# Production of muons from heavy flavour decays at forward rapidity in pp and Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt {s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV

Submission Date:
29/05/2012
Article Information
Submission Form
System:
p-p
System:
Pb-Pb
Energy:
2.76 TeV
Abstract Plain Text:

The ALICE Collaboration has measured the production of muons from heavy flavour decays at forward rapidity, in the region 2.5 < y < 4, in Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt {s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV. The transverse momentum differential cross section of muons from heavy flavour decays in pp collisions is compared to perturbative QCD calculations. The nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$ relative to the pp reference is studied as a function of transverse momentum and collision centrality, in the rapidity region 2.5 < y < 4 and transverse momentum range $4 < p_{\rm t} < 10$~\GeV\ and $6 < p_{\rm t} < 10$~\GeV, respectively. A weak suppression is measured in peripheral collisions. In the most central collisions, a strong suppression of a factor of about 3--4 is observed, independently of $p_{rm t}$. This measurement provides a clear evidence for in-medium modification of heavy quark production in the forward rapidity region.