Open Heavy Flavor Production at Forward Angles in PHENIX

The measurement of the nuclear modification factor (R_AA) for heavy-flavor production in heavy-ion collisions tests predictions for cold- and hot-nuclear-matter effects. Heavy-flavor production in p + p collisions tests pQCD calculations and serves as a reference for understanding heavy-flavor production in heavy-ion collisions. Using the PHENIX muon-arm spectrometers, the transverse momentum spectra of inclusive muon candidates are measured for p + p and Cu + Cu collisions at sNN=200GeV. After subtracting backgrounds, we obtain the measured invariant yields of negative muons from the decay of heavy flavor mesons. For p + p collisions, we measure the charm-production cross section integrated over _{p T} and in the rapidity range 1.4 < y < 1.9 to be dσcc/dy=0.139±0.029(stat)-0.058+0.051 (syst) mb. This result is compared to a recent FONLL calculation and to a PHENIX measurement at mid-rapidity. For Cu + Cu collisions, we measure the R_AA for heavy-flavor muons in three centrality bins for 1 < _{p T} < 4GeV/c, with suppression observed for central collisions. We compare our measurement for central collisions to a recent theoretical prediction.