arXiv subjects

Shanshan Cao

Publications and source records attributed to Shanshan Cao.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Electromagnetic anomaly in the presence of electric and chiral magnetic conductivities in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We study the spacetime evolution of electric $(\textbf{E})$ and magnetic $(\textbf{B})$ fields along with the electromagnetic anomaly $(\textbf{E}\cdot\textbf{B})$ in the presence of electric ($σ$) and chiral magnetic ($σ_χ$) conductivities in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=200$~GeV. By comparing to the Lienard-Wiechert solutions with zero conductivities, we observe a symmetry breaking of the electromagnetic field in a conducting medium with respect to the reaction plane. The decay of the field is also significantly decelerated after the conductivities are introduced. Similar effects are also found for the dipole structure of $\textbf{E}\cdot\textbf{B}$ as well as the quadrupole structure of $(\textbf{E}\cdot\textbf{B})\textbf{B}$, which may finally affect the charge separation of the elliptic flow coefficient of hadrons observed in high-energy nuclear collisions.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2022

Probing the initial longitudinal density profile and electromagnetic field in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions with heavy quarks

Heavy quarks are valuable probes of the electromagnetic field and the initial condition of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) matter produced in high-energy nuclear collisions. Within an improved Langevin model that is coupled to a (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamic model, we explore the origin of the directed flow coefficient ($v_1$) of heavy mesons and their decay leptons, and its splitting ($Δv_{1}$) between opposite charges. We find that while the rapidity dependence of the heavy flavor $v_1$ is mainly driven by the titled energy density profile of the QGP with respect to the longitudinal direction at the RHIC energy, it is dominated by the electromagnetic field at the LHC energy. The $Δv_{1}$ serves as a novel probe of the spacetime evolution profile of the electromagnetic field. Our results of $D$ mesons and their decay electrons are consistent with the available data at RHIC and LHC, and our predictions on the heavy flavor decay muons can be further tested by future measurements.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2022

Heavy and light flavor jet quenching in different collision systems at the LHC energies

Recent experiments have observed large anisotropic collective flows in high multiplicity proton-lead collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which indicates the possible formation of mini quark-gluon plasma (QGP) in small collision systems. However, no jet quenching has been confirmed in such small systems so far. To understand this intriguing result, the system size scan experiments have been proposed to bridge the gap between large and small systems. In this work, we perform a systematic study on both heavy and light flavor jet quenching in different collision systems at the LHC energies. Using our state-of-the-art jet quenching model, which combines the next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD framework, a linear Boltzmann transport model and the (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamics simulation, we provide a good description of nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$ for charged hadrons and $D$ mesons in central and mid-central Pb+Pb and Xe+Xe collisions measured by CMS collaboration. We further predict the transverse momentum and centrality dependences of $R_{AA}$ for charged hadrons, $D$ and $B$ mesons in Pb+Pb, Xe+Xe, Ar+Ar and O+O collisions at the LHC energies. Our numerical results show a clear system size dependence for both light and heavy flavor hadron $R_{AA}$ across different collision systems. Sizable jet quenching effect is obtained for both heavy and light flavor hadrons in central O+O collisions at the LHC energies. Our study provides a significant bridge for jet quenching from large to small systems, and should be helpful for finding the smallest QGP droplet and the disappearance of QGP in relativistic nuclear collisions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Longitudinal distribution of initial energy density and directed flow of charged particles in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We study the origin of the directed flow of charged particles produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Three different initial conditions, Boz$\dot{\textrm{e}}$k-Wyskiel, CCNU and Shen-Alzhrani, of energy density distributions are coupled to the (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamic model CLVisc, and their effects on the development of the anisotropic medium geometry, pressure gradient and radial flow are systematically compared. By comparing to experimental data at both RHIC and LHC, we find that the directed flow provides a unique constraint on the tilt of the initial medium profile in the plane spanned by the impact parameter and space-time rapidity. Within mid-rapidity, the counter-clockwise tilt is shown to be a crucial source of the positive/negative force by the pressure gradient along the impact parameter ($x$) direction at backward/forward rapidity, which drives a negative slope of the $x$ component of the medium flow velocity with respect to rapidity, and in the end the same feature of the charged particle directed flow.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Event-by-event jet anisotropy and hard-soft tomography of the quark-gluon plasma

Suppression of jet spectra or jet quenching in high-energy heavy-ion collisions is caused by jet energy loss in the dense medium. The azimuthal anisotropy of jet energy loss in non-central heavy-ion collisions can lead to jet anisotropy which in turn can provide insight into the path-length dependence of jet quenching. This is investigated within the Linear Boltzmann Transport (LBT) model which simulates both elastic scattering and medium-induced gluon radiation based on perturbative QCD for jet shower and medium recoil partons as well as radiated gluons as they propagate through the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). The dynamical evolution of the QGP in each event of heavy-ion collisions is provided by the (3+1)D CLVisc hydrodynamic model with fully fluctuating initial conditions. This framework has been shown to describe the suppression of single inclusive jet spectra well. We calculate in this study the elliptic ($v_{2}^{\rm jet}$) and triangular ($v_{3}^{\rm jet}$) anisotropy coefficients of the single inclusive jet spectra in Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC energies. We investigate the colliding energy, centrality, jet transverse momentum dependence of the jet anisotropy, as well as their event-by-event correlation with the flow coefficients of the soft bulk hadrons. An approximate linear correlation between jet and bulk $v_2$ is found. Effect of the bulk $v_n$ fluctuation on $v_n^{\rm jet}$ is found negligible. The jet-induced medium excitation, which is influenced by radial flow, is shown to enhance $v_{2}^{\rm jet}$ and the enhancement increases with the jet cone size. The jet elliptic anisotropy $v_{2}^{\rm jet}$ is also found to be slightly enhanced by the shear viscosity of the bulk medium in comparison to the LBT results when jets propagate through an ideal hydrodynamic QGP medium.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Perturbative and non-perturbative interactions between heavy quarks and quark-gluon plasma within a unified approach

While perturbative QCD is sufficient for understanding the color, mass and energy dependences of parton energy loss and jet quenching at large transverse momentum in heavy-ion collisions, a simultaneous description of heavy flavor nuclear modification factor $R_\mathrm{AA}$ and elliptic flow coefficient $v_2$ at low and intermediate $p_\mathrm{T}$ still remains a challenge due to the effects from non-perturbative interactions. In this work, we extend the linear Boltzmann transport model by implementing a generalized Cornell-type potential that incorporates both short-range Yukawa interaction and long-range color confining interaction between heavy quarks and the QGP medium. Combining our new approach for heavy-quark-QGP interaction with a (3+1)-dimensional hydrodynamic model CLVisc for the QGP evolution and a hybrid fragmentation-coalescence model for heavy quark hadronization, we obtain a satisfactory description of heavy meson $R_\mathrm{AA}$ and $v_2$ from low to intermediate to high $p_\mathrm{T}$ observed at both RHIC and the LHC. By model-data-comparison, we extract for the first time the in-medium heavy quark potential from open heavy flavor measurements; the result is in agreement with the lattice QCD calculation. Our study indicates that while jet quenching at high $p_\mathrm{T}$ is dominated by perturbative QCD interactions, non-perturbative interactions are indispensible for understanding heavy flavor quenching and flow at low and intermediate $p_\mathrm{T}$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Scaling behaviors of heavy flavor meson suppression and flow in different nuclear collision systems at the LHC

We explore the system size dependence of heavy-quark-QGP interaction by studying the heavy flavor meson suppression and elliptic flow in Pb-Pb, Xe-Xe, Ar-Ar and O-O collisions at the LHC. The space-time evolution of the QGP is simulated using a (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamic model, while the heavy-quark-QGP interaction is described by an improved Langevin approach that includes both collisional and radiative energy loss inside a thermal medium. Within this framework, we provides a reasonable description of the $D$ meson suppression and flow coefficients in Pb-Pb collisions, as well as predictions for both $D$ and $B$ meson observables in other collision systems yet to be measured. We find a clear hierarchy for the heavy meson suppression with respect to the size of the colliding nuclei, while their elliptic flow coefficient relies on both the system size and the geometric anisotropy of the QGP. Sizable suppression and flow are predicted for both $D$ and $B$ mesons in O-O collisions, which serve as a crucial bridge of jet quenching between large and small collision systems. Scaling behaviors between different collision systems are shown for heavy meson suppression factor and the bulk-eccentricity-rescaled heavy meson elliptic flow as functions of the number of participant nucleons in heavy-ion collisions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

QLBT: A linear Boltzmann transport model for heavy quarks in a quark-gluon plasma of quasi-particles

We develop a new heavy quark transport model, QLBT, to simulate the dynamical propagation of heavy quarks inside the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Our QLBT model is based on the linear Boltzmann transport (LBT) model with the ideal QGP replaced by a collection of quasi-particles to account for the non-perturbative interactions among quarks and gluons of the hot QGP. The thermal masses of quasi-particles are fitted to the equation of state from lattice QCD simulations using the Bayesian statistical analysis method. Combining QLBT with our advanced hybrid fragmentation-coalescence hadronization approach, we calculate the nuclear modification factor $R_\mathrm{AA}$ and the elliptic flow $v_2$ of $D$ mesons at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider. By comparing our QLBT calculation to the experimental data on the $D$ meson $R_\mathrm{AA}$ and $v_2$, we extract the heavy quark transport parameter $\hat{q}$ and diffusion coefficient $D_\mathrm{s}$ in the temperature range of $1-4~T_\mathrm{c}$, and compare them with the lattice QCD results and other phenomenological studies.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

The medium modification of high-virtuality partons

The modification of the hard core of jets in a dense QCD medium is studied. In particular, we consider partons which possess a virtuality somewhat larger than the multiple scattering scale of the medium ($\hat{q} τ$, where $\hat{q}$ is the transverse broadening jet transport coefficient, and $τ$ is the formation length of a particular emission). We delineate the region of parameter space where the higher-twist approach is applicable, and derive the in-medium DGLAP evolution equation. We study a region in parameter space where this is the dominant mechanism of energy loss. We argue that such a regime is pervasive in most cases of jets in $A$-$A$ and future $e$-$A$ collisions, and controls the modification of the hard core of jets and the leading single particle spectrum at high transverse momentum ($p_\mathrm{T}$).

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Fast and Asymptotically Powerful Detection for Filamentary Objects in Digital Images

Given an inhomogeneous chain embedded in a noisy image, we consider the conditions under which such an embedded chain is detectable. Many applications, such as detecting moving objects, detecting ship wakes, can be abstracted as the detection on the existence of chains. In this work, we provide the detection algorithm with low order of computation complexity to detect the chain and the optimal theoretical detectability regarding SNR (signal to noise ratio) under the normal distribution model. Specifically, we derive an analytical threshold that specifies what is detectable. We design a longest significant chain detection algorithm, with computation complexity in the order of $O(n\log n)$. We also prove that our proposed algorithm is asymptotically powerful, which means, as the dimension $n \rightarrow \infty$, the probability of false detection vanishes. We further provide some simulated examples and a real data example, which validate our theory.

math.ST↗

arXiv2020

Heavy flavor quenching and flow: the roles of initial condition, pre-equilibrium evolution and in-medium interaction

Within an advanced Langevin-hydrodynamics framework coupled to a hybrid fragmentation-coalescence hadronization model, we study heavy flavor quenching and flow in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We investigate how the initial heavy quark spectrum, the energy loss and hadronization mechanisms of heavy quarks in medium, the evolution profile of pre-equilibrium stage, the flow of medium and the temperature dependence of heavy quark diffusion coefficient influence the suppression and elliptic flow of heavy mesons at RHIC and the LHC. Our result shows that different modeling of initial conditions, pre-equilibrium evolution and in-medium interaction can individually yield about 10-40% uncertainties in D meson suppression and flow at low transverse momentum. We also find that a proper combination of collisional versus radiative energy loss, coalescence versus fragmentation in hadronization, and the inclusion of medium flow are the most important factors for describing the suppression and elliptic flow of heavy mesons.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2020

Charmed hadron chemistry in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We develop for charmed hadron production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions a comprehensive coalescence model that includes an extensive set of $s$ and $p$-wave hadronic states as well as the strict energy-momentum conservation, which ensures the boost invariance of the coalescence probability and the thermal limit of the produced hadron spectrum. By combining our hadronization scheme with an advanced Langevin-hydrodynamics model that incorporates both elastic and inelastic energy loss of heavy quarks inside the dynamical quark-gluon plasma, we obtain a successful description of the $p_\mathrm{T}$-integrated and differential $Λ_c/D^0$ and $D_s/D^0$ ratios measured at RHIC and the LHC. We find that including the effect of radial flow of the medium is essential for describing the enhanced $Λ_c/D^0$ ratio observed in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We also find that the puzzling larger $Λ_c/D^0$ ratio observed in Au+Au collisions at RHIC than in Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC is due to the interplay between the effects of the QGP radial flow and the charm quark transverse momentum spectrum at hadronization. Our study further suggests that charmed hadrons have larger sizes in medium than in vacuum.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2020

Medium modification of $γ$-jet fragmentation functions in Pb+Pb collisions at LHC

Coupled linear Boltzmann transport and hydrodynamic (CoLBT-hydro) model has been developed for simultaneous simulations of jet propagation and jet-induced medium excitation in heavy-ion collisions. Within this coupled approach, the final reconstructed jets in heavy-ion collisions include not only hadrons from the hadronization of medium modified jet shower partons from the linear Boltzmann transport (LBT) but also hadrons from the freeze-out of the jet-induced medium excitation in the hydrodynamic evolution of the bulk medium. Using the CoLBT-hydro model, we study medium modification of the fragmentation functions of $γ$-triggered jets in high-energy heavy-ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. The CoLBT-hydro model is shown to describe the experimental data not only on the suppression of leading hadrons within the jet cone at large momentum fraction $z_γ=p_T^h/p_T^γ$ relative to the transverse momentum of the trigger photon due to parton energy loss but also the enhancement of soft hadrons at small $z_γ$ and $z_{\rm jet}=p_T^h/p_T^{\rm jet}$ due to jet-induced medium excitation. There is no suppression of the fragmentation function, however, at large momentum fraction $z_{\rm jet}$ relative to the transverse momentum of the reconstructed jet due to trigger bias and medium modification of quark to gluon jet fraction. For jets whose final transverse momenta are comparable to or larger than that of the trigger photon, the trigger bias can lead to enhancement of the jet fragmentation function at large $z_{\rm jet}$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Longitudinal dependence of B and D meson nuclear modifications in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and the LHC

It is widely acknowledged that heavy flavor probes are sensitive to the properties of the quark-gluon plasma and are often considered an important tool for the plasma tomography studies. Forward rapidity observables can provide further insight on the dynamics of the medium due to the interplay between the medium size and the differences in the production spectra of heavy quark probes. In this proceedings we present the nuclear modification factor $R_\text{AA}$'s for B and D mesons, as well as heavy flavor leptons, in the rapidity range $-4.0 < y < 4.0$ obtained from relativistic Langevin equation with gluon radiation coupled with a (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamics medium background. We present comparison with experimental data at mid-rapidity as well as predictions for different rapidity ranges.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2020

The QCD critical point from the Nambu-Jona-Lasino model with a scalar-vector interaction

We study the critical point in the QCD phase diagram in the Nambu-Jona-Lasino (NJL) model by including a scalar-vector coupled interaction. We find that varying the strength of this interaction, which has no effect on the vacuum properties of QCD, can significantly affect the location of the critical point in the QCD phase diagram, particularly the value of the cirtical temperature. This provides a convenient way to use the NJL-based transport or hydrodynamic model to extract information about the QCD phase diagram from relativistic heavy-ion collisions.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2020

Jet quenching and medium response in high-energy heavy-ion collisions: a review

Jet quenching has been used successfully as a hard probe to study properties of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) in high-energy heavy-collisions at both the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We will review recent progresses in theoretical and phenomenological studies of jet quenching with jet transport models. Special emphasis is given to effects of jet-induced medium response on a wide variety of experimental measurements and their implication on extracting transport properties of the QGP in heavy-ion collisions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Nuclear modification of leading hadrons and jets within a virtuality ordered parton shower

The event generator based on the higher-twist energy loss formalism -- Modular All Twist Transverse-scattering Elastic-drag and Radiation (MATTER) -- is further developed and coupled to a hydrodynamic model for studying jet modification in relativistic nuclear collisions. The probability of parton splitting is calculated using the Sudakov form factor that is constructed by a combination of vacuum and medium-induced splitting functions; and the full parton showers are simulated, including both energy-momentum and space-time evolutions of all jet partons. With the assumption that partons below a virtual scale of 1 GeV is absorbed by the medium, this framework is able to provide a reasonable description of the nuclear modification of both leading hadrons and jets at high transverse momentum at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the CERN Large Hadron Collider.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2019

Asymptotic convergence rate of the longest run in an inflating Bernoulli net

In image detection, one problem is to test whether the set, though mostly consisting of uniformly scattered points, also contains a small fraction of points sampled from some (a priori unknown) curve, for example, a curve with $C^α$-norm bounded by $β$. One approach is to analyze the data by counting membership in multiscale multianisotropic strips, which involves an algorithm that delves into the length of the path connecting many consecutive "significant" nodes. In this paper, we develop the mathematical formalism of this algorithm and analyze the statistical property of the length of the longest significant run. The rate of convergence is derived. Using percolation theory and random graph theory, we present a novel probabilistic model named pseudo-tree model. Based on the asymptotic results for pseudo-tree model, we further study the length of the longest significant run in an "inflating" Bernoulli net. We find that the probability parameter $p$ of significant node plays an important role: there is a threshold $p_c$, such that in the cases of $p p_c$, very different asymptotic behaviors of the length of the significant are observed. We apply our results to the detection of an underlying curvilinear feature and argue that we achieve the lowest possible detectable strength in theory.

stat.AP↗