Perturbative and non-perturbative interactions between heavy quarks and quark-gluon plasma within a unified approach
Wen-Jing Xing, Guang-You Qin, Shanshan Cao
Abstract
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 RAA and elliptic flow coefficient v2 at low and intermediate pT 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 RAA and v2 from low to intermediate to high pT observed at both RHIC and the LHC. By model-data-comparison, we obtain 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 pT is dominated by perturbative QCD interactions, non-perturbative interactions are indispensible for understanding heavy flavor quenching and flow at low and intermediate pT.