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Gluodissociation and Screening of Upsilon States in PbPb Collisions at sqrt (s_NN) = 2.76 TeV

We suggest that gluon-induced dissociation and screening of the Y(nS) states explain the suppression of the Y(2S+3S) states relative to the Y(1S) ground state that has been observed by CMS in PbPb collisions at sqrt(s_NN)= 2.76 TeV at the CERN LHC. The minimum-bias gluodissociation cross sections of the 1S-3S states are calculated using a screened Cornell potential and a thermal gluon distribution. The 3S state dissolves due to screening before sizeable gluodissociation occurs, but for the 2S and 1S states there is an interplay between screening, gluodissociation, and feed-down from the chi_b(2P) and chi_b(1P) states. Based on a schematic approach, we find that the calculated suppression of the Y(2S) and Y(3S) states relative to Y(1S) is consistent with the CMS result, but allows for additional suppression mechanisms. The Y(1S) suppression through gluodissociation is, however, in good agreement with the CMS data.