Spatial correlations of charm and anticharm quarks at hadronisation
Abstract Heavy-ion collisions offer a unique tool for studying the properties of strong interactions at high energy densities. An open question is how heavy quarks, such as charm and bottom, thermalise in the dense matter created by these collisions. Here, we show that the momentum correlations of c...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Communications Physics |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-02213-y |
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| _version_ | 1849234724019503104 |
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| author | Marek Gazdzicki Daniel Kikoła Ivan Pidhurskyi Leonardo Tinti |
| author_facet | Marek Gazdzicki Daniel Kikoła Ivan Pidhurskyi Leonardo Tinti |
| author_sort | Marek Gazdzicki |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Heavy-ion collisions offer a unique tool for studying the properties of strong interactions at high energy densities. An open question is how heavy quarks, such as charm and bottom, thermalise in the dense matter created by these collisions. Here, we show that the momentum correlations of charm and anticharm hadrons produced in central heavy-ion collisions can provide direct information on the spatial correlations of charm-anticharm quark pairs at hadronisation. This is possible under conditions where only a single charm-anticharm pair is created, as expected in central lead-lead collisions at CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) energies. We introduce a method to correct the measured joint momentum distribution for smearing effects caused by hadronisation, making the results directly sensitive to spatial correlations. Using simulated data, we demonstrate that even a sample of limited statistics can distinguish between different spatial correlation scenarios. These results offer a novel test of heavy-quark production and transport models and are achievable with current detector technologies and beam intensities. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c537d3a89ab24b4f8f026d3bf78dabb5 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2399-3650 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Physics |
| spelling | doaj-art-c537d3a89ab24b4f8f026d3bf78dabb52025-08-20T04:03:02ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Physics2399-36502025-07-01811910.1038/s42005-025-02213-ySpatial correlations of charm and anticharm quarks at hadronisationMarek Gazdzicki0Daniel Kikoła1Ivan Pidhurskyi2Leonardo Tinti3Jan Kochanowski UniversityWarsaw University of TechnologyJan Kochanowski UniversityJan Kochanowski UniversityAbstract Heavy-ion collisions offer a unique tool for studying the properties of strong interactions at high energy densities. An open question is how heavy quarks, such as charm and bottom, thermalise in the dense matter created by these collisions. Here, we show that the momentum correlations of charm and anticharm hadrons produced in central heavy-ion collisions can provide direct information on the spatial correlations of charm-anticharm quark pairs at hadronisation. This is possible under conditions where only a single charm-anticharm pair is created, as expected in central lead-lead collisions at CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) energies. We introduce a method to correct the measured joint momentum distribution for smearing effects caused by hadronisation, making the results directly sensitive to spatial correlations. Using simulated data, we demonstrate that even a sample of limited statistics can distinguish between different spatial correlation scenarios. These results offer a novel test of heavy-quark production and transport models and are achievable with current detector technologies and beam intensities.https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-02213-y |
| spellingShingle | Marek Gazdzicki Daniel Kikoła Ivan Pidhurskyi Leonardo Tinti Spatial correlations of charm and anticharm quarks at hadronisation Communications Physics |
| title | Spatial correlations of charm and anticharm quarks at hadronisation |
| title_full | Spatial correlations of charm and anticharm quarks at hadronisation |
| title_fullStr | Spatial correlations of charm and anticharm quarks at hadronisation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatial correlations of charm and anticharm quarks at hadronisation |
| title_short | Spatial correlations of charm and anticharm quarks at hadronisation |
| title_sort | spatial correlations of charm and anticharm quarks at hadronisation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-02213-y |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marekgazdzicki spatialcorrelationsofcharmandanticharmquarksathadronisation AT danielkikoła spatialcorrelationsofcharmandanticharmquarksathadronisation AT ivanpidhurskyi spatialcorrelationsofcharmandanticharmquarksathadronisation AT leonardotinti spatialcorrelationsofcharmandanticharmquarksathadronisation |