An Impact of Parton Distribution Functions on Open Heavy Flavor Azimuthal Angular Correlations in Pb-Pb Collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.5 TeV

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the impact of modern free parton distribution functions and nuclear parton distribution functions on the azimuthal angular correlation of open heavy flavor hadrons in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.5 TeV using PYTHIA8 + Angantyr model. The method involves a transverse momentum ($p_{\rm{T}}$) differential assessment of azimuthal angular correlations between prompt $\rm{D^0-\bar{D}^0}$ and $\rm{B-\bar{B}}$. By analyzing the $p_{\rm{T}}$-dependent behavior of these correlations, we probe the interplay between different production mechanisms and assess the impact of parton distribution functions on heavy-flavor hadron production dynamics. Our results indicate that nuclear parton distribution functions significantly modify both near-side and away-side peaks of the azimuthal correlation distribution compared to the default PYTHIA8 baseline, particularly at low $p_{\rm{T}}$. The near-side double-peak structure suggests contributions from next-to-leading order (NLO) processes, such as gluon splitting, and its presence is strongly correlated with the number of hard multi-partonic interactions. Additionally, by quantitatively comparing the change in correlation widths across various PDF settings, we comment on the role of nuclear parton distribution functions in heavy-quark thermalization in heavy-ion collisions. This comprehensive study of azimuthal correlations enhances our understanding of initial-state conditions and heavy-flavor production dynamics in nuclear collisions.