Reexamining the iconic dihadron correlation measurement demonstrating jet quenching

TL;DR

This paper revisits early RHIC dihadron correlation measurements to demonstrate jet quenching, applying improved background understanding, and confirms the original findings of away-side suppression.

Contribution

It provides a reanalysis of classic jet quenching measurements using current background models and publicly available data, confirming the original suppression results.

Findings

Qualitative consistency with original jet quenching results

Complete away-side suppression within uncertainties

Reaffirmation of dihadron correlation as a jet quenching signature

Abstract

Early measurements at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) demonstrated jet quenching through the suppression of pairs of high momentum hadrons. These dihadron correlations have a large correlated background. As understanding of the background improved, it was recognized in the field that a significant term was omitted from the background and several dihadron correlation results were quantitatively and qualitatively incorrect. The original measurements demonstrating jet quenching have not been revisited. These measurements are repeated in this paper in a kinematic range similar to the original measurement using publicly available data, applying current knowledge about the background. The new results are qualitatively consistent with the previous results, demonstrating complete suppression of the away-side within uncertainties.