Principal Component Analysis of two-particle azimuthal correlations in PbPb and pPb collisions at CMS

A Principle Component Analysis (PCA) of two-particle azimuthal correlations as a function of transverse momentum ($p_T$) is presented in PbPb collisions at 2.76 TeV and high-multiplicity pPb collisions at 5.02 TeV. The data were recorded using the CMS detector at the LHC. It has recently been shown that factorization breaking of two-particle azimuthal correlations can be attributed to the effect of initial-state fluctuations. Using a PCA approach, Fourier coefficients of observed two-particle azimuthal correlations as a function of both particles $p_T$ are characterized into leading and sub-leading mode terms. The leading modes are essentially equivalent to anisotropy harmonics ($v_n$) previously extracted from two-particle correlation methods as a function of $p_T$. The sub-leading modes represent the largest sources of factorization breaking. In the context of hydrodynamic models, they are a direct consequence of initial-state fluctuations, particularly providing new insights on the radial excitations of initial-state eccentricity. The results are presented over a wide range of centrality and event multiplicity. Connection to the measurement of $p_T$-dependent flow factorization breaking is also discussed.