Review of recent heavy flavor measurements in STAR

¹ Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, MS70R0319, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
² Department of Physics, Kent State University, 800 E. Summit St., Kent, OH 44240, USA

^a e-mail: mrlomnitz@lbl.gov

Published online: 5 December 2017

Abstract

Heavy-ion collisions at RHIC provide a unique environment to study the behavior of nuclear matter under extreme conditions. In particular, heavy quarks, which are produced during the early stages of a collision, provide an exceptional probe in understanding the hot and dense medium created in such collisions. The Heavy Flavor Tracker and Muon Telescope Detector at the STAR experiment at RHIC have been successfully installed since early 2014 and have significantly improved the experimental capabilities in measuring both open and hidden heavy flavor hadrons in heavy-ion collisions. We present an overview of recent heavy flavor results obtained at STAR using these two dedicated detectors.