CERN Accelerating science

Article
Report number	nucl-ex/0607031
Title	Heavy Flavor Production at STAR
Author(s)	Zhang, H (CERN)
Publication	2006
Imprint	30 Jul 2006
Number of pages	7
In:	J. Phys. G 32 (2006) s35-42
In:	International Conference On Strangeness In Quark Matter, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 26 - 31 Mar 2006, pp.s35-42
DOI	10.1088/0954-3899/32/12/S03
Subject category	Nuclear Physics - Experiment
Abstract	e present measurements on $D^0$ meson production via direct reconstruction of its hadronic decay channel $D^0\to K\pi$ in minimum bias $d$+Au and Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200 GeV with $p_T$ up to $\sim$3 GeV/$c$. Non-photonic electron spectra from the charm semi-leptonic decays are analyzed from the same data set as well as in $p$+$p$ collision at $\sqrt{s}$=200 GeV using the STAR Time-of-Flight (TOF) and Barrel EMC (BEMC) detectors, respectively. Results of the charm-decayed single muon (prompt muon) spectra are also presented at low $p_T$ in Au+Au collisions measured by the TOF detector. The charm production total cross-section per nucleon-nucleon collision is measured to be 1.26$\pm$0.09(stat.)$\pm$0.23(sys.) mb in minimum bias Au+Au collisions, which is consistent with the $N_{bin}$ scaling compared to 1.4$\pm0.2\pm$0.4 mb in minimum bias $d$+Au collisions, and supports the idea that charm quarks should be produced mostly via parton fusion at early stage in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. A Blast-Wave model fit to the low $p_T$ ($<2$ GeV/c) non-photonic electrons, prompt muons and $D^0$ spectra shows that charm hadrons may kinetically freeze-out earlier than light hadrons with a smaller collective velocity. The nuclear modification factors ($R_{AA}$) of the non-photonic electrons in central Au+Au collisions are significantly below unity at $p_T>\sim$2 GeV/$c$, which indicates a significant amount of energy loss for heavy quarks in Au+Au collisions. The charm transverse momentum distribution must have been modified by the hot and dense matter created in central Au+Au collisions at RHIC.

Corresponding record in: Inspire