J/ψ suppression at forward rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN=2.76TeV

Abstract

The ALICE experiment has measured the inclusive J/ψ production in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN=2.76TeV down to zero transverse momentum in the rapidity range 2.5<y<4. A suppression of the inclusive J/ψ yield in Pb-Pb is observed with respect to the one measured in pp collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. The nuclear modification factor, integrated over the 0%-80% most central collisions, is 0.545±0.032(stat)±0.083(syst) and does not exhibit a significant dependence on the collision centrality. These features appear significantly different from measurements at lower collision energies. Models including J/ψ production from charm quarks in a deconfined partonic phase can describe our data. © 2012 CERN.