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Causal-horizon scaling of quarkonium suppression in strong QCD fields

Yi Yang*

  • *Contact author: yiyang429@as.edu.tw
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Phys. Rev. C 114, 034904 – Published 8 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/53rr-wr79

Abstract

The simultaneous observation of strong sequential bottomonium suppression and small azimuthal anisotropy constrains the time scale and geometry of quarkonium dissociation in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. This work investigates an early-time contribution in which strong pre-equilibrium color fields generate an effective proper-acceleration scale and an associated causal length. The maximal acceleration is fixed through the phenomenological anchoring assumption TUmax≃Tc, without identifying the kinematic Unruh scale with an equilibrium temperature. The survival probability is described by an event-averaged one-scale exponential ansatz. With no state-by-state adjustment, the resulting horizon component gives a quantitatively reasonable description of the LHC centrality dependence. For the directly measured Υ(2S)-to-Υ(1S) double ratio, the fixed horizon term supplies a substantial part of the relative suppression, while the data require an additional state-dependent late-stage factor. A minimal one-parameter effective quark-gluon plasma (QGP) attenuation gives a quantitative multistage description. At RHIC, the absolute RAA central values lie below the isolated horizon component, while the relative 2S-to-1S suppression remains compatible with the predicted state-size hierarchy within present uncertainties. Because the proposed early factor is local and scalar, it gives the exact leading-order null contribution v2H=0 within this construction, consistent with current CMS measurements.

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Phys. Rev. C 114, 034904– Published 8 September, 2026
  • Received 24 March 2026
  • Revised 6 August 2026
  • Accepted 19 August 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

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