Open charm production in p + p and Pb + Pb collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider

Effects of strong longitudinal color electric fields, shadowing, and quenching on the production of prompt open charm mesons (D0, D+, D∗+, Ds+) in central Pb + Pb collisions at √(sNN) = 2.76 TeV are investigated within the framework of the HIJING/B B-bar v2.0 model. We compute the nuclear modification factor RPbPbD, and show that the above nuclear effects constitute important dynamical mechanisms in the description of experimental data. The strength of color fields (as characterized by the string tension κ), partonic energy loss and jet quenching process lead to a suppression factor consistent with recent published data. Predictions for beauty mesons are presented. In addition, ratios of strange to non-strange prompt charm mesons in central Pb + Pb and minimum bias (MB) p+p collisions at 2.76 TeV are also discussed. MB p+p collisions which constitute a theoretical baseline in our calculations are studied at centre of mass energies √s = 2.76 TeV and 7 TeV. (paper)