Anisotropic flow in Xe–Xe collisions at √sNN = 5.44 TeV

Abstract

The first measurements of anisotropic flow coefficients vn for mid-rapidity charged particles in Xe–Xe collisions at √sNN = 5.44 TeV are presented. Comparing these measurements to hose from Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV, v2 is found to be suppressed for mid-central collisions at the same centrality, and enhanced for central collisions. The values of v3 are enera lly larger in Xe –Xe than in Pb–Pb at a given centrality. These observations are consistent with expect ations from hydrodynamic predictions. When both v2 and v3 are divided by their corresponding eccentricities for a variety of initial state models, they gene rally scale with transverse density when comparing Xe –Xe and Pb–Pb, with some deviations observed in central Xe –Xe and Pb–Pb collisions. These results assist in placing strong constraints on both the initial state geometry and medium response for relativistic heavy-ion collisions.