Search

Heavy flavor jets provide ideal tools to probe the mass effect on jet substructure in both vacuum and quark-gluon plasma (QGP). Energy-energy correlator (EEC) is an excellent jet substructure observable owning to its strong sensitivity to jet physics at different scales. We perform a complete realistic simulation on medium modification of heavy and light flavor jet EEC in heavy-ion collisions. A clear flavor hierarchy is observed for jet EEC in both vacuum and QGP due to the mass effect. The medium modification of inclusive jet EEC at different angular scales exhibits very rich structure: suppression at intermediate angles, and enhancement at small and large angles, which can be well explained by the interplay of mass effect, energy loss, medium-induced radiation and medium response. These unique features of jet EEC are shown to probe the physics of jet-medium interaction at different scales, and can be readily validated by upcoming experiments., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

We have implemented the 3+1 dimensional CLVisc hydrodynamics model with TRENTO-3D initial conditions to investigate the spin polarization of $\Lambda$ hyperons along the beam direction in p+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 8.16$ TeV. Following our previous theoretical framework based on quantum kinetic theory, we consider three different scenarios: $\Lambda$ equilibrium, $s$ quark equilibrium, and iso-thermal equilibrium scenarios. We have computed the second Fourier sine coefficients of spin polarization along the beam direction, denoted as $\left\langle P_{z} \sin 2(\phi_{p} - \Psi_{2}) \right\rangle$, with $\phi_{p} - \Psi_{2}$ being the azimuthal angle relative to the second-order event plane $\Psi_{2}$, as functions of multiplicity, transverse momentum and pseudo-rapidity in the three scenarios. Additionally, we have also computed the spin polarization along the beam direction, $P_{z}$, as a function of the azimuthal angle. We find that the spin polarization induced by thermal vorticity always provides an opposite contribution compared to the shear-induced polarization in p+Pb collisions. The total spin polarization computed by the current hydrodynamic model disagrees with the data measured by LHC-CMS experiments. Our findings imply that other non-flow effects may play a crucial role in p+Pb collisions., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures and 1 table. A new figure for local polarization as a function of pseudo-rapidity is added. submitted to PRC

We study bottom quark energy loss via the nuclear modification factor ($R_\mathrm{AA}$) and elliptic flow ($v_2$) of non-prompt $D^0$ and $J/\psi$ in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at the LHC. The space-time profile of quark-gluon plasma is obtained from the CLVisc hydrodynamics simulation, the dynamical evolution of heavy quarks inside the color deconfined QCD medium is simulated using a linear Boltzmann transport model that combines Yukawa and string potentials of heavy-quark-medium interactions, the hadronization of heavy quarks is performed using a hybrid coalescence-fragmentation model, and the decay of $B$ mesons is simulated via PYTHIA. Using this numerical framework, we calculate the transverse momentum ($p_\mathrm{T}$) dependent $R_\mathrm{AA}$ and $v_2$ of direct $D$ mesons, $B$ mesons, and non-prompt $D^0$ and $J/\psi$ from $B$ meson decay in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}=5.02$ TeV. We find the mass hierarchy of the nuclear modification of prompt $D$ and $B$ mesons depends on their $p_\mathrm{T}$. Both $R_\mathrm{AA}$ and $v_2$ of heavy flavor particles show strong $p_\mathrm{T}$ and centrality dependences due to the interplay between parton energy loss, medium geometry and flow, and hadronization of heavy quarks. Non-prompt $D^0$ and $J/\psi$ share similar patterns of $R_\mathrm{AA}$ and $v_2$ to $B$ mesons except for a $p_\mathrm{T}$ shift during the decay processes. Therefore, future more precise measurements on non-prompt $D^0$ and $J/\psi$ can help further pin down the bottom quark dynamics inside the quark-gluon plasma., Comment: 11 pages,8 figures

Heavy flavor particles provide important probes of the microscopic structure and thermodynamic properties of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) produced in high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. We study the energy loss and flow of charm and bottom quarks inside the QGP via the nuclear modification factor ($R_\mathrm{AA}$) and elliptic flow coefficient ($v_2$) of their decayed leptons in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC. The dynamical evolution of the QGP is performed using the (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamics model CLVisc; the evolution of heavy quarks inside the QGP is simulated with our improved Langevin model that takes into account both collisional and radiative energy loss of heavy quarks; the hadronization of heavy quarks is simulated via our hybrid coalescence-fragmentation model; and the semi-leptonic decay of $D$ and $B$ mesons is simulated via PYTHIA. By using the same spatial diffusion coefficient for charm and bottom quarks, we obtain smaller $R_\mathrm{AA}$ and larger $v_2$ of charm decayed leptons than bottom decayed leptons, indicating stronger energy loss of charm quarks than bottom quarks inside the QGP within our current model setup., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures

We study the charmed meson and baryon production and elliptic flow in ultra-relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC energies. The space-time evolution of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) produced in these energetic collisions is obtained via the (3+1)-dimensional CLVisc hydrodynamics model, the heavy quark dynamics inside the QGP is simulated using an improved Langevin model that incorporates both elastic and inelastic parton energy loss processes, and the heavy quark hadronization is simulated utilizing a comprehensive coalescence-fragmentation model. Using our combined approach, we first calculate charmed hadron ratios, $\Lambda_c/D^0$ and $D_s/D^0$, as well as their elliptic flow ($v_2$) as a function of transverse momentum ($p_T$) for different centralities in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=5.02$~TeV. Due to strangeness enhancement and parton coalescence effects, $D_s/D^0$ and $\Lambda_c/D^0$ ratios increase from peripheral to central collisions, and such centrality dependence for $\Lambda_c/D^0$ is stronger than $D_s/D^0$. We further predict the $p_T$ and centrality dependences of charmed hadron chemistry and $v_2$ in smaller Xe+Xe, Ar+Ar and O+O collisions at the LHC energies. Strong centrality and system size dependences for $\Lambda_c/D^0$ and $D_s/D^0$ ratios are observed across four collision systems. As for charmed hadron flow, both system size and collision geometry are important to understand the centrality dependence of $v_2$ in different collision systems. Our study provides a significant reference for studying heavy quark evolution and hadronizaiton in large and small systems in relativistic nuclear collisions., Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures

Quantum fluctuations plays an essential role in forming the collective flow of hadrons observed in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Event-by-event fluctuations of the collective flow can arise from various sources, such as the fluctuations in the initial geometry, hydrodynamic expansion, hadronization, and hadronic evolution of the nuclear matter, while the exact contribution from each source is still an open question. Using a (3+1)-dimensional relativistic hydrodynamic model coupled to a Monte-Carlo Glauber initial condition, Cooper-Frye particlization and a hadronic transport model, we explore the system size and shape dependences of the collective flow fluctuations in Au+Au, Cu+Au, and O+O collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}=200$~GeV. The particle yields, mean transverse momenta, 2-particle and 4-particle cumulant elliptic flows ($v_2\{2\}$ and $v_2\{4\}$) from our calculation agree with the currently existing data from RHIC. Different centrality dependences of the flow fluctuations, quantified by the $v_2\{4\}/v_2\{2\}$ ratio, are found for different collision systems due to their different sizes and shapes. By comparing $v_2\{4\}/v_2\{2\}$ between different hadron species, and comparing $v_2\{4\}/v_2\{2\}$ to the initial state geometric fluctuations quantified by the cumulant eccentricity ratio $\varepsilon_2\{4\}/\varepsilon_2\{2\}$, we find that while the initial state fluctuations are the main source of the $v_2$ fluctuations in large collision systems, other sources like nonlinear hydrodynamic response, hadronization, and hadronic afterburner can significantly affect the $v_2$ fluctuations in small systems., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures

We study the transverse momentum ($p_T$) differential anisotropic flow and flow fluctuation in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=5.02 TeV at the LHC. A (3+1)-dimensional CLVisc hydrodynamics framework with fluctuating TRENTO (or AMPT) initial conditions is utilized to simulate the space-time evolution of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) medium. The effects of shear viscosity and the sub-nucleon structure on anisotropic flow and flow fluctuation are analyzed. Our result shows that shear viscosity tends to suppress both flow coefficients (${v_2\{2}\}$, ${v_2\{4\}}$, ${\langle v_2\rangle}$) and flow fluctuation (${\sigma_{v_2}}$) due to its smearing effect on local density fluctuation. The flow coefficients appear to be insensitive to the sub-nucleon structure, whereas for flow fluctuation ${\sigma_{v_2}}$, it tends to be suppressed by the sub-nucleon structure in central collisions but enhanced in peripheral collisions. After taking into account the sub-nucleon structure effect, our numerical result can quantitatively describe the relative flow fluctuations (${v_2\{4\}/v_2\{2\}}$, $F({v_2})$) measured by the ALICE Collaboration at the LHC. We further investigate the effects of shear viscosity, sub-nucleon structure and initial condition model on the flow angle and flow magnitude decorrelations (${A_2^f}$, ${M_2^f}$) using the four-particle correlation method. We find that the flow decorrelation effect is typically stronger in central collisions than in peripheral collisions. The flow angle decorrelation is found to be insensitive to the shear viscosity and sub-nucleon structure, whereas the flow magnitude decorrelation shows quite different behavior when using TRENTO or AMPT initial condition model. Our study sheds light on the anisotropic flow, transport properties and initial structure of the QGP created in high-energy nuclear collisions., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures

The attractive interaction between $J/\psi$ and $\psi(3770)$ has to be strong enough to form the molecular resonant structure, i.e., $X(6900)$. We argue that since $\psi(3770)$ decays predominantly into a $D\bar D$ pair, the interactions between $J/\psi$ and $\psi(3770)$ may be significantly enhanced due to the three point $D\bar D$ loop diagram. The enhancement comes from the anomalous threshold located at $t=-1.288$GeV$^2$, which effect propagates into the $s$-channel partial wave amplitude in the vicinity of $\sqrt{s}\simeq 6.9$GeV. This effect may be helpful in forming the $X(6900)$ peak., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures

We report our recent study on the global and local polarization of $\Lambda$ hyperons in Au+Au collisions at RHIC-BES energies within the (3+1)-dimensional CLVisc hydrodynamics framework. We present our numerical results for the global polarization as the function of collision energies and the local polarization along the beam direction as functions of azimuthal angle in $20-50$% centrality at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=7.7 GeV Au+Au collision energy. We have discussed the effects of initial conditions, Spin Hall effect and baryon diffusion., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Contribution to the proceedings of Quark Matter 2023 (Houston, TX, 3-9 Sep. 2023)

The general intuition that heavier partons suffer weaker energy loss inside a quark-gluon plasma (QGP) medium is critically re-examined. Within a linear Boltzmann transport model that includes both Yukawa and string types of interactions between heavy quarks and the QGP, we find that while the radiative energy loss is suppressed by the parton mass, heavier partons can experience stronger string potential scatterings with the medium. Their competition may result in less energy loss of bottom quarks than charm quarks at low transverse momentum ($p_\mathrm{T}$) but an inverse order at high $p_\mathrm{T}$. Our model calculation shows a weaker nuclear modification on bottom particles than charm particles at low $p_\mathrm{T}$, as observed by both RHIC and LHC experiments, but predicts an opposite hierarchy at high $p_\mathrm{T}$. A larger momentum space transport coefficient ($\hat{q}$) and a smaller spatial diffusion coefficient ($D_\mathrm{s}$) are found for bottom quarks than for charm quarks., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures

In a quasi-particle model of QCD matter at finite temperature with thermal masses for quarks and gluons from hard thermal loops, the equation of state (EOS) can be described by an effective temperature dependence of the strong coupling $g(T)$. Assuming the same effective coupling between the exchanged gluon and thermal partons, the EOS can also be related to parton energy loss.} Based on the quasi-particle linear Boltzmann transport (QLBT) model coupled to a (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamic model of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) evolution and a hybrid fragmentation-coalescence model for heavy quark hadronization, we perform a Bayesian analysis of the experimental data on $D$ meson suppression $R_{\rm AA}$ and anisotropy $v_2$ at RHIC and the LHC. We achieve a simultaneous constraint on the QGP EOS and the heavy quark transport coefficient, both consistent with the lattice QCD results., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures

We investigate the hydrodynamic helicity polarization of $\Lambda$ hyperons, defined as the projection of the spin polarization vector along the directions of particle momenta, at RHIC-BES energies by utilizing the relativistic (3+1)D CLVisc hydrodynamics framework with SMASH initial conditions. As opposed to local spin polarization at high energy collisions, our hydrodynamic simulations demonstrate that the helicity polarization induced by the kinetic vorticity dominates over other contributions at intermediate and low collision energies. Our findings provide an opportunity to probe the fine structure of local kinetic vorticity as a function of azimuthal angle at intermediate and low collision energies by mapping our predictions to the future measurements in experiments., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures

The quenching of light and heavy flavor hadrons in relativistic heavy-ion collisions probes the color and flavor dependences of parton energy loss through a color-deconfined quark-gluon plasma (QGP), and thus reveals the properties of QCD matter at extremely high density and temperature. By combining a next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculation of parton production, a general ansatz of parton energy loss functions and parton fragmentation functions, we calculate the nuclear modification of various hadron species -- charged hadrons, $D$ mesons and $B$-decayed $J/\psi$ -- over a wide transverse momentum regime. Comparing our calculations to the experimental data using the Bayesian statistical analysis, we perform a first simultaneous extraction of the energy loss functions of gluons ($g$), light quarks ($q$), charm quarks ($c$) and bottom quarks ($b$) inside the QGP. We find that the average parton energy loss at high energies follows the expected hierarchy of $\langle \Delta E_g \rangle > \langle \Delta E_q \rangle \sim \langle \Delta E_c \rangle > \langle \Delta E_b \rangle$, while the parton energy loss distribution can further test the QCD calculations of parton interaction with the dense nuclear matter. We also find that the reduction of experimental uncertainties can significantly improve the precision of the extracted parton energy loss functions inside the QGP., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

The analyses of the LHCb data on $X(6900)$ found in di-$J/\psi$ and $J/\psi \psi(3686)$ systems are performed using a momentum-dependent {Flatt\'{e}}-like parameterization. The use of the pole counting rule and spectral density function sum rule give consistent conclusions that $X(6900)$ may not be a molecule of $J/\psi \psi(3686)$. Nevertheless it is still possible that $X(6900)$ be a molecule of higher states, such as $J/\psi\psi(3770)$, $\chi_{c0}\chi_{c2}$, etc., Comment: 7pages with 9 figures

High-energy heavy-ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider have evolved from qualitative understanding into precise extraction of the properties of the Quantum Chromodynamics medium at extremely high temperature. Jet quenching has offered unique insights into the transport properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) created in these energetic collisions. Apart from medium modification of jets, jet-induced medium excitation constitutes another crucial aspect of jet-QGP interaction, and is indispensable in understanding the soft components of jets. We review recent theoretical and phenomenological developments on medium response to jet energy loss, including an overview of both weakly and strongly coupled approaches for describing the thermalization and propagation of energy deposition from jets, effects of medium response on jet observables, and exploration of its unique signatures in jet-hadron correlations. Jet-induced medium excitation is shown to be an essential component in probing the in-medium dynamics of jets and a critical step towards precise extraction of the QGP properties., Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures

The interactions of quarks and gluons are strong at non-perturbative region. The equation of state (EoS) of a strongly-interacting quantum chromodynamics (QCD) medium can only be studied using the first-principle lattice QCD calculations. However, the complicated QCD EoS can be reproduced using simple statistical formula by treating the medium as a free parton gas whose fundamental degree of freedoms are dressed quarks and gluons called quasi-particles, with temperature-dependent masses. We use deep neural network and auto differentiation to solve this variational problem in which the masses of quasi gluons, up/down and strange quarks are three unknown functions, whose forms are represented by deep neural network. We reproduce the QCD EoS using these machine learned quasi-particle masses, and calculate the shear viscosity over entropy density ($\eta/s$) as a function of temperature of the hot QCD matter.

Jet quenching has long been regarded as one of the key signatures for the formation of quark-gluon plasma in heavy-ion collisions. Despite significant efforts, the separate identification of quark and gluon jet quenching has remained as a challenge. Here we show that $J/\psi$ in high transverse momentum ($p_\text{T}$) region provides a uniquely sensitive probe of in-medium gluon energy loss since its production at high $p_\text{T}$ is particularly dominated by gluon fragmentation. Such gluon-dominance is first demonstrated for the baseline of proton-proton collisions within the framework of leading power NRQCD factorization formalism. We then use the linear Boltzmann transport model combined with hydrodynamics for the simulation of jet-medium interaction in nucleus-nucleus collisions. The satisfactory description of experimental data on both nuclear modification factor $R_{\text{AA}}$ and elliptic flow $v_2$ reveals, for the first time, that the gluon jet quenching is the driving force for high $p_\text{T}$ $J/\psi$ suppression. This novel finding is further confirmed by the data-driven Bayesian analyses of relevant experimental measurements, from which we also obtain the first quantitative extraction of the gluon energy loss distribution in the quark-gluon plasma., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, version published in Science Bulletin

We perform a systematic study on the local and global spin polarization of $\Lambda$ and $\overline{\Lambda}$ hyperons in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at beam energy scan energies via the (3+1)-dimensional CLVisc hydrodynamics model with AMPT and SMASH initial conditions. Following the quantum kinetic theory, we decompose the polarization vector as the parts induced by thermal vorticity, shear tensor and the spin Hall effect (SHE). We find that the polarization induced by SHE and the total polarization strongly depends on the initial conditions. At $7.7$GeV, SHE gives a sizeable contribution and even flips the sign of the local polarization along the beam direction for AMPT initial condition, which is not observed for SMASH initial condition. Meanwhile, the local polarization along the out-of-plane direction induced by SHE with AMPT initial condition does not always increase with decreasing collision energies. Next, we find that the polarization along the beam direction is sensitive to the baryon diffusion coefficient, but the local polarization along the out-of-plane direction is not. Our results for the global polarization of $\Lambda$ and $\overline{\Lambda}$ agree well with the STAR data. Interestingly, the global polarization of $\overline{\Lambda}$ is not always larger than that of $\Lambda$ due to various competing effects. Our findings are helpful for understanding the polarization phenomenon and the detailed structure of quark-gluon plasma in relativistic heavy-ion collisions., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures

While perturbative QCD is sufficient for understanding the color, mass and energy dependences of parton energy loss and jet quenching at large transverse momentum in heavy-ion collisions, a simultaneous description of heavy flavor nuclear modification factor $R_\mathrm{AA}$ and elliptic flow coefficient $v_2$ at low and intermediate $p_\mathrm{T}$ still remains a challenge due to the effects from non-perturbative interactions. In this work, we extend the linear Boltzmann transport model by implementing a generalized Cornell-type potential that incorporates both short-range Yukawa interaction and long-range color confining interaction between heavy quarks and the QGP medium. Combining our new approach for heavy-quark-QGP interaction with a (3+1)-dimensional hydrodynamic model CLVisc for the QGP evolution and a hybrid fragmentation-coalescence model for heavy quark hadronization, we obtain a satisfactory description of heavy meson $R_\mathrm{AA}$ and $v_2$ from low to intermediate to high $p_\mathrm{T}$ observed at both RHIC and the LHC. By model-data-comparison, we extract for the first time the in-medium heavy quark potential from open heavy flavor measurements; the result is in agreement with the lattice QCD calculation. Our study indicates that while jet quenching at high $p_\mathrm{T}$ is dominated by perturbative QCD interactions, non-perturbative interactions are indispensible for understanding heavy flavor quenching and flow at low and intermediate $p_\mathrm{T}$., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures

We present a unique signal of jet-induced medium excitations: the enhancement of baryon-to-meson ratios around the quenched jets.To illustrate this, we study jet-particle correlations and the distributions of jet-induced identified particles with respect to the jet direction in Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC via a multi-phase transport model.We find a strong enhancement of baryon-to-meson ratios for associated particles at intermediate transverse momentum around the triggered jets in Pb+Pb collisions relative to p+p collisions, due to the coalescence of jet-excited medium partons.Since the lost energy from jets can diffuse to large angles, such baryon-to-meson-ratio enhancement is more pronounced for larger relative distance from the jet axis.We argue that the experimental confirmation of the enhancement of jet-induced baryon-to-meson ratios around the jets will provide an unambiguous evidence for the medium response to jet quenching in heavy-ion collisions., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

We perform the first study on asymmetric longitudinal decorrelations of elliptic, triangular and quadrangular flows in proton-nucleus collisions at the LHC and RHIC energies. To measure the longitudinal flow decorrelations for asymmetric collision systems, we propose a new set of rapidity-asymmetric flow decorrelation functions. Our event-by-event hydrodynamic calculations show that the flow decorrelations in proton-going direction are larger than those in nucleus-going direction. We also find that proton-nucleus collisions at RHIC have larger longitudinal flow decorrelation effects than those at the LHC. Our study opens a new window to probe the longitudinal properties and the origin of flows in relativistic nuclear collisions., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

We explore the system size dependence of heavy-quark-QGP interaction by studying the heavy flavor meson suppression and elliptic flow in Pb-Pb, Xe-Xe, Ar-Ar and O-O collisions at the LHC. The space-time evolution of the QGP is simulated using a (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamic model, while the heavy-quark-QGP interaction is described by an improved Langevin approach that includes both collisional and radiative energy loss inside a thermal medium. Within this framework, we provides a reasonable description of the $D$ meson suppression and flow coefficients in Pb-Pb collisions, as well as predictions for both $D$ and $B$ meson observables in other collision systems yet to be measured. We find a clear hierarchy for the heavy meson suppression with respect to the size of the colliding nuclei, while their elliptic flow coefficient relies on both the system size and the geometric anisotropy of the QGP. Sizable suppression and flow are predicted for both $D$ and $B$ mesons in O-O collisions, which serve as a crucial bridge of jet quenching between large and small collision systems. Scaling behaviors between different collision systems are shown for heavy meson suppression factor and the bulk-eccentricity-rescaled heavy meson elliptic flow as functions of the number of participant nucleons in heavy-ion collisions., Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures

Jet-medium interaction involves two important effects: jet energy loss and medium response. The search for jet-induced medium excitations is one of the hot topics in jet quenching study in relativistic nuclear collisions. In this work, we perform a systematic study on how the lost energy from hard jets evolves with the bulk medium and redistributes in the final state of heavy-ion collisions via a multi-phase transport model. In particular, the ($\Delta \eta, \Delta \phi$) distribution of charged particles with respect to the jet axis and jet shape function are studied for various Pb+Pb collision centralities and for different transverse momentum intervals of charged particles. Our numerical result shows a strong enhancement of soft particles at large angles for Pb+Pb collisions relative to p+p collisions at the LHC, qualitatively consistent with recent CMS data. This indicates that a significant fraction of the lost energy from hard jets is carried by soft particles at large angles away from the jet axis., Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures

We develop a new heavy quark transport model, QLBT, to simulate the dynamical propagation of heavy quarks inside the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Our QLBT model is based on the linear Boltzmann transport (LBT) model with the ideal QGP replaced by a collection of quasi-particles to account for the non-perturbative interactions among quarks and gluons of the hot QGP. The thermal masses of quasi-particles are fitted to the equation of state from lattice QCD simulations using the Bayesian statistical analysis method. Combining QLBT with our advanced hybrid fragmentation-coalescence hadronization approach, we calculate the nuclear modification factor $R_\mathrm{AA}$ and the elliptic flow $v_2$ of $D$ mesons at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider. By comparing our QLBT calculation to the experimental data on the $D$ meson $R_\mathrm{AA}$ and $v_2$, we extract the heavy quark transport parameter $\hat{q}$ and diffusion coefficient $D_\mathrm{s}$ in the temperature range of $1-4~T_\mathrm{c}$, and compare them with the lattice QCD results and other phenomenological studies., Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures

To study the bulk properties of the quark-gluon-plasma (QGP) produced at the beam energy scan (BES) energies at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), we extend the (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamics CLVisc to include net baryon number conservation and Israel-Stewart-like equation for baryon diffusion with the NEOS-BQS equation of state, fluctuating initial conditions from Monte-Carlo Glauber model, and the afterburner SMASH. This integrated framework is shown to provide a good description of identified particle spectra, mean transverse momenta and anisotropic flows for different centralities and over a wide range of collision energies (7.7-62.4 GeV). It is found that the mean momenta of identified particles and anisotropic flows increases mildly with the collision energy due to larger radial flow. We further compute the multiple-particle cumulant ratio $v_2\{4\}/v_2\{2\}$ of elliptic flow across BES energies, and find that the relative fluctuations of elliptic flow are insensitive to the collision energy, consistent with the preliminary STAR data. Our model provides a benchmark for understanding the RHIC-BES data and studying the critical properties and phase structure of hot and dense QCD matter., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures

Recent experiments have observed large anisotropic collective flows in high multiplicity proton-lead collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which indicates the possible formation of mini quark-gluon plasma (QGP) in small collision systems. However, no jet quenching has been confirmed in such small systems so far. To understand this intriguing result, the system size scan experiments have been proposed to bridge the gap between large and small systems. In this work, we perform a systematic study on both heavy and light flavor jet quenching in different collision systems at the LHC energies. Using our state-of-the-art jet quenching model, which combines the next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD framework, a linear Boltzmann transport model and the (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamics simulation, we provide a good description of nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$ for charged hadrons and $D$ mesons in central and mid-central Pb+Pb and Xe+Xe collisions measured by CMS collaboration. We further predict the transverse momentum and centrality dependences of $R_{AA}$ for charged hadrons, $D$ and $B$ mesons in Pb+Pb, Xe+Xe, Ar+Ar and O+O collisions at the LHC energies. Our numerical results show a clear system size dependence for both light and heavy flavor hadron $R_{AA}$ across different collision systems. Sizable jet quenching effect is obtained for both heavy and light flavor hadrons in central O+O collisions at the LHC energies. Our study provides a significant bridge for jet quenching from large to small systems, and should be helpful for finding the smallest QGP droplet and the disappearance of QGP in relativistic nuclear collisions., Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures

Within an advanced Langevin-hydrodynamics framework coupled to a hybrid fragmentation-coalescence hadronization model, we study heavy flavor quenching and flow in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We investigate how the initial heavy quark spectrum, the energy loss and hadronization mechanisms of heavy quarks in medium, the evolution profile of pre-equilibrium stage, the flow of medium and the temperature dependence of heavy quark diffusion coefficient influence the suppression and elliptic flow of heavy mesons at RHIC and the LHC. Our result shows that different modeling of initial conditions, pre-equilibrium evolution and in-medium interaction can individually yield about 10-40% uncertainties in D meson suppression and flow at low transverse momentum. We also find that a proper combination of collisional versus radiative energy loss, coalescence versus fragmentation in hadronization, and the inclusion of medium flow are the most important factors for describing the suppression and elliptic flow of heavy mesons., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures; to be published in Chinese Physics C

It is widely acknowledged that heavy flavor probes are sensitive to the properties of the quark-gluon plasma and are often considered an important tool for the plasma tomography studies. Forward rapidity observables can provide further insight on the dynamics of the medium due to the interplay between the medium size and the differences in the production spectra of heavy quark probes. In this proceedings we present the nuclear modification factor $R_\text{AA}$'s for B and D mesons, as well as heavy flavor leptons, in the rapidity range $-4.0 < y < 4.0$ obtained from relativistic Langevin equation with gluon radiation coupled with a (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamics medium background. We present comparison with experimental data at mid-rapidity as well as predictions for different rapidity ranges., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, contribution to the proceedings of Quark Matter - XXVIII international conference on ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions (Wuhan, China, 4-9 November, 2019)

Using a model based on the Color Glass Condensate framework and the dilute-dense factorization, we systematically study the azimuthal angular correlations between a heavy flavor meson and a light reference particle in proton-nucleus collisions. The obtained second harmonic coefficients (also known as the elliptic flows) for $J/\psi$ and $D^0$ agree with recent experimental data from the LHC. We also provide predictions for the elliptic flows of $\Upsilon$ and $B$ meson, which can be measured in the near future at the LHC. This work can shed light on the physics origin of the collectivity phenomenon in the collisions of small systems., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures. This work is an extension of our earlier publication 10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.172302 (arXiv:1901.10320); v2 with minor updates

We briefly summarize our recent study on the number of constituent quark (NCQ) scaling of hadron elliptic flows in high multiplicity p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$ 5.02 TeV. With the inclusion of hadron production via the quark coalescence model at intermediate $p_T$, the viscous hydrodynamics at low $p_T$, and jet fragmentation at high $p_T$, our $Hydro-Coal-Frag$ model provides a nice description of the $p_T$-spectra and differential elliptic flow $v_2(p_T)$ of pions, kaons and protons over the $p_T$ range from 0 to 6 GeV. Our results demonstrate that including the quark coalescence is essential for reproducing the observed approximate NCQ scaling of hadron $v_2$ at intermediate $p_T$ in experiments, indicating strongly the existence of partonic degrees of freedom and the formation of quark-gluon plasma in high multiplicity p--Pb collisions at the LHC., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, QM2019 proceedings

We have developed a numerical framework for a full solution of the relativistic Boltzmann equations for the quark-gluon matter using the multiple Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) on distributed clusters. Including all the $2 \to 2$ scattering processes of 3-flavor quarks and gluons, we compute the time evolution of distribution functions in both coordinate and momentum spaces for the cases of pure gluons, quarks and the mixture of quarks and gluons. By introducing a symmetrical sampling method on GPUs which ensures the particle number conservation, our framework is able to perform the space-time evolution of quark-gluon system towards thermal equilibrium with high performance. We also observe that the gluons naturally accumulate in the soft region at the early time, which may indicate the gluon condensation., Comment: 32 pages, 12 figures

Heavy flavor probes are sensitive to the properties of the quark gluon plasma (QGP) produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. A huge amount of effort has been devoted to studying different aspects of the heavy-ion collisions using heavy flavor particles. In this work, we study the dynamics of heavy quark transport in the QGP medium using the rapidity dependence of heavy flavor observables. We calculate the nuclear modification of $\text{B}$ and $\text{D}$ meson spectra as well as spectra of leptons from heavy flavor decays in the rapidity range $[-4.0,4.0]$. We use an implementation of the improved Langevin equation with gluon radiation on top of a (3+1)-dimensional relativistic viscous hydrodynamical background for several collision setups. We find that the rapidity dependence of the heavy quark modification is determined by the interplay between the smaller size of the medium, which affects the path length of the heavy quarks, and the softer heavy quark initial production spectrum. We compare our results with available experimental data and present predictions for open heavy flavor meson $R_\text{AA}$ at finite rapidity., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

We investigate the role of partonic degrees of freedom in high multiplicity p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$ 5.02 TeV carried out at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) by studying the production and collective flow of identified hadrons at intermediate $p_T$ via the coalescence of soft and hard partons generated from viscous hydrodynamics (VISH2+1) and the energy loss model (LBT), respectively. We find that combining the intermediate $p_T$ hadrons from the coalescence with the low $p_T$ hadrons from hydrodynamics and high $p_T$ hadrons from the jet fragmentation, our Hydro-Coal-Frag model provides a nice description of the measured $p_T$-spectra and the differential elliptic flow $v_2(p_T)$ of pions, kaons and protons over the $p_T$ range from 0 to 6 GeV. We further demonstrate the necessity of including the quark coalescence contribution to reproduce the experimentally observed approximate number of constituent quark scaling of hadron $v_2$ at intermediate $p_T$. Our results thus indicate the importance of partonic degrees of freedom and also hint at the possible formation of quark-gluon plasma in high multiplicity p+Pb collisions at the LHC., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, published version

We develop for charmed hadron production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions a comprehensive coalescence model that includes an extensive set of $s$ and $p$-wave hadronic states as well as the strict energy-momentum conservation, which ensures the boost invariance of the coalescence probability and the thermal limit of the produced hadron spectrum. By combining our hadronization scheme with an advanced Langevin-hydrodynamics model that incorporates both elastic and inelastic energy loss of heavy quarks inside the dynamical quark-gluon plasma, we obtain a successful description of the $p_\mathrm{T}$-integrated and differential $\Lambda_c/D^0$ and $D_s/D^0$ ratios measured at RHIC and the LHC. We find that including the effect of radial flow of the medium is essential for describing the enhanced $\Lambda_c/D^0$ ratio observed in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We also find that the puzzling larger $\Lambda_c/D^0$ ratio observed in Au+Au collisions at RHIC than in Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC is due to the interplay between the effects of the QGP radial flow and the charm quark transverse momentum spectrum at hadronization. Our study further suggests that charmed hadrons have larger sizes in medium than in vacuum., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures

With our coupled jet-fluid model, we study the nuclear modifications of full jets and jet structures for single inclusive jets and $\gamma$-jets in Pb+Pb collisions at $5.02$~ATeV and $2.76$~ATeV. The in-medium evolution of full jet shower is described by a set of coupled transport equations including the effects of collisional energy loss, transverse momentum broadening and medium-induced splitting process. The dynamical evolution of bulk medium is simulated by solving relativistic hydrodynamic equation with source term which accounts for the energy and momentum deposited by hard jet shower to soft medium. Our study demonstrates that the hydrodynamic medium response to jet propagation significantly enhances the broadening of jet shape at large angles and is essential for the cone-size dependence of jet energy loss and nuclear modification factor of inclusive jet production. It is also found that the nuclear modification pattern of jet shape is sensitive to jet energy but has weak dependence on the flavor of the parton that initiates the jet. Our result can naturally explain the different nuclear modification patterns of jet shape functions for single inclusive jet and $\gamma$-jet events as observed by the CMS Collaboration, and can be tested in the future by measuring the jet shape function over a wider range of jet energies in heavy-ion collisions., Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures. To be published in PLB

Relativistic heavy-ion experiments have observed similar quenching effects for (prompt) $D$ mesons compared to charged hadrons for transverse momenta larger than 6-8~GeV, which remains a mystery since heavy quarks typically lose less energies in quark-gluon plasma than light quarks and gluons. Recent measurements of the nuclear modification factors of $B$ mesons and $B$-decayed $D$ mesons by the CMS Collaboration provide a unique opportunity to study the flavor hierarchy of jet quenching. Using a linear Boltzmann transport model combined with hydrodynamics simulation, we study the energy loss and nuclear modification for heavy and light flavor jets in high-energy nuclear collisions. By consistently taking into account both quark and gluon contributions to light and heavy flavor hadron productions within a next-to-leading order perturbative QCD framework, we obtain, for the first time, a satisfactory description of the experimental data on the nuclear modification factors for charged hadrons, $D$ mesons, $B$ mesons and $B$-decayed $D$ mesons simultaneously over a wide range of transverse momenta (8-300~GeV). This presents a solid solution to the flavor puzzle of jet quenching and constitutes a significant step towards the precision study of jet-medium interaction. Our study predicts that at transverse momenta larger than 30-40~GeV, $B$ mesons also exhibit similar suppression effects to charged hadrons and $D$ mesons, which may be tested by future measurements., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures

We revisit radiative parton energy loss in deeply inelastic scattering (DIS) off a large nucleus within the perturbative QCD approach. We calculate the gluon radiation spectra induced by double parton scattering in DIS without collinear expansion in the transverse momentum of initial gluons as in the original high-twist approach. The final radiative gluon spectrum can be expressed in terms of the convolution of hard partonic parts and unintegrated or transverse momentum dependent (TMD) quark-gluon correlations. The TMD quark-gluon correlation can be factorized approximately as a product of initial quark distribution and TMD gluon distribution which can be used to define the generalized or TMD jet transport coefficient. Under the static scattering center and soft radiative gluon approximation, we recover the result by Gylassy-Levai-Vitev (GLV) in the first order of the opacity expansion. The difference as a result of the soft radiative gluon approximation is investigated numerically under the static scattering center approximation., Comment: 33 pages in RevTeX with 30 figures, final version appeared in PRD with additional typos corrected

Heavy quarks serve as ideal probes of the QGP properties produced in energetic nuclear collisions, and provide a unique opportunity to study the mass effects on parton energy loss. We develop a multi-stage approach for heavy quark evolution inside the QGP, in which heavy quarks first undergo a rare-scattering multiple-emission evolution at momenta large compared to their mass (sensitive only to the transverse diffusion coefficient $\hat{q}$ ), and then evolve through a single-scattering induced emission (Gunion-Bertsch) stage at momenta comparable to their mass [sensitive to not only $\hat{q}$, but also the longitudinal drag $\hat{e}$ and diffusion $\hat{e}_2$ coefficients]. This multi-stage approach is coupled to a (2+1)-D viscous hydrodynamic model for a quantitative investigation of charm vs. beauty quark energy loss inside the QGP. Based on this approach, we find that drag induced radiation has a considerable impact on the energy loss of intermediate $p_T$ massive beauty quarks. This effect increases the suppression of B mesons and narrows the difference between the $R_{AA}$ of B and D mesons. Our results are consistent with the experimental data at the LHC and contribute to a more quantitative understanding of the transverse momentum dependence of the mass hierarchy of parton energy loss inside the QGP., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, Latex, Proceedings of the International Conference on Hard and Electromagnetic Probes of High-Energy Nuclear Collisions, 30 September - 5 October 2018, Aix-Les-Bains, Savoie, France

Using the dilute-dense factorization in the Color Glass Condensate framework, we investigate the azimuthal angular correlation between a heavy quarkonium and a charged light hadron in proton-nucleus collisions. We extract the second harmonic $v_2$, commonly known as the elliptic flow, with the light hadron as the reference. This particular azimuthal angular correlation between a heavy meson and a light hadron has first been measured at the LHC recently. The experimental results indicate that the elliptic flows for heavy-flavor mesons ($J/\psi$ and $D^0$) are almost as large as those for light hadrons. Our calculation demonstrates that this result can be naturally interpreted as an initial state effect due to the interaction between the incoming partons from the proton and the dense gluons inside the target nucleus. Since the heavy quarkonium $v_2$ exhibits a weak mass dependence according to our calculation, we predict that the heavy quarkonium $\Upsilon$ should have a similar elliptic flow as compared to that of the $J/\psi$, which can be tested in future measurements., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures;v2: a few minor typo corrected

We study the suppressions of high transverse momentum single hadron and dihadron productions in high-energy heavy-ion collisions based on the framework of a next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD parton model combined with the higher-twist energy loss formalism.Our model can provide a consistant description for the nuclear modification factors of single hadron and dihadron productions in central and non-central nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC and the LHC energies. We quantitatively extract the value of jet quenching parameter $\hat q$ via a global $\chi^2$ analysis, and obtain ${\hat{q}}/{T^3} = 4.1 \sim 4.4$ at $T = 378$~MeV at RHIC and ${\hat{q}}/{T^3} = 2.6 \sim 3.3$ at $T = 486$~MeV at the LHC, which are consistent with the results from JET Collaboration. We also provide the predictions for the nuclear modification factors of dihadron productions in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV and in Xe+Xe collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ = 5.44 TeV.

We study the medium-induced gluon emission process experienced by a hard jet parton propagating through the dense nuclear matter in the framework of deep inelastic scattering off a large nucleus. We work beyond the collinear rescattering expansion and the soft gluon emission limit, and derive a closed formula for the medium-induced single gluon emission spectrum from a heavy or light quark jet interacting with the dense nuclear medium via transverse and longitudinal scatterings. Without performing the collinear rescattering expansion, the medium-induced gluon emission spectrum is controlled by the full distribution of the differential elastic scattering rates between the propagating partons and the medium constituents. We further show that if one utilizes heavy static scattering centers for the traversed nuclear matter and takes the soft gluon emission limit, our result can reduce to the first order in opacity Djordjevic-Gyulassy-Levai-Vitev formula., Comment: 21 pages, 14 figures

With our coupled jet-fluid model, we study the nuclear modifications of full jets and jet structures for single inclusive jet and $\gamma$-jet events in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. The evolution of full jet showers is studied via a set of coupled transport equations including the effects of collisional energy loss, transverse momentum broadening and medium-induced splitting. The dynamics of the jet energy and momentum deposited into the medium is described by hydrodynamic equations with source terms. Our detailed analysis indicates that collisional absorption (energy loss) tends to narrow the jet shape function while transverse momentum kicks and medium-induced radiations broaden the jet transverse profile. Also, jet-induced flow plays a significant contribution to jet shape function and dominates at large angles away from the jet axis. The final nuclear modification pattern for the jet shape function is a combined effect from various jet-medium interaction mechanisms. Our detailed studies for single inclusive jets and $\gamma$-jets for various kinematics indicate that the nuclear modification of jet shape has strong dependence on jet energy and collision energy, and weak dependence on jet flavor (quark or gluon)., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of Hard Probes 2018, 30 September-5 October, Aix-Les-Bains, France