Hadronization and Charm-Hadron Ratios in Heavy-Ion Collisions

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Physics
• High-Energy Physics
• Quantum Chromodynamics

Background:

• Understanding quark-gluon plasma (QGP) hadronization in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions (URHICs) is crucial.
• Heavy quarks act as effective probes of the QGP's color neutralization process.

Purpose of the Study:

• Develop a novel 4-momentum conserving recombination model for heavy-flavor (HF) mesons and baryons.
• Incorporate space-momentum correlations (SMCs) and improved hadrochemistry into HF hadronization models.

Main Methods:

• Developed a 4-momentum conserving recombination model for HF mesons and baryons.
• Accounted for space-momentum correlations (SMCs) between heavy quarks and QGP partons.
• Integrated "missing" charm-baryon states into the hadrochemistry.

Main Results:

• The model successfully recovers thermal and chemical equilibrium limits.
• SMCs were found to enhance recombination of fast heavy quarks with high-flow thermal quarks.
• The model accurately describes recent data for the Λc/D0 ratio and D-meson elliptic flow in URHICs.

Conclusions:

• The developed HF hydro-Langevin-recombination model provides a significant advancement in understanding QGP hadronization.
• SMCs and improved hadrochemistry are essential components for describing experimental data in URHICs.
• This work resolves long-standing issues in quark coalescence models for heavy-flavor hadron production.