Effects of quark chemical equilibration on thermal photon elliptic flow

Abstract

Large hadronic elliptic flow $v_2$ is considered as an evidence for the existence of a strongly-coupled QGP fluid in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. On the other hand, direct photon $v_2$ has recently been found to be much larger than hydrodynamic estimations, which is recognized as "photon $v_2$ puzzle". In this study, I discuss the implication of late production of quarks in an initially gluon-rich medium because photons are coupled to quarks. Numerical analyses imply that thermal photon $v_2$ can be visibly enhanced. This indicates that interplay of equilibration processes and collective expansion would be important.