Measurements of azimuthal anisotropy of nonprompt D⁰ mesons in PbPb collisions at √𝑠NN = 5.02TeV

Abstract

Measurements of the elliptic (v2) and triangular (v3) azimuthal anisotropy coefficients are presented for D⁰ mesons produced in b hadron decays (nonprompt D⁰ mesons) in lead-lead collisions at √sNN = 5.02TeV. The results are compared with previously published charm meson anisotropies measured using prompt D⁰ mesons. The data were collected with the CMS detector in 2018 with an integrated luminosity of 0.58 nb−¹. Azimuthal anisotropy is sensitive to the interactions of quarks with the hot and dense medium created in heavy ion collisions. Comparing results for prompt and nonprompt D0 mesons can assist in understanding the mass dependence of these interactions. The nonprompt results show lower magnitudes of v2 and v3 and weaker dependences on the meson transverse momentum and collision centrality than those found for prompt D0 mesons. The results are in agreement with theoretical predictions that include a mass dependence in the interactions of quarks with the medium.