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Motivated by recent applications of the open quantum system formalism to understand quarkonium transport in the quark-gluon plasma, we develop a set of coupled Boltzmann equations for open heavy quark-antiquark pairs and quarkonia. Our approach keeps track of the correlation between the heavy quark-antiquark pair from quarkonium dissociation and thus is able to account for both uncorrelated and correlated recombination. By solving the coupled Boltzmann equations for current heavy ion collision experiments, we find correlated recombination is crucial to describe the data of bottomonia nuclear modification factors. To further test the importance of correlated recombination in experiments, we propose a new observable: $\frac{R_{AA}[\chi_b(1P)]}{R_{AA}[\Upsilon(2S)]}$. Future measurements of this ratio will help distinguish calculations with and without correlated recombination., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; proceedings for 10th International Conference on Hard and Electromagnetic Probes of High-Energy Nuclear Collisions (Hard Probe 2020)

We develop a framework of coupled transport equations for open heavy flavor and quarkonium states, in order to describe their transport inside the quark-gluon plasma. Our framework is capable of studying simultaneously both open and hidden heavy flavor observables in heavy-ion collision experiments and can account for both, uncorrelated and correlated recombination. Our recombination implementation depends on real-time open heavy quark and antiquark distributions. We carry out consistency tests to show how the interplay among open heavy flavor transport, quarkonium dissociation and recombination drives the system to equilibrium. We then apply our framework to study bottomonium production in heavy-ion collisions. We include $\Upsilon(1S)$, $\Upsilon(2S)$, $\Upsilon(3S)$, $\chi_b(1P)$ and $\chi_b(2P)$ in the framework and take feed-down contributions during the hadronic gas stage into account. Cold nuclear matter effects are included by using nuclear parton distribution functions for the initial primordial heavy flavor production. A calibrated $2+1$ dimensional viscous hydrodynamics is used to describe the bulk QCD medium. We calculate both the nuclear modification factor $R_{\mathrm{AA}}$ of all bottomonia states and the azimuthal angular anisotropy coefficient $v_2$ of the $\Upsilon(1S)$ state and find that our results agree reasonably with experimental measurements. Our calculations indicate that correlated cross-talk recombination is an important production mechanism of bottomonium in current heavy-ion experiments. The importance of correlated recombination can be tested experimentally by measuring the ratio of $R_{\mathrm{AA}}(\chi_b(1P))$ and $R_{\mathrm{AA}}(\Upsilon(2S))$., Comment: 36 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables; v2: changed to JHEP format, added a few references; v3: uncertainty analysis added, new measurement proposal to test correlated recombination; v4: minor change in Fig.7c and relevant discussions; v5: published version; link to the major part of the code: https://github.com/4KColo/Quarkonium_cython

Using the open quantum system formalism and effective field theory of QCD, we derive the Boltzmann transport equation of quarkonium inside the quark-gluon plasma. Our derivation illuminates that the success of transport equations in quarkonium phenomenology is closely related to the separation of scales in the problem., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; contribution to the proceedings of XXVIIIth International Conference on Ultrarelativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (Quark Matter 2019); updated a few references

We study how heavy quark dynamics is affected by the nature of the bulk evolution of the QCD matter, the initial condition of the system, and the treatment of elementary interactions between heavy quarks and the surrounding medium. For the same initial condition and the same QGP expansion scenario we discuss the consequences of the assumption of a local equilibrium by comparing the consequences for the nuclear modification factor and the elliptic flows of charm quarks. For this purpose we employ the parton-hadron-string dynamics (PHSD), which is an off-shell microscopic transport approach, as well as the linearized-Boltzmann (LB) scheme obtained by coarse graining the PHSD bulk and assuming local equilibrium for the interactions of the charm quarks with the bulk. The $R_{\rm AA}$ of charm quarks stemming from the later LB approach is also compared to a genuine fluid dynamics evolution initiated by the coarse grained PHSD, which allows to further assess the consequences of reducing the full n-body dynamics. We then proceed to a systematic comparison of PHSD with MC@HQ, another transport model for heavy flavors which also relies on LB approach. In particular, we investigate the consequences for the nuclear modification factor of charm quarks if we vary separately the initial heavy quark distribution function in matter, the expansion dynamics of the QGP and the elementary interactions of heavy quarks of these models. We find that the results for both models vary significantly depending on the details of the calculation. However, both models achieve very similar predictions for key heavy quark observables for certain combinations of initial condition, bulk evolution and interactions. We conclude that this ambiguity limits our ability to determine the different properties of the system based on the current set of observables., Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures

Transport equations have been applied successfully to describe the quarkonium evolution inside the quark-gluon plasma, which include both plasma screening effects and recombination. We demonstrate how the quarkonium transport equation is derived from QCD by using the open quantum system framework and effective field theory. Weak coupling and Markovian approximations used in the derivation are justified from a separation of scales. By solving the equations numerically, we study the Upsilon production in heavy ion collisions., Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure; contribution to proceedings for the 18th International Conference on Hadron Spectroscopy and Structure (Hadron 2019)

Recent progress in open-heavy-flavor measurements and future experimental upgrades are bringing heavy-flavor physics into the precision era, allowing for strong quantitative constraints on the transport properties of heavy quarks in the quark-gluon plasma. Starting from the LIDO transport model, which combines a matrix-element based linearized-Boltzmann transport and diffusion-based Langevin equation, we have made two essential improvements to increase both the flexibility and physical accuracy of the model. First, we have absorbed the pQCD scatterings with small momentum transfers to the medium into the diffusion part of the LIDO model, and we have restricted the use of vacuum matrix elements to large momentum transfer processes. This study allows us to construct a model that smoothly interpolates between a pure pQCD based approach and a radiation-improved Langevin equation by tuning a single scale parameter. Second, the Monte-Carlo implementation of the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal effect of the original model has been improved to account for multiple scatterings of gluons. The simulated radiative energy loss can be tuned to quantitatively agree with semi-analytic theory calculations both for a static (finite / infinite) medium and for a dynamic expanding medium. With such improvements, the LIDO model will greatly facilitate the extraction of heavy-quark transport coefficient from a systematic model-to-data comparison., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, for the International Conference on Hard and Electromagnetic Probes of High-Energy Nuclear Collisions, 30 September -- 5 October 2018, Aix-Les-Bains, Savoie, France

By coupling the Boltzmann transport equations of both quarkonium and open heavy quarks, we investigate their dynamical evolution inside the quark-gluon plasma and study quarkonium production in heavy ion collisions. The Boltzmann transport equation of quarkonium is derived from the open quantum system formalism and effective field theory of QCD by assuming quarkonium interacts weakly with the plasma. The dissociation and recombination terms in the Boltzmann equation are calculated in potential nonrelativistic QCD. It is shown that the combination of quarkonium dissociation, recombination, open heavy quark diffusion and energy loss can drive the system of quarkonium and open heavy quarks to detailed balance and kinetic thermalization. By solving the transport equations with initial momenta of quarkonia and heavy quarks sampled from PYTHIA and a hydrodynamic medium, we can calculate the nuclear modification factors of bottomonium and describe the data at both RHIC and LHC energies. The azimuthal angular anisotropy coefficient $v_2$ of $\Upsilon$(1S) in 5.02 TeV peripheral Pb-Pb collisions is also predicted., Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, contribution to the proceedings of Hard Probes 2018: International Conference on Hard and Electromagnetic Probes of High-Energy Nuclear Collisions

Hard probes produced in perturbative processes are excellent probes for the study of the hot and dense QCD matter created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Transport theory, allowing for coupling to an evolving medium with fluctuating initial conditions, has become a powerful tool in this endeavor. However, the implementation of the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (LPM) effect for medium-induced parton bremsstrahlung and pair production, poses a challenge to semi-classical transport models based on Boltzmann-type transport equations. In this work, we investigate a possible solution to approximate the LPM effect in a "modified Boltzmann transport" approach, including a prescription for the running coupling constant. By fixing a numerical parameter, this approach quantitatively reproduces the rates of medium-induced parton splitting predicted by the next-to-lead-log solution of the AMY equation which is valid in the deep-LPM regime of an infinite medium. We also find qualitative agreement of our implementation with calculations in a finite and expanding medium, but future improvements are needed for added precision at small path length. This work benefits transport model-based studies and the usage of these models in the phenomenological extraction of the jet transport coefficient., Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, heavily modified for re-submission

Heavy flavor observables provide valuable information on the properties of the hot and dense Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) created in ultra-relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions. Various microscopic models have successfully described many of the observables associated with its formation. Their transport coefficients differ, however, due to different assumptions about the underlying interaction of the heavy quarks with the plasma constituents, different initial geometries and formation times, different hadronization processes and a different time evolution of the QGP. In this study we present the transport coefficients of all these models and investigate systematically how some of these assumptions influence the heavy quark properties at the end of the QGP expansion. For this purpose we impose on these models the same initial condition and the same model for the QGP expansion and show that both have considerable influence on $R_{AA}$ and $v_2$., Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures

Several transport models have been employed in recent years to analyze heavy-flavor meson spectra in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. Heavy-quark transport coefficients extracted from these models with their default parameters vary, however, by up to a factor of 5 at high momenta. To investigate the origin of this large theoretical uncertainty, a systematic comparison of heavy-quark transport coefficients is carried out between various transport models. Within a common scheme devised for the nuclear modification factor of charm quarks in a brick medium of a quark-gluon plasma, the systematic uncertainty of the extracted drag coefficient among these models is shown to be reduced to a factor of 2, which can be viewed as the smallest intrinsic systematical error band achievable at present time. This indicates the importance of a realistic hydrodynamic evolution constrained by bulk hadron spectra and of heavy-quark hadronization for understanding the final heavy-flavor hadron spectra and extracting heavy-quark drag coefficient. The transverse transport coefficient is less constrained due to the influence of the underlying mechanism for heavy-quark medium interaction. Additional constraints on transport models such as energy loss fluctuation and transverse-momentum broadening can further reduce theoretical uncertainties in the extracted transport coefficients., Comment: 20 pages in ReVTex with 11 figures, final version to appear in PRC

In relativistic heavy-ion collisions, the production of heavy quarks at large transverse momenta is strongly suppressed compared to proton-proton collisions. In addition an unexpectedly large azimuthal anisotropy was observed for the emission of charmed hadrons in non-central collisions. Both observations pose challenges to the theoretical understanding of the coupling between heavy quarks and the quark-gluon plasma produced in these collisions. Transport models for the evolution of heavy quarks in a QCD medium offer the opportunity to study these effects - two of the most successful approaches are based on the linearized Boltzmann transport equation and the Langevin equation. In this work, we develop a hybrid transport model that combines the strengths of both of these approaches: heavy quarks scatter with medium partons using matrix-elements calculated in perturbative QCD, while between these discrete hard scatterings they evolve using a Langevin equation with empirical transport coefficients to capture the non-perturbative soft part of the interaction. With the hybrid transport model coupled to a state-of-the-art event-by-event bulk evolution model based on 2+1D relativistic viscous fluid dynamics, we study the azimuthal anisotropy and nuclear modification factor of heavy quarks in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 5.02$ TeV. The parameters of our model are calibrated using a Bayesian analysis comparing to available $D$-meson and $B$-meson data at the LHC. Using the calibrated model, we study the implications on heavy-flavor transport properties and predict novel observables.

The impact of non-equilibrium effects on the dynamics of heavy-ion collisions is investigated by comparing a non-equilibrium transport approach, the Parton-Hadron-String-Dynamics (PHSD), to a 2D+1 viscous hydrodynamical model, which is based on the assumption of local equilibrium and conservation laws. Starting the hydrodynamical model from the same non-equilibrium initial condition as in the PHSD, using an equivalent lQCD Equation-of-State (EoS), the same transport coefficients, i.e. shear viscosity $\eta$ and the bulk viscosity $\zeta$ in the hydrodynamical model, we compare the time evolution of the system in terms of energy density, Fourier transformed energy density, spatial and momentum eccentricities and ellipticity in order to quantify the traces of non-equilibrium phenomena. In addition, we also investigate the role of initial pre-equilibrium flow on the hydrodynamical evolution and demonstrate its importance for final state observables. We find that due to non-equilibrium effects, the event-by-event transport calculations show large fluctuations in the collective properties, while ensemble averaged observables are close to the hydrodynamical results., Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, to be published in the Proceedings of the "Critical Point and Onset of Deconfinement 2017 (CPOD2017)" Conference, August 7-11 2017, Stony Brook, NY USA

By applying a Bayesian model-to-data analysis, we estimate the temperature and momentum dependence of the heavy quark diffusion coefficient in an improved Langevin framework. The posterior range of the diffusion coefficient is obtained by performing a Markov chain Monte Carlo random walk and calibrating on the experimental data of $D$-meson $R_{\mathrm{AA}}$ and $v_2$ in three different collision systems at RHIC and the LHC: AuAu collisions at 200 GeV, PbPb collisions at 2.76 and 5.02 TeV. The spatial diffusion coefficient is found to be consistent with lattice QCD calculations and comparable with other models' estimation. We demonstrate the capability of our improved Langevin model to simultaneously describe the $R_{\mathrm{AA}}$ and $v_2$ at both RHIC and the LHC energies, as well as the higher order flow coefficient such as $D$-meson $v_3$. We show that by applying a Bayesian analysis, we are able to quantitatively and systematically study the heavy flavor dynamics in heavy-ion collisions., Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures

Using a Bayesian model-to-data analysis, we estimate the temperature dependence of the heavy quark diffusion coefficients by calibrating to the experimental data of $D$-meson $R_{\mathrm{AA}}$ and $v_2$ in AuAu collisions ($\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV) and PbPb collisions ($\sqrt{s_{NN}}=2.76$ TeV)~\cite{Xie:2016iwq}. The spatial diffusion coefficient $D_s2\pi T$ is found to be mostly constraint around $(1.3-1.5) T_c$ and is compatible with lattice QCD calculations. We demonstrate the capability of our improved Langevin model to simultaneously describe the $R_{\mathrm{AA}}$ and $v_2$ at both RHIC and the LHC energies, as well as the feasibility to apply a Bayesian analysis to quantitatively study the heavy flavor transport in heavy-ion collisions.

The impact of non-equilibrium effects on the dynamics of heavy-ion collisions is investigated by comparing a non-equilibrium transport approach, the Parton-Hadron-String-Dynamics (PHSD), to a 2D+1 viscous hydrodynamical model, which is based on the assumption of local equilibrium and conservation laws. Starting the hydrodynamical model from the same non-equilibrium initial condition as in the PHSD, using an equivalent lQCD Equation-of-State (EoS), the same transport coefficients, i.e. shear viscosity $\eta$ and the bulk viscosity $\zeta$ in the hydrodynamical model, we compare the time evolution of the system in terms of energy density, Fourier transformed energy density, spatial and momentum eccentricities and ellipticity in order to quantify the traces of non-equilibrium phenomena. In addition, we also investigate the role of initial pre-equilibrium flow on the hydrodynamical evolution and demonstrate its importance for final state observables. We find that due to non-equilibrium effects, the event-by-event transport calculations show large fluctuations in the collective properties, while ensemble averaged observables are close to the hydrodynamical results., Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures

We investigate the heavy flavor dynamics in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) medium created in p-Pb collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In the (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamics model describing QGP medium, the dynamics of heavy quarks are studied in an improved Langevin framework incorporating both collisional and radiative energy loss. The hadronization of the heavy quarks is given by a hybrid model of fragmentation and recombination. We find that the in-medium evolution of charm quarks raises the D-meson $R_{pPb}$ at low transverse momenta while it suppresses the D-meson $R_{pPb}$ at intermediate momenta. In addition, the elliptic flow of D-meson is calculated. For a diffusion coefficient which reproduces central $R_{AA}$ data at the LHC, we find a much smaller D-meson $v_2$ compared to the light hadrons. This observation indicates an incomplete coupling between heavy quarks with the medium, due to the reduced medium size compared to AA collisions., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, proceedings for the Hard Probes 2015 conference