Prompt D0, D+, and D*+ production in Pb–Pb collisions at $$ \sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} $$ = 5.02 TeV

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Abstract

<jats:title>A<jats:sc>bstract</jats:sc> </jats:title><jats:p>The production of prompt D<jats:sup>0</jats:sup>, D<jats:sup>+</jats:sup>, and D<jats:sup>*+</jats:sup> mesons was measured at midrapidity (|<jats:italic>y</jats:italic>| <jats:italic><</jats:italic> 0.5) in Pb–Pb collisions at the centre-of-mass energy per nucleon–nucleon pair <jats:inline-formula><jats:alternatives><jats:tex-math>$$ \sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} $$</jats:tex-math><mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msqrt> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>s</mml:mi> <mml:mi>NN</mml:mi> </mml:msub> </mml:msqrt> </mml:math></jats:alternatives></jats:inline-formula> = 5<jats:italic>.</jats:italic>02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The D mesons were reconstructed via their hadronic decay channels and their production yields were measured in central (0–10%) and semicentral (30–50%) collisions. The measurement was performed up to a transverse momentum (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic><jats:sub>T</jats:sub>) of 36 or 50 GeV/c depending on the D meson species and the centrality interval. For the first time in Pb–Pb collisions at the LHC, the yield of D<jats:sup>0</jats:sup> mesons was measured down to <jats:italic>p</jats:italic><jats:sub>T</jats:sub> = 0, which allowed a model-independent determination of the <jats:italic>p</jats:italic><jats:sub>T</jats:sub>-integrated yield per unit of rapidity (d<jats:italic>N/</jats:italic>d<jats:italic>y</jats:italic>). A maximum suppression by a factor 5 and 2.5 was observed with the nuclear modification factor (<jats:italic>R</jats:italic><jats:sub>AA</jats:sub>) of prompt D mesons at <jats:italic>p</jats:italic><jats:sub>T</jats:sub> = 6–8 GeV/c for the 0–10% and 30–50% centrality classes, respectively. The D-meson <jats:italic>R</jats:italic>AA is compared with that of charged pions, charged hadrons, and J<jats:italic>/ψ</jats:italic> mesons as well as with theoretical predictions. The analysis of the agreement between the measured <jats:italic>R</jats:italic><jats:sub>AA</jats:sub>, elliptic (<jats:italic>v</jats:italic><jats:sub>2</jats:sub>) and triangular (<jats:italic>v</jats:italic><jats:sub>3</jats:sub>) flow, and the model predictions allowed us to constrain the charm spatial diffusion coefficient <jats:italic>D</jats:italic><jats:sub><jats:italic>s</jats:italic></jats:sub>. Furthermore the comparison of <jats:italic>R</jats:italic><jats:sub>AA</jats:sub> and <jats:italic>v</jats:italic><jats:sub>2</jats:sub> with different implementations of the same models provides an important insight into the role of radiative energy loss as well as charm quark recombination in the hadronisation mechanisms.</jats:p>

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