Charged jets in p--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} = 5.02$ TeV measured with the ALICE detector

TL;DR

This paper reports on measurements of charged jet spectra in p-Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV using the ALICE detector, aiming to understand cold nuclear matter effects without hot medium influences.

Contribution

It introduces a method to measure the centrality dependence of charged jet spectra in p-Pb collisions using the Zero-Degree Calorimeter for reliable event classification.

Findings

No significant modification of jet spectra observed in p-Pb collisions.

Centrality dependence of jet spectra analyzed with the new ZDC-based method.

Results help isolate cold nuclear matter effects in jet production.

Abstract

Highly energetic jets are sensitive probes for the kinematics and the topology of nuclear collisions. Jets are collimated sprays of charged and neutral particles, which are produced in the fragmentation of hard scattered partons in the early stage of the collision. The measurement of nuclear modification of charged jet spectra in p-Pb collisions provides an important way of quantifying the effects of cold nuclear matter in the initial state on jet production, fragmentation, and hadronization. Unlike in Pb-Pb collisions, modifications of jet production due to hot nuclear matter effects are not expected to occur in p-Pb collisions. Therefore, measurements of nuclear modifications in charged jet spectra in p-Pb collisions (commonly known as $R_\mathrm{pPb}$) can be used to isolate and quantify cold nuclear matter effects. Potential nuclear effects are expected to be more pronounced in more central p-Pb collisions due to a higher probability of an interaction between the proton and the lead-nucleus. To measure the centrality dependence of charged jet spectra, it is crucial to use a reliable definition of event centrality, which ALICE developed utilizing the Zero-Degree Calorimeter (ZDC).