D-meson azimuthal anisotropy in midcentral Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV

Abstract

The azimuthal anisotropy coefficient v2 of prompt D0 , Dþ , D*þ , and Dþs mesons was measured in midcentral (30%–50% centrality class) Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair √sNN¼ 5.02 TeV, with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The D mesons were reconstructed via their hadronic decays at midrapidity, jyj < 0.8, in the transverse momentum interval 1 < pT < 24 GeV/c. The measured D-meson v2 has similar values as that of charged pions. The Dþs v2 , measured for the first time, is found to be compatible with that of nonstrange D mesons. The measurements are compared with theoretical calculations of charm-quark transport in a hydrodynamically expanding medium and have the potential to constrain medium parameters.