The theory and phenomenology of jets in nuclear collisions

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in understanding jet shapes and cross sections in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC, highlighting their potential as precise tests of QCD and insights into quark-gluon plasma properties.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed simulation approach for jet observables in dense QGP environments and establishes a model-independent method to analyze medium-induced gluon radiation.

Findings

Jet observables serve as accurate tests of QCD at high energies.

Pattern of gluon emission correlates with jet quenching.

Method to determine medium-induced bremsstrahlung spectrum.

Abstract

We review selected results from a recent in-depth study of jet shapes and jet cross sections in ultra-relativistic reactions with heavy nuclei at the LHC arXiv:0810.2807 [hep-ph]. We demonstrate that at the highest collider energies these observables become feasible as a new, differential and accurate test of the underlying QCD theory. Our approach allows for detailed simulations of the experimental acceptance/cuts that help isolate jets emerging from a dense QGP. We show for the first time that the pattern of stimulated gluon emission can be correlated with a variable quenching of the jet rates and provide an approximately model-independent approach to determining the characteristics of the medium-induced bremsstrahlung spectrum. The connection between such cross section attenuation and the in-medium jet shapes is elucidated.