Measurement of electrons from heavy-flavour decays in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 2.76$ TeV with ALICE

Abstract

The measurement of heavy-flavour (charm and beauty) production in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions provides an important contribution to the study of the properties of the hot and dense medium created in such collisions. One approach to measure heavy-flavour production is via electrons from semi-leptonic decays of heavy-flavour hadrons. In this contribution we present the nuclear modification factor $(R_{{\rm{AA}}})$ and the azimuthal anisotropy $(v_{2})$ of heavy-flavour decay electrons in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathit{{\rm{NN}}}}= 2.76$ TeV, which are sensitive to the interaction of c and b quarks with the medium. We also present, for the first time, the azimuthal angular correlations of heavy-flavour decay electrons and charged hadrons, $\Delta\phi(\mathit{HFE},h)$, in Pb-Pb collisions and the corresponding near-side yield ratio $(I_{\rm{AA}})$.