On the sensitivity of the dijet asymmetry to the physics of jet quenching

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the dijet asymmetry observable in heavy-ion collisions is sensitive to jet quenching physics, showing that its properties are generic across various models and do not challenge the radiative energy loss paradigm.

Contribution

The study systematically analyzes the dijet asymmetry in different medium and interaction models, revealing its generic nature and implications for jet quenching theories.

Findings

Dijet asymmetry properties are model-independent across a broad class of models.

The observable does not challenge the radiative energy loss paradigm.

Results suggest the need to refine models to distinguish different jet quenching mechanisms.

Abstract

The appearance of monojets is among the most striking signature of jet quenching in the context of ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. Experimentally, the disappearance of jets has been quantified by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations in terms of the dijet asymmetry observable A_J. While the experimental findings initially gave rise to claims that the measured A_J would challenge the radiative energy loss paradigm, the results of a systematic investigation of A_J in different models for the medium evolution and for the shower-medium interaction presented here suggest that the observed properties of A_J arise fairly generically and independent of specific model assumptions for a large class of reasonable models. This would imply that rather than posing a challenge to any particular model, the observable prompts the question what model dynamics is not compatible with the data.