Radiative energy loss reduction in an absorptive plasma

TL;DR

This paper investigates how damping in an absorptive plasma reduces the radiative energy loss spectrum of a relativistic charge, with implications for understanding jet quenching in high-energy nuclear collisions.

Contribution

It provides a formal analysis of the limiting behavior of radiation damping effects on energy loss spectra in an absorptive plasma, modeled as an Abelian approximation.

Findings

Spectrum reduction increases with damping

Behavior of exponential damping factor influences radiation spectrum

Results may impact analysis of jet quenching phenomena

Abstract

The influence of the damping of radiation on the radiative energy loss spectrum of a relativistic charge in an infinite, absorptive plasma is studied. We find increasing reduction of the spectrum with increasing damping. Our studies, which represent an Abelian approximation for the colour charge dynamics in the quark-gluon plasma, may influence the analysis of jet quenching phenomena observed in high-energy nuclear collisions. Here, we focus on a formal discussion of the limiting behaviour with increasing radiation frequency. In an absorptive (and polarizable) medium, this is determined by the behaviour of the exponential damping factor entering the spectrum and the formation time of radiation.