energy Physics
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Keywords: Charm physics, Heavy ion Experiments, Quark gluon plasma
  • Yıldız Technical University Affiliated: No

Abstract

The production of prompt charmed mesons D0, D+ and D∗+, and their antiparticles, was measured with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at the centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair, (Formula presented.) , of 2.76 TeV. The production yields for rapidity |y| < 0.5 are presented as a function of transverse momentum, pT, in the interval 1–36 GeV/c for the centrality class 0–10% and in the interval 1–16 GeV/c for the centrality class 30–50%. The nuclear modification factor RAA was computed using a proton-proton reference at (Formula presented.) TeV, based on measurements at (Formula presented.) TeV and on theoretical calculations. A maximum suppression by a factor of 5-6 with respect to binary-scaled pp yields is observed for the most central collisions at pT of about 10 GeV/c. A suppression by a factor of about 2-3 persists at the highest pT covered by the measurements. At low pT (1-3 GeV/c), the RAA has large uncertainties that span the range 0.35 (factor of about 3 suppression) to 1 (no suppression). In all pT intervals, the RAA is larger in the 30-50% centrality class compared to central collisions. The D-meson RAA is also compared with that of charged pions and, at large pT, charged hadrons, and with model calculations.