2023/07/23 by Sourendu Gupta, Gupta, Sourendu · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex) #High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) #High-Energy Particle Collisions Research #Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex) #Nuclear Theory (nucl-th) #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2307.12250
openalex publication_date 2023/07/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The spin polarization of heavy quarks in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC is estimated from effective field theories (EFTs). One EFT is similar to the HQET used at zero temperature. This gives a coupling of the heavy quark spin to colour and electromagnetic fields in heavy-ion collisions. The second EFT describes the interaction of heavy quarks and hydrodynamic modes, and gives the coupling between the heavy quark spin and the local vorticity of the fireball. Using these, we find that the measurement of polarization of the heavy quark from small to moderate pT at the LHC is predicted with a single free parameter proportional to the vorticity. As a result, the heavy quark polarization is the same whether it is derived from the spin alignment of heavy vector mesons or the polarization of heavy baryons. We also predict that the parameter does not differ much between charm and bottom quarks.