Understand
We estimate bottomonium yields in relativistic heavy-ion collisions using a lattice QCD vetted, complex-valued, heavy-quark potential embedded in a realistic, hydrodynamically evolving medium background.
- We find that the lattice-vetted functional form and temperature dependence of the proper heavy-quark potential dramatically reduces the dependence of the yields on parameters other than the temperature evolution, strengthening the picture of bottomonium as QGP thermometer.
- Our results also show improved agreement between computed yields and experimental data produced in RHIC 200 GeV/nucleon collisions.
- For LHC 2.76 TeV/nucleon collisions, the excited states, whose suppression has been used as a vital sign for quark-gluon-plasma production in a heavy-ion collision, are reproduced better than previous perturbatively-motivated potential models; however, at the highest LHC energies our estimates for bottomonium suppression begin to underestimate the data.