Centrality dependence and isospin effect on $\Wpm$ and $\Zn$ productions in nucleus-nucleus collisions at $\sNN=5.02$~TeV

Abstract

In this paper, the centrality dependent $\Zn$ and $\Wpm$ production and the isospin effect in $\Wpm$ production are investigated with a parton and hadron cascade model PACIAE in Pb--Pb collisions at $\sNN=5.02$~TeV. ALICE data of $\Zn$ production in Pb--Pb collisions at $\sNN=5.02$~TeV are found to be reproduced fairly well. The prediction on $\Wpm$ production in the same collision system is given as well. An interesting isospin effect is observed in exploring the charge asymmetry between $\Wp$ and $\Wm$ as a function of the asymmetry between number of valence $u$- and $d$-quarks varied from small to large collision systems at center-of-mass energy 5.02 TeV. The results serve as a important benchmarks for understanding the initial conditions of heavy-ion collisions.