Medium-enhanced production of c-cbar pairs in jets

Title: Medium-enhanced production of c-cbar pairs in jets

Abstract: The degrees of freedom of the high temperature phase of QCD matter produced in heavy-ion collisions can be studied through its interactions with high-energy partons that are also produced in these collisions. The medium broadens the momentum and degrades the energy of these partons, which is observed as a suppression of the yield of high-energy jets and hadrons in heavy-ion collisions compared to a proton-proton baseline. These interactions can be characterized by medium-modification of the QCD splitting functions. We study the modification of the g->c-cbar splitting function in the kinematic range accessible at the LHC. In addition to characterizing the momentum broadening of the c-cbar pair, we find that interactions with the medium also enhance the rate of c-cbar production. We also propose an experimental signature of this enhancement through the rate of jets containing two D0 mesons in heavy-ion collisions.