Charm quark production in heavy-ion collisions as a signature of pre-equilibrium
Maurice Coquet (CERN, EP Department, Geneva, CH-1211, Switzerland)
; Thomas Faure (Université Paris-Saclay, Centre d’Etudes de Saclay (CEA), IRFU, IRFU, Département de Physique Nucléaire (DPhN), Saclay, France); Sören Schlichting (Fakultät für Physik, Universität Bielefeld, Bielefeld, D-33615, Germany); Mika Spier (Fakultät für Physik, Universität Bielefeld, Bielefeld, D-33615, Germany, Université Paris-Saclay, Centre d’Etudes de Saclay (CEA), IRFU, IRFU, Département de Physique Nucléaire (DPhN), Saclay, France); Michael Winn (Université Paris-Saclay, Centre d’Etudes de Saclay (CEA), IRFU, IRFU, Département de Physique Nucléaire (DPhN), Saclay, France)
The relative abundances and kinematic distributions of hadrons containing (anti)charm quarks are key observables for deconfinement, heavy-quark diffusion and hadronization in heavy-ion collisions. The production of (anti)charm quarks is commonly associated to the initial hard scatterings in hadronic collisions. Based on previous studies on dilepton production, we evaluate the (anti)charm quark production from the pre-equilibrium phase. A non-negligible contribution to the overall charm quark production is found, albeit large theoretical uncertainties are limiting factors. We conclude that precise total charm production measurements combined with progress on charm production calculations from the initial hard scatterings can be used to infer information on the pre-equilibrium stage.
