Boson-Jet Correlations in a Hybrid Strong/Weak Coupling Model for Jet Quenching in Heavy Ion Collisions

TL;DR

This paper presents a hybrid model combining perturbative and strongly coupled physics to describe jet quenching in heavy ion collisions, successfully fitting multiple LHC observables and proposing new discriminative measurements.

Contribution

The study introduces a hybrid strong/weak coupling model fitted to LHC data, highlighting its ability to describe jet observables and proposing new observables for medium model discrimination.

Findings

Model fits several jet observables at LHC.

Jet observables show limited sensitivity to energy loss mechanisms.

Proposes a new ratio of fragmentation functions as a discriminant.

Abstract

We confront a hybrid strong/weak coupling model for jet quenching to data from LHC heavy ion collisions. The model combines the perturbative QCD physics at high momentum transfer and the strongly coupled dynamics of non- abelian gauge theories plasmas in a phenomenological way. By performing a full Monte Carlo simulation, and after fitting one single parameter, we successfully describe several jet observables at the LHC, including dijet and photon jet measurements. Within current theoretical and experimental uncertainties, we find that such observables show little sensitivity to the specifics of the microscopic energy loss mechanism. We also present a new observable, the ratio of the fragmentation function of inclusive jets to that of the associated jets in dijet pairs, which can discriminate among different medium models. Finally, we discuss the importance of plasma response to jet passage in jet shapes.