Direct Photon Production in High-Energy Heavy Ion Collisions within the Integrated Hydrokinetic Model

Abstract

The results on description of direct photon yields, transverse momentum spectra, and flow harmonics, measured in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) for different collision centrality classes, analyzed within the Integrated Hydrokinetic Model (iHKM) are reviewed. The iHKM simulation results, corresponding to the two opposite approaches to the matter evolution treatment at the final stage of the system’s expansion within the model, namely, the chemically equilibrated and the chemically frozen evolution, are compared. The so-called “direct photon puzzle” is addressed, and its possible solution, suggesting the account for additional photon emission at confinement, is considered.