Centrality dependence of high-pT D meson suppression in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN=2.76 TeV

Abstract

The nuclear modification factor, R-AA, of the prompt charmed mesons D-0, D+ and D*+, and their antiparticles, was measured with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy root s(NN) = 2 : 76 TeV in two transverse momentum intervals, 5 < p(T) < 8 GeV/c and 8 < p(T) < 16 GeV/c, and in six collision centrality classes. The R-AA shows a maximum suppression of a factor of 5{6 in the 10% most central collisions. The suppression and its centrality dependence are compatible within uncertainties with those of charged pions. A comparison with the R-AA of non-prompt J/psi from B meson decays, measured by the CMS Collaboration, hints at a larger suppression of D mesons in the most central collisions.