Medium modifications of charm and charmonium in high-energy heavy-ion collisions

The production of charmonia in heavy-ion collisions is investigated within a kinetic theory framework simultaneously accounting for dissociation and regeneration processes in both quark-gluon plasma (QGP) and hadron-gas phases of the reaction. In-medium modifications of open-charm states (c-quarks, D-mesons) and the survival of J/ψ mesons in the QGP are included as inferred from lattice QCD. Pertinent consequences on equilibrium charmonium abundances are evaluated and found to be especially relevant to explain the measured centrality dependence of the ψ'/ψ ratio at SPS. Predictions for recent In-In experiments, as well as comparisons to current Au-Au data from RHIC, are provided