Radiative and collisional jet energy loss in the quark-gluon plasma at the BNL relativistic heavy ion collider

Machine Learning Approach to Analyze the Heavy Quark Diffusion Coefficient in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

The diffusion coefficient of heavy quarks in a deconfined medium is examined in this research using a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) that is trained with data from relativistic heavy ion collisions involving heavy flavor hadrons. The CNN is trained using observables such as the nuclear modification factor RAA and the elliptic flow v2 of non-prompt J/ψ from the B-hadron decay in different centralities, where B meson evolutions are calculated using the Langevin equation and the instantaneous coalescence model. The CNN outputs the parameters, thereby characterizing the temperature and momentum dependence of the heavy quark diffusion coefficient. By inputting the experimental data of the non-prompt J/ψ(RAA,v2) from various collision centralities into multiple channels of a well-trained network, we derive the values of the diffusion coefficient parameters. Additionally, we evaluate the uncertainty in determining the diffusion coefficient by taking into account the uncertainties present in the experimental data (RAA,v2), which serve as inputs to the deep neural network.

Unraveling gluon jet quenching through J/ψ production in heavy-ion collisions

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/ψ in high transverse momentum (pT) region provides a uniquely sensitive probe of in-medium gluon energy loss since its production at high pT 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 non-relativistic quantum chromodynamics 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 RAA and elliptic flow v2 reveals, for the first time, that the gluon jet quenching is the driving force for high pTJ/ψ 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.

From Hydrodynamics to Jet Quenching, Coalescence, and Hadron Cascade: A Coupled Approach to Solving the R_{AA}⊗v_{2} Puzzle

Hydrodynamics and jet quenching are responsible for the elliptic flow v_{2} and suppression of large transverse momentum (p_{T}) hadrons, respectively, two of the most important phenomena leading to the discovery of a strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. A consistent description of the hadron suppression factor R_{AA} and v_{2}, especially at intermediate p_{T}, however, remains a challenge. We solve this long-standing R_{AA}⊗v_{2} puzzle by including quark coalescence for hadronization and final state hadron cascade in the coupled linear Boltzmann transport-hydro model that combines concurrent jet transport and hydrodynamic evolution of the bulk medium. We illustrate that quark coalescence and hadron cascade, two keys to solving the puzzle, also lead to a splitting of v_{2} for pions, kaons, and protons in the intermediate p_{T} region. We demonstrate for the first time that experimental data on R_{AA}, v_{2}, and their hadron flavor dependence from low to intermediate and high p_{T} in high-energy heavy-ion collisions can be understood within this coupled framework.

Medium modification of photon-tagged and inclusive jets in high-multiplicity proton-proton collisions

We study modification of the photon-tagged and inclusive jets in pp collisions at sqrt[s]=7  TeV due to mini-quark-gluon plasma which can be produced in high multiplicity events. We show that for underlying events with dN(ch)/dη∼20-60 the medium effects lead to a considerable modification of the photon-tagged and inclusive jet fragmentation functions. For inclusive jets, the magnitude of the effect is surprisingly large. The effect is quite strong even for typical underlying events. We find that the spectrum of charged hadrons is suppressed by ∼35%-40% at p(T)∼5-10  GeV.

Perturbative QCD description of heavy and light flavor jet quenching

We present a successful description of the medium modification of light and heavy flavor jets within a perturbative-QCD-based approach. Only the couplings involving hard partons are assumed to be weak. The effect of the medium on a hard parton, per unit time, is encoded in terms of three nonperturbative, related transport coefficients which describe the transverse momentum squared gained, the elastic energy loss, and diffusion in elastic energy transfer. Scaling the transport coefficients with the temperature of the medium, we achieve a good description of the centrality dependence of the suppression and the azimuthal anisotropy of leading hadrons. Imposing additional constraints based on leading order (LO) hard thermal loop (HTL) effective theory leads to a worsening of the fit, implying the necessity of computing transport coefficients beyond LO HTL.

Gluon thermodynamics at intermediate coupling

We calculate the thermodynamic functions of Yang-Mills theory to three-loop order using the hard-thermal-loop perturbation theory reorganization of finite temperature quantum field theory. We show that at three-loop order hard-thermal-loop perturbation theory is compatible with lattice results for the pressure, energy density, and entropy down to temperatures T approximately 2-3T{c}.

Energy and momentum deposited into a QCD medium by a jet shower

For a hard parton moving through a dense QCD medium, we compute self-consistently the energy loss and the fraction deposited into the medium due to showering and rescattering of the shower, assuming weak coupling between probe and medium. The same transport coefficients thus determine both the energy loss and its deposition into the medium. This allows a parameter free calculation of the latter once the former are computed or measured. We compute them for a weakly interacting medium. Assuming a short thermalization time for the deposited energy, we determine the medium's hydrodynamical response and obtain a conical pattern that is strongly enhanced by showering.