# 𝐵_𝑐 Production at RHIC as a Signal for Deconfinement

## 1 Introduction

This work investigates the possibility that the production of $`B_c`$ mesons at RHIC may serve as a signal for the presence (or absence) of a deconfined state of matter . The study of the b-c sector has the advantage of a long history of potential model analysis in the $`b\overline{b}`$ and $`c\overline{c}`$ sectors. These studies have provided robust predictions for the mass and lifetime of the $`B_c`$ states, and the recent measurements by CDF are consistent with those calculations.

First let us estimate at RHIC the production rate of different heavy quarks and mesons, which one would expect if it results just from a superposition of the initial nucleon-nucleon collisions. For heavy quark production, pQCD calculations for p-p interactions fit present accelerator data and bracket the RHIC energy range. Hard Probes Collaboration estimates indicate about 10 $`c\overline{c}`$ pairs and 0.05 $`b\overline{b}`$ pairs per central collision at RHIC. $`J/\psi `$ and $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}`$ production involves the use of some model, such as the Hard Probes color singlet fits, which would predict bound state fractions of order somewhat less than the one percent level.

A similar analysis for $`B_c`$ production reaches significantly different results<sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1In the following we include in the term $`B_c`$ also the vector 1S state $`B_c^{}`$, since its mass splitting should only allow an electromagnetic decay into the pseudoscalar ground state and thus both will contribute identically in the experimental signatures. Since the $`b`$ and $`\overline{c}`$ must be produced in the same nucleon-nucleon interaction, parton subprocesses of order $`\alpha _s^4`$ are the leading order contributions. This leads to a substantial reduction of the bound state fraction

$$R_b\frac{B_c+B_c^{}}{b\overline{b}}$$

relative to the few percent levels for the corresponding $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}`$ state fractions. At RHIC energies, typical values are $`R_b=310\times 10^5`$, with the uncertainty from the scale choice in the pQCD calculations.

To convert these numbers into $`B_c`$ production predictions for RHIC, we have looked at two scenarios for the luminosity. a) The “first year” case assumes a luminosity of 20 inverse microbarns with no trigger. b) The “design” luminosity assumes 65 Hz event rate with a 10% centrality trigger in Phenix, and uses $`10^7`$ sec/year. The predictions we obtain are listed in Table 1. Included in the estimates are both the weak branching fraction of the $`B_c`$ plus the dimuon decay fraction for $`J/\psi `$. Similar numbers are shown for the $`J/\psi `$ and $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}`$ production and detection via $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$, and also the underlying heavy quark production which may be useful to make contact with other estimates. One sees easily that in this scenario there is no hope of seeing $`B_c`$’s at RHIC.

## 2 Deconfinement Scenario

Now the principal reason for our interest - could deconfinement change the $`B_c`$ production rate at RHIC? We have investigated the following scenario: In those events in which a $`b\overline{b}`$ pair are produced, one could avoid the small $`B_c`$ formation fraction if the $`b`$-quarks are allowed to form bound states by combining with $`c`$-quarks from among the 10 $`c\overline{c}`$ pairs already produced by independent nucleon-nucleon collisions in the same event. This can occur if and only if there is a region of deconfinement which allows a spatial overlap of the b and c quarks. In addition, one would expect some $`c\overline{c}`$ production in the deconfined phase during its lifetime, as a result of the approach toward chemical equilibration. The large binding energy of $`B_c`$ (840 Mev) would favor their early “freezing out” and they will tend to survive as the temperature drops to the phase transition value. The same effect for the B mesons and indeed for the $`B_s`$ will not be so competitive, since these states are not bound at the initial high temperatures (or equivalently they are ionized at a relatively high rate by thermal gluons).

To do a quantitative estimate of these effects, we calculate the dissociation rate of bound states due to collisions with gluons, utilizing a quarkonium break-up cross section based on the operator product expansion :

$$\sigma _B(k)=\frac{2\pi }{3}\left(\frac{32}{3}\right)^2\left(\frac{2\mu }{ϵ_o}\right)^{1/2}\frac{1}{4\mu ^2}\frac{(k/ϵ_o1)^{3/2}}{(k/ϵ_o)^5},$$
(1)   
where $`k`$ is the gluon momentum, $`ϵ_o`$ the binding energy, and $`\mu `$ the reduced mass of the quarkonium system. This form assumes the quarkonium system has a spatial size small compared with the inverse of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{QCD}`$, and its bound state spectrum is close to that in a nonrelativistic Coulomb potential. The magnitude of the cross section is controlled just by the geometric factor $`\frac{1}{4\mu ^2}`$, and its rate of increase in the region just above threshold is due to phase space and the p-wave color dipole interaction.

For the breakup rate $`\lambda _B`$ of $`B_c`$ states in deconfined matter, we calculate the thermal average:

$$\lambda _B=v_gn_g\sigma _B=\frac{8}{\pi ^2}_{ϵ_o}^{\mathrm{}}k^2𝑑ke^{\frac{k}{T}}\sigma _B(k),$$
(2)   
where $`v_g`$ = 1 and all modes of massless color octet gluons have been included. Numerical results for these rates are shown in Fig. 1. For comparison, breakup rates are also shown for the $`J/\psi `$ and $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}`$ (and even the $`B_s`$, but the the approximations made for this cross section probably have a very marginal validity in view of such a large state). One sees that in the range of temperatures expected at RHIC, these breakup rates for $`B_c`$ lead to time scales of order $`110\mathrm{fm}`$.

For an estimate of the corresponding cross section for the formation reaction $`\sigma _F(b+\overline{c}B_c+g)`$ we utilized detailed balance relations. This leads to a finite value of $`\sigma _F`$ at threshold, since it is an exothermic reaction. In the approximation that the massive $`b`$-quarks are stationary, which is expected to be a reasonable approximation due to their energy loss in the hot plasma , the formation rate is then calculated for a thermal distribution of charm quarks:

$$\lambda _F=v_cn_c\sigma _F=\frac{3}{\pi ^2}_0^{\mathrm{}}\left(\frac{p}{E_p}\right)p^2𝑑pe^{\frac{E_p}{T}}\sigma _F(p)$$
(3)   
where $`E_p=\sqrt{p^2+m_c^2}`$. These formation rates are shown in Fig. 2. They have been calculated for three different values of charm quark mass. It is apparent that the results are quite sensitive to this choice, due to the strong dependence of total charm quark population. The same values of $`m_c`$ have very little effect on the breakup rates, since they only change the overall scale in the geometric factor of the breakup cross section.

Also shown in Fig. 2 are the ratios $`\lambda _B/\lambda _F`$, which in our normalization is related to the bound state fraction in the equilibrium limit:<sup>2</sup><sup>2</sup>2 This bound state fraction is reached if the system has enough time in its dynamical evolution to relax to the steady-state solution at each temperature. We have verified that this is roughly the case down to $`T=300`$ MeV, at which point the $`B_c`$ abundance begins to freeze out.

$$R_b\frac{B_c+B_c^{}}{b\overline{b}}=\frac{\frac{3}{2}\frac{\lambda _F}{\lambda _B}}{1+\frac{3}{4}\frac{\lambda _F}{\lambda _B}}.$$
(4)   
Note that this ratio approaches its upper limit of 2 when the formation rate dominates over the breakup rate. This corresponds to the situation in which every b-quark produced in the initial collisions emerges as a $`B_c`$ bound state.

We choose a transition temperature $`T_f=160`$ MeV at which to evaluate the final bound state populations. Here the equilibrium bound state fraction $`R_b`$ drops to as low as several percent, but it is at least a factor of 100 above what one may expect in the no-deconfinement scenario. We have chosen to use the equilibrium ratios although at this final temperature the rates are not sufficient for them to be approached. This provides an even more conservative estimate for the final bound state populations. The corresponding entries in the Table for numbers of $`B_c`$ mesons (labeled QGP + $`c\overline{c}`$ in Chemical Equil.) uses this conservative lower limit estimate.

Implicitly, this analysis uses the full chemical equilibrium density for c-quarks. To get a more realistic limit we repeated the calculation, using only the initially-produced $`c`$-quarks in the formation rate. From the initial population of 10 $`c\overline{c}`$-pairs produced via nucleon-nucleon collisions in a central Au-Au collision at RHIC, and an initial volume $`V_o=\pi (R_{Au})^2\tau _o`$ with $`\tau _o`$ = 1.0 fm, one concludes that only for initial temperatures $`T_o<300`$ MeV is the initial charm quark density comparable to that for full chemical equilibrium. For initial temperature $`T_o`$ = 500 MeV, for example, the chemical equilibrium charm quark density would be about a factor of 40 higher than that actually provided by the initially-produced charm quarks. As temperature decreases below $`T_o`$, the isentropic expansion $`VT^3=`$ Const. leads to a decrease in the $`c`$-quark density proportional to $`T^3`$, rather than the $`e^{m_c/T}`$ of chemical equilibrium. We have verified that the rates of both charm annihilation and production in a deconfined state for $`T<300`$ MeV then lead to charm quark occupancies which exceed those for chemical equilibrium as one approaches the transition point . Fig. 3 displays a comparison of chemical equilibrium charm quark densities and those resulting from a constant number of initially-produced charm quarks with isentropic expansion.

These more realistic charm quark densities are used to recalculate the formation rates, and the resulting ratios $`\lambda _F/\lambda _B`$ are shown in Fig. 4 for several values of initial temperature $`T_o`$. The last few rows in the Table show the corresponding $`B_c`$ numbers at RHIC in this scenario, where we have used the equilibrium bound state fractions again at a final temperature $`T_f`$ = 160 MeV. They depend quite strongly on the initial temperature, which determines the final charm density through the assumed isentropic expansion.

We are in the process of refining these preliminary results . Initial numerical solutions of the kinetic equations using time-dependent formation and breakup rates indicate the final bound state populations saturate at values appropriate to those for equilibrium temperatures somewhat above the transition values. This would be expected, since the rates at low temperatures are not sufficient to reach the equilibrium solutions before the volume expansion reduces the temperature to even lower values. Also, production and annihilation of additional charm quark pairs is most effective at higher temperatures, which enhances the effective formation rates. Both of these effects will enhance the bound state production fractions for the higher initial temperatures, and reduce it somewhat for lower initial temperatures. However, it appears that the sensitivity to the parameters of the deconfined state will remain, making the $`B_c`$ signal a sensitive probe of QGP.

While numerical considerations presented here will see a considerable refinement in the near future , the firm conclusion we are able to make today is that should QGP be formed at RHIC there would be a very significant enhancement of the formation of $`B_c`$ mesons which can be observed. The primary mechanism responsible for this enhancement is the interaction of initially-produced bottom and charmed quarks, which will not operate in a confining phase. The observation of any $`B_c`$’s at RHIC is thus both a “smoking gun” signal of deconfinement and a probe of the initial temperature of the system and the initial density of deconfined charm.

Acknowledgment: This work was supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, DE-FG03-95ER40937.