Z0 boson associated b-jet production in high-energy nuclear collisions

The production of vector boson tagged heavy quark jets potentially provides new tools to probe the jet quenching effect. In this paper, we present the first theoretical study on the angular correlations (begin{document}$ Deltaphi_{bZ} $end{document}), transverse momentum imbalance (begin{document}$ x_{bZ} $end{document}), and nuclear modification factor (begin{document}$ I_{AA} $end{document}) of begin{document}$ Z^0 $end{document} boson tagged b-jets in heavy-ion collisions, which was performed using a Monte Carlo transport model. We find that the medium modification of the begin{document}$ Deltaphi_{bZ} $end{document} for begin{document}$ Z^0$end{document} + b-jet has a weaker dependence on begin{document}$ Deltaphi_{bZ} $end{document} than that for begin{document}$ Z^0$end{document} + jet, and the modification patterns are sensitive to the initial jet begin{document}$ p_T $end{document} distribution. Additionally, with the high purity of the quark jet in begin{document}$ Z^0$end{document} + (b-) jet production, we calculate the momentum imbalance begin{document}$ x_{bZ} $end{document} and the nuclear modification factor begin{document}$ I_{AA} $end{document} of begin{document}$ Z^0$end{document} + b-jet in Pb+Pb collisions. We observe a smaller begin{document}$ Delta langle x_{jZ} rangle $end{document} and larger begin{document}$ I_{AA} $end{document} of begin{document}$ Z^0$end{document} + b-jet in Pb+Pb collisions relative to those of begin{document}$ Z^0$end{document} + jet, which may be an indication of the mass effect of jet quenching and can be tested in future measurements.