Open Heavy Flavor Production at Forward Angles in PHENIX

Abstract

The measurement of the nuclear modification factor ($R_{\rm AA}$) for heavy-flavor production in heavy-ion collisions tests predictions for cold- and hot-nuclear-matter effects. Heavy-flavor production in \pp\ collisions tests pQCD calculations and serves as a reference for understanding heavy-flavor production in heavy-ion collisions. Using the PHENIX muon-arm spectrometers, the transverse momentum spectra of inclusive muon candidates are measured for \pp\ and $\cucu$ collisions at $\snn = 200$\,GeV. After subtracting backgrounds, we obtain the measured invariant yields of negative muons from the decay of heavy flavor mesons. For \pp\ collisions, we measure the charm-production cross section integrated over $\pt$ and in the rapidity range $1.4<y<1.9$ to be $d\sigma_{c\bar{c}}/dy = 0.139\pm 0.029\ {\rm (stat)\,}^{+0.051}_{-0.058}\ {\rm (syst)}$ mb. This result is compared to a recent FONLL calculation and to a PHENIX measurement at mid-rapidity. For $\cucu$ collisions, we measure the $R_{\rm AA}$ for heavy-flavor muons in three centrality bins for $1<\pt<4$ GeV/$c$, with suppression observed for central collisions. We compare our measurement for central collisions to a recent theoretical prediction.