Spin-dependent interactions and heavy-quark transport in the quark-gluon plasma

Journal Article · 24 October 2023 · Physical Review. C

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevc.108.044906 · OSTI ID:2203470

Tang, Zhanduo  ^[1]; Rapp, Ralf  ^[1]

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1. Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)

We extend a previously constructed T-matrix approach to the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) to include the effects of spin-dependent interactions between partons. Following earlier work within the relativistic quark model, the spin-dependent interactions figure as relativistic corrections to the Cornell potential. When applied to the vacuum spectroscopy of quarkonia, in particular their mass splittings in S- and P-wave states, the issue of the Lorentz structure of the confining potential arises. We confirm that a significant admixture of a vector interaction (to the previously assumed scalar interaction) improves the description of the experimental mass splittings. The temperature corrections to the in-medium potential are constrained by results from thermal lattice quantum chromodynamics for the equation of state and heavy-quark free energy in a self-consistent setup for heavy- and light-parton spectral functions in the QGP. We then deploy the refined in-medium heavy-light T matrix to compute the charm-quark transport coefficients in the QGP. The vector component of the confining potential, through its relativistic corrections, enhances the friction coefficient for charm quarks in the QGP over previous calculations by tens of percentages at low momenta and temperatures and more at higher momenta. Our results are promising for improving the current phenomenology of open heavy-flavor observables at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider.

• Research Organization: Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP); USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0023547
• OSTI ID: 2203470
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 2339794
• Journal Information: Physical Review. C, Vol. 108, Issue 4; ISSN 2469-9985
• Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English