Heavy quarks and jets as probes of the QGP

• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2203.16352
• Publication Date: 2022-11-01
• Authors: Apolinário, Liliana; Lee, Yen-Jie; Winn, Michael
• Keywords: heavy ion: scattering; [PHYS.NUCL]Physics [physics]/Nuclear Theory [nucl-th]; Nuclear Theory; Quarkonia; hadronization: effect; FOS: Physical sciences; jet: formation; [PHYS.NEXP]Physics [physics]/Nuclear Experiment [nucl-ex]; 01 natural sciences; Nuclear Theory (nucl-th); High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph); Jets; quantum chromodynamics; 0103 physical sciences; heavy quark; Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex); initial state; Nuclear Experiment; quark gluon: plasma; Brookhaven RHIC Coll; Heavy-Flavor; High Energy Physics - Phenomenology; CERN LHC Coll; momentum: high; [PHYS.HPHE]Physics [physics]/High Energy Physics - Phenomenology [hep-ph]; Quark-Gluon Plasma; quarkonium

Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP), a QCD state of matter created in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions, has remarkable properties, including, for example, a low shear viscosity over entropy ratio. By detecting the collection of low-momentum particles that arise from the collision, it is possible to gain quantitative insight into the created matter. However, its fast evolution and thermalization properties remain elusive. Only using high momentum objects as probes of QGP can unveil its constituents at different wavelengths. In this review, we attempt to provide a comprehensive picture of what was, so far, possible to infer about QGP given our current theoretical understanding of jets, heavy-flavor, and quarkonia. We will bridge the resulting qualitative picture to the experimental observations done at the LHC and RHIC. We will focus on the phenomenological description of experimental observations, provide a brief analytical summary of the description of hard probes, and an outlook on the main difficulties we will need to surpass in the following years. To benchmark QGP-related effects, we will also address nuclear modifications to the initial state and hadronization effects.