Exploring the origin of D$^0$ meson elliptic flow in PbPb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV using event shape engineering

Abstract

The influence of the initial-state geometry on the elliptic flow of prompt D$^0$ mesons in high-energy heavy ion collisions is explored. A lead-lead (PbPb) data sample at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV and with an integrated luminosity of 0.607 nb$^{-1}$ was collected in 2018 with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. Based on these data, an event-shape engineering technique is used to isolate collisions with similar geometrical properties. An asymmetry parameter, $q_2$, is first determined from the distribution of transverse energy in the forward region of the detector. This parameter is shown to be linearly correlated with the elliptic anisotropy of inclusive charged particles measured near mid-rapidity, as characterized by the second-order Fourier coefficients, $v_2$. Taking the charged particle $v_2$ coefficients as proxies for the initial-state eccentricity, the correlation of D$^0$ meson $v_2$ values near mid-rapidity with those of inclusive charged particles is then studied. For D$^0$ mesons with transverse momenta in the range of 2$-$30 GeV and for different degrees of collision overlap, the $v_2$ values are found strongly correlated with those for charged particles when selected based on similar $q_2$ intervals. This correlation suggests that the initial-state geometry substantially impacts the development of charm-hadron flow in heavy ion collisions. A model calculation that explores the thermalization and collective motion of D$^0$ mesons and charged particles is compared to the experimental results.