arXiv subjects

Vincenzo Greco

Publications and source records attributed to Vincenzo Greco.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Heavy quark dynamics in QCD matter

Simultaneous description of heavy quark nuclear suppression factor $R_{AA}$ and the elliptic flow $v_2$ is a top challenge for all the existing models. We highlight how the temperature dependence of the energy loss/transport coefficients is responsible to address a large part of such a puzzle along with the the full solution of the Boltzmann collision integral for the momentum evolution of heavy quark. We consider four different models to evaluate the temperature dependence of drag coefficients of the heavy quark in the QGP. We have also highlighted the heavy quark dynamics in the presence of an external electromagnetic field which develops a sizable heavy quark directed flow, $v_1(y)$, can be measurable at LHC.

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arXiv2016

Probing the hadron-quark mixed phase at high isospin and baryon density - Sensitive observables

We discuss the isospin effect on the possible phase transition from hadronic to quark matter at high baryon density and finite temperatures. The two-Equation of State (Two-EoS) model is adopted to describe the hadron-quark phase transition in dense matter formed in heavy-ion collisions. For the hadron sector we use Relativistic Mean Field (RMF) effective models, already tested on heavy ion collision (HIC). For the quark phase we consider various effective models, the MIT-Bag static picture, the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (NJL) approach with chiral dynamics and finally the NJL coupled to the Polyakov-loop field (PNJL), which includes both chiral and (de)confinement dynamics. The idea is to extract mixed phase properties which appear robust with respect to the model differences. In particular we focus on the phase transitions of isospin asymmetric matter, with two main results: i) an earlier transition to a mixed hadron-quark phase, at lower baryon density/chemical potential with respect to symmetric matter; ii) an "Isospin Distillation" to the quark component of the mixed phase, with predicted effects on the final hadron production. Possible observation signals are suggested to probe in heavy-ion collision experiments at intermediate energies, in the range of the NICA program.

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arXiv2015

Initial state fluctuations from mid-peripheral to ultra-central collisions in a event-by-event transport approach

We have developed a relativistic kinetic transport approach that incorporates initial state fluctuations allowing to study the build up of elliptic flow $v_2$ and high order harmonics $v_3$, $v_4$ and $v_5$ for a fluid at fixed $η/s(T)$. We study the effect of the $η/s$ ratio and its T dependence on the build up of the $v_n(p_T)$ for two different beam energies: RHIC for Au+Au at $\sqrt{s}=200 \,GeV$ and LHC for $Pb+Pb$ at $\sqrt{s}=2.76 \,TeV$. We find that for the two different beam energies considered the suppression of the $v_n(p_T)$ due to the viscosity of the medium have different contributions coming from the cross over or QGP phase. Our study reveals that only in ultra-central collisions ($0 - 0.2 \%$) the $v_n(p_T)$ have a stronger sensitivity to the T dependence of $η/s$ in the QGP phase and this sensitivity increases with the order of the harmonic n. Moreover, the study of the correlations between the initial spatial anisotropies $ε_n$ and the final flow coefficients $v_n$ shows that at LHC energies there is more correlation than at RHIC energies. The degree of correlation increases from peripheral to central collisions, but only in ultra-central collisions at LHC, we find that the linear correlation coefficient $C(n,n) \approx 1$ for $n=2,3,4$ and $5$. This suggests that the final correlations in the ($v_n$,$v_m$) space reflect the initial correlations in the ($ε_n$,$ε_m$) space.

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arXiv2015

Toward a simultaneous description of $R_{AA}$ and $v_2$ for heavy quarks

The two key observables related to heavy quarks that have been measured in RHIC and LHC energies are the nuclear suppression factor $R_{AA}$ and the elliptic flow $v_2$. Simultaneous description of these two observables is a top challenge for all the existing models. We have highlighted how a consistent combination of four ingredients i.e the temperature dependence of the energy loss, full solution of the Boltzmann collision integral for the momentum evolution of heavy quark, hadronization by coalescence, then the hadronic rescattering, responsible to address a large part of such a puzzle. We have considered four different models to evaluate the temperature dependence of drag coefficients of the heavy quark in QGP. All these four different models are set to reproduce the same $R_{AA}$ as of the experiments. We have shown that for the same $R_{AA}$, the $v_2$ could be quite different depending on the interaction dynamics as well as other ingredients.

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arXiv2015

Toward an understanding of the $R_{AA}$ and $v_2$ puzzle for heavy quarks

One of the primary aims of the ongoing nuclear collisions at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and Large Hadron Collider (LHC) energies is to create a Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP). The heavy quarks constitutes a unique probe of the QGP properties. Both at RHIC and LHC energies a puzzling relation between the nuclear modification factor $R_{AA}(p_T)$ and the elliptic flow $v_2(p_T)$ related to heavy quark has been observed which challenged all the existing models.\\ We discuss how the temperature dependence of the heavy quark drag coefficient can address for a large part of such a puzzle. We have considered four different models to evaluate the temperature dependence of drag and diffusion coefficients propagating through a quark gluon plasma (QGP). All the four different models are set to reproduce the same $R_{AA}(p_T)$ experimentally observed at RHIC energy. We have found that for the same $R_{AA}(p_T)$ one can generate $2-3$ times more $v_{2}$ depending on the temperature dependence of the heavy quark drag coefficient.

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arXiv2015

Heavy quark diffusion in pre-equilibrium stage of heavy ion collisions

The drag and diffusion coefficients of heavy quarks (HQs) have been evaluated in the pre-equilibrium phase of the evolving fireball produced in heavy ion collisions at RHIC and LHC energies. The KLN and classical Yang-Mills spectra have been used for describing the momentum distributions of the gluons produced just after the collisions but before they thermalize. The interaction of the HQs with these gluons has been treated within the framework of perturbative QCD. We have observed that the HQs are dragged almost equally by the kinetically equilibrated and out-of-equilibrium gluonic systems. We have also noticed that the HQs diffusion in the pre-equilibrium gluonic phase is as fast as in the kinetically equilibrated gluons. Moreover, the diffusion is faster in the pre-equilibrium phase than in the chemically equilibrated quark-gluon plasma. These findings may have significant impact on the analysis of experimental results on the elliptic flow and the high momentum suppression of the open charm and beauty hadrons.

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arXiv2015

Quarks Production in the Quark-Gluon Plasma Created in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

In this article we report on our results about quark production and chemical equilibration of quark-gluon plasma. Our initial condition corresponds to a classic Yang-Mills spectrum, in which only gluon degrees of freedom are considered; the initial condition is then evolved to a quark-gluon plasma by means of relativistic transport theory with inelastic processes which permit the conversion of gluons to $q\bar{q}$ pairs. We then compare our results to the ones obtained with a standard Glauber model initialization. We find that regardless of the initial condition the final stage of the system contains an abundant percentage of $q\bar{q}$ pairs; moreover spanning the possible coupling from weak to strong we find that unless the coupling is unrealistically small, both production rate and final percentage of fermions is quite large.

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arXiv2015

Viscous corrections to anisotropic flow and transverse momentum spectra from transport theory

Viscous hydrodynamics is commonly used to model the evolution of the matter created in an ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collision. It provides a good description of transverse momentum spectra and anisotropic flow. These observables, however, cannot be consistently derived using viscous hydrodynamics alone, because they depend on the microscopic interactions at freeze-out. We derive the ideal hydrodynamic limit and the first-order viscous correction to anisotropic flow ($v_2$, $v_3$ and $v_4$) and momentum spectrum using a transport calculation. The linear response coefficient to the initial anisotropy, $v_n(p_T)/\varepsilon_n$, depends little on $n$ in the ideal hydrodynamic limit. The viscous correction to the spectrum depends not only on the differential cross section, but also on the initial momentum distribution. This dependence is not captured by standard second-order viscous hydrodynamics. The viscous correction to anisotropic flow increases with $p_T$, but this increase is slower than usually assumed in viscous hydrodynamic calculations. In particular, it is too slow to explain the observed maximum of $v_n$ at $p_T\sim 3$ GeV/c.

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arXiv2015

Toward a solution to the $R_{AA}$ and $v_2$ puzzle for heavy quarks

The heavy quarks constitutes a unique probe of the quark-gluon plasma properties. Both at RHIC and LHC energies a puzzling relation between the nuclear modification factor $R_{AA}(p_T)$ and the elliptic flow $v_2(p_T)$ has been observed which challenged all the existing models, especially for D mesons. We discuss how the temperature dependence of the heavy quark drag coefficient is responsible for a large part of such a puzzle. In particular, we have considered four different models to evaluate the temperature dependence of drag and diffusion coefficients propagating through a quark gluon plasma (QGP). All the four different models are set to reproduce the same $R_{AA}(p_T)$ observed in experiments at RHIC and LHC energy. We point out that for the same $R_{AA}(p_T)$ one can generate 2-3 times more $v_2$ depending on the temperature dependence of the heavy quark drag coefficient. A non-decreasing drag coefficient as $ T \rightarrow\ T_c \,$ is a major ingredient for a simultaneous description of $R_{AA}(p_T)$ and $v_2(p_T)$.

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arXiv2015

QCD Equation of State and Cosmological Parameters in Early Universe

The time evolution of cosmological parameters in early Universe at the deconfinement transition is studied by an equation of state (EoS) which takes into account the finite baryon density and the background magnetic field. The non perturbative dynamics is described by the Field Correlator Method (FCM) which gives, with a small number of free parameters, a good fit of lattice data. The entire system has two components, i.e. the quark-gluon plasma and the electroweak sector, and the solutions of the Friedmann equation show that the scale factor, $a(t)$, and $H(t)= (1/a)da/dt$ are weakly dependent on the EoS, but the deceleration parameter, $q(t)$, and the jerk, $j(t)$, are strongly modified above the critical temperature $T_c$, corresponding to a critical time $t_c \simeq 20-25 μs$. The time evolution of the cosmological parameters suggest that above and around $T_c$ there is a transient state of acceleration typical of a matter dominated Universe; this is entailed by the QCD strong interaction driven by the presence of massive colored objects.

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arXiv2014

Heavy Flavor in Medium Momentum Evolution: Langevin vs Boltzmann

The propagation of heavy quarks in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) has been often treated within the framework of the Langevin equation (LV), i.e. assuming the momentum transfer is small or the scatterings are sufficiently forward peaked, small screening mass $m_D$. We address a direct comparison between the Langevin dynamics and the Boltzmann collisional integral (BM) when a bulk medium is in equilibrium at fixed temperature. We show that unless the cross section is quite forward peaked ($m_D\cong T $) or the mass to temperature ratio is quite large ($M_{HQ}/T \gtrsim 8-10$) there are significant differences in the evolution of the $p-$spectra and consequently on nuclear modification factor $R_{AA}(p_T)$. However for charm quark we find that very similar $R_{AA}(p_T)$ between the LV and BM can be obtained, but with a modified diffusion coefficient by about $\sim 15-50\%$ depending on the angular dependence of the cross section which regulates the momentum transfer. Studying also the momentum spread suffered by a single heavy quarks we see that at temperatures $T\gtrsim \, 250\,\rm MeV$ the dynamics of the scatterings is far from being of Brownian type for charm quarks. In the case of bottom quarks we essentially find no differences in the time evolution of the momentum spectra between the LV and the BM dynamics independently of the angular dependence of the cross section, at least in the range of temperature relevant for ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Finally, we have shown the possible impact of this study on $R_{AA}(p_T)$ and $v_2(p_T)$ for a realistic simulation of relativistic HIC. For larger $m_D$ the elliptic flow can be about $50\%$ larger for the Boltzmann dynamics with respect to the Langevin. This is helpful for a simultaneous reproduction of $R_{AA}(p_T)$ and $v_2(p_T)$.

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arXiv2014

Diffusion of $Λ_c$ in hot hadronic medium and its impact on $Λ_c/D$ ratio

The drag and diffusion coefficients of the $Λ_c(2286$ MeV) have been evaluated in the hadronic medium which is expected to be formed in the later stages of the evolving fire ball produced in heavy ion collisions at RHIC and LHC energies. The interactions between the $Λ_c$ and the hadrons in the medium have been derived from an effective hadronic Lagrangian as well as from the scattering lengths, obtained in the framework of heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory (HB$χ$PT). In both the approaches, the magnitude of the transport coefficients are turn out to be significant. A larger value is obtained in the former approach with respect to the latter. Significant values of the coefficients indicate substantial amount of interaction of the $Λ_c$ with the hadronic thermal bath. Furthermore, the transport coefficients of the $Λ_c$ is found to be different from the transport coefficients of $D$ meson. Present study indicates that the hadronic medium has a significant impact on the $Λ_c/D$ ratio in heavy ion collisions.

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arXiv2014

Partonic mean-field effects on matter and antimatter elliptic flows

Using a partonic transport model based on the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model, we study the effect of scalar and vector mean fields on the elliptic flows of quarks and antiquarks in relativistic heavy ion collisions in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=7.7~$GeV and impact parameter $b=8~{\rm fm}$ that leads to the production of a baryon-rich matter. Although the scalar mean field, which is attractive for both quarks and antiquarks, reduces both their elliptic flows, the vector mean field, which is repulsive for quarks and attractive for antiquarks, leads to a splitting of their elliptic flows, and this effect increases with the strength of the vector coupling in the baryon-rich quark matter. Converting quarks and antiquarks at hadronization to hadrons via the quark coalescence model, we further study the dependence of the transverse momentum integrated relative elliptic flow differences between protons and antiprotons, lambda and anti-lambdas, and positively and negatively charged kaons on the strength of the quark vector coupling. These results are then compared with the experimental data measured by the STAR Collaboration in the Beam Energy Scan program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider.

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arXiv2014

Thermalization, Isotropization and Elliptic Flow from Nonequilibrium Initial Conditions with a Saturation Scale

In this article we report on our results about the computation of the elliptic flow of the quark-gluon-plasma produced in relativistic heavy ion collisions, simulating the expansion of the fireball by solving the relativistic Boltzmann equation for the parton distribution function tuned at a fixed shear viscosity to entropy density ratio $η/s$. Our main goal is to put emphasis on the role of a saturation scale in the initial gluon spectrum, which makes the initial distribution far from a thermalized one. We find that the presence of the saturation scale reduces the efficiency in building-up the elliptic flow, even if the thermalization process is quite fast $τ_{therm} \approx 0.8 \,\rm fm/c$ and the pressure isotropization even faster $τ_{isotr} \approx 0.3 \,\rm fm/c$. The impact of the non-equilibrium implied by the saturation scale manifests for non-central collisions and can modify the estimate of the viscosity respect to the assumption of full thermalization in $p_T$-space. We find that the estimate of $η/s$ is modified from $η/s \approx 2/4π$ to $η/s \approx 1/4π$ at RHIC and from $η/s \approx 3/4π$ to $η/s \approx 2/4π$ at LHC. We complete our investigation by a study of the thermalization and isotropization times of the fireball for different initial conditions and values of $η/s$ showing how the latter affects both isotropization and thermalization. Lastly, we have seen that the range of values explored by the phase-space distribution function $f$ is such that at $p_T<0.5\, \rm GeV$ the inner part of the fireball stays with occupation number significantly larger than unity despite the fast longitudinal expansion, which might suggest the possibility of the formation of a transient Bose-Einstein Condensate.

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arXiv2014

Polyakov loop and gluon quasiparticles: a self-consistent approach to Yang-Mills thermodynamics

We present a quasiparticle model for the pure gauge sector of QCD, in which transverse quasigluons propagate in a Polyakov loop background field. By incorporating thermodynamic self-consistency in the approach, we show that our Polyakov loop extended quasiparticle model allows an accurate description of recent lattice results for all the thermodynamic quantities, including the Polyakov loop expectation value, in the deconfined phase. The related quasigluon mass exhibits a distinct temperature dependence, which is connected with the non-perturbative behavior seen in the scaled interaction measure of the pure gauge theory.

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arXiv2014

Elliptic Flow and Shear Viscosity of the Shattered Color Glass Condensate

In this talk, we report on our results about the computation of the elliptic flow of the quark-gluon-plasma produced in relativistic heavy ion collisions, simulating the expansion of the fireball by solving the relativistic Boltzmann equation for the parton distribution function tuned at a fixed shear viscosity to entropy density ratio $η/s$. We emphasize the role of saturation in the initial gluon spectrum modelling the shattering of the color glass condensate, causing the initial distribution to be out of equilibrium. We find that the saturation reduces the efficiency in building-up the elliptic flow, even if the thermalization process is quite fast $τ_{therm} \approx 0.8 \,\rm fm/c$. and the pressure isotropization even faster $τ_{isotr} \approx 0.3 \,\rm fm/c$. The impact of the initial non-equilibrium manifests for non-central collisions and can modify the estimate of the viscosity respect to the assumption of full thermalization in $p_T$-space.

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arXiv2013

Heavy Flavor Suppression: Boltzmann vs Langevin

The propagation of heavy flavor through the quark gluon plasma has been treated commonly within the framework of Langevin dynamics, i.e. assuming the heavy flavor momentum transfer is much smaller than the light one. On the other hand a similar suppression factor $R_{AA}$ has been observed experimentally for light and heavy flavors. We present a thorough study of the approximations involved by Langevin equation by mean of a direct comparison with the full collisional integral within the framework of Boltzmann transport equation. We have compared the results obtained in both approaches which can differ substantially for charm quark leading to quite different values extracted for the heavy quark diffusion coefficient. In the case of bottom quark the approximation appears to be quite reasonable.

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arXiv2013

Thermodynamics of the Quark-Gluon Plasma in Terms of Quasiparticles and Polyakov Line Condensates

We study a model of quark-gluon plasma of 2+1 flavors Quantum Chromodynamics in terms of quasiparticles propagating in a condensate of Polyakov loops. The Polyakov loop is coupled to quasiparticles by means of a gas-like effective potential. This study is useful to identify the effective degrees of freedom propagating in the medium above the critical temperature. Our finding is that a dominant part of the phase transition dynamics is accounted for by the Polyakov loop, hence the thermodynamics can be described without the need for rapidly increasing quasiparticle masses as $T \rightarrow T_c$, at variance respect to standard quasiparticle models.

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