Exploring the effects of electromagnetic fields and tilted bulk distribution on directed flow of D mesons in small systems

Abstract

We studied the directed flow of heavy quarks in small systems produced in p-Pb collisions due to both the impact of initial vorticity and electromagnetic fields. We employed a relativistic transport code to model the bulk evolution of the small systems and studied the heavy quark momentum evolution using Langevin dynamics. For the heavy quarks interaction with the bulk, we employed a quasiparticle model (QPM). We observed a large directed flow splitting (Δv1) of charm quarks due to electromagnetic fields, which is comparable to the directed flow splitting of charm quarks in nucleus-nucleus collisions. However, the magnitude of the directed flow due to the initial tilted matter distribution in p-nucleus collisions is not substantial. The observed directed flow is not rapidity odd due to the asymmetry in the colliding system. The results presented in this manuscript provide an independent way to quantify the initial electromagnetic field produced and the matter distributed in small systems.

Keywords

• Relativistic heavy-ion collisions
• Heavy quarks
• Langevin equation
• Electromagnetic field
• Directed flow
• Quark-gluon plasma