J/\psi$ Gluonic Dissociation Revisited : III. Effects of Transverse Hydrodynamic Flow

Abstract

In a recent paper [Eur. Phys. J {\bf C 44}, 567 (2005)] we developed a very general formulation to take into account explicitly the effects of hydrodynamic flow profile on the gluonic breakup of $J/\psi$'s produced in an equilibrating quark-gluon plasma. Here we apply that formulation to the case when the medium is undergoing cylindrically symmetric {\it transverse} expansion starting from RHIC or LHC initial conditions. Our algebraic and numerical estimates demonstrate that the transverse expansion causes enhancement of local gluon number density $\ng$, affects the $\pt$-dependence of the average dissociation rate $\tilg$ through a partial-wave interference mechanism, and makes the survival probability $\spt$ to change with $\pt$ very slowly. Compared to the previous case of longitudinal expansion the new graph of $\spt$ is pushed up at LHC, but develops a rich structure at RHIC, due to a competition between the transverse catch-up time and plasma lifetime.