Production of muons from heavy flavor decays at forward rapidity in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=2.76 TeV

Phys Rev Lett. 2012 Sep 14;109(11):112301. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.112301. Epub 2012 Sep 13.

Abstract

The ALICE Collaboration has measured the inclusive production of muons from heavy-flavor decays at forward rapidity, 2.5<y<4, in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=2.76 TeV. The p(t)-differential inclusive cross section of muons from heavy-flavor decays in pp collisions is compared to perturbative QCD calculations. The nuclear modification factor is studied as a function of p(t) and collision centrality. A weak suppression is measured in peripheral collisions. In the most central collisions, a suppression of a factor of about 3-4 is observed in 6<p(t)<10 GeV/c. The suppression shows no significant p(t) dependence.