Semi-inclusive direct photon+jet and $\pi^{0}$+jet correlations measured in $p+p$ and central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} = 200$ GeV

TL;DR

This paper presents measurements of jet quenching in proton-proton and gold-gold collisions at 200 GeV, revealing how medium effects suppress jet yields differently depending on jet size, thus offering new insights into jet-energy transport mechanisms.

Contribution

The study provides the first detailed semi-inclusive measurements of direct photon and neutral pion recoil jets in Au+Au collisions at RHIC, with improved background correction techniques and comparison to theoretical models.

Findings

Strong jet yield suppression for R=0.2 in Au+Au collisions.

Less suppression observed for R=0.5, indicating angular dependence.

Data constrains jet quenching models and enhances understanding of medium-induced energy transport.

Abstract

The STAR experiment at RHIC reports new measurements of jet quenching based on the semi-inclusive distribution of charged-particle jets recoiling from direct photon ($\gamma_{\rm dir}$) and neutral pion ($\pi^{0}$) triggers in pp and central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=200$ GeV, for triggers in the range $9<E_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}<20$ GeV. The datasets have integrated luminosities of 3.9$ {\rm nb}^{-1}$ for Au+Au and 23$ {\rm pb}^{-1}$ for pp collisions. Jets are reconstructed using the anti-$k_{\rm T}$ algorithm with resolution parameters $R$=0.2 and 0.5. The large uncorrelated jet background in central Au+Au collisions is corrected using a mixed-event approach, which enables precise charged-particle jet measurements at low transverse momentum $p_{\rm T,jet}^{\rm ch}$ and large $R$. Recoil-jet distributions are reported in the range $p_{\rm T,jet}^{\rm ch}<25$ \gev. Comparison of the distributions measured in pp and Au+Au collisions reveals strong medium-induced jet yield suppression for $R=0.2$, with markedly less suppression for $R=0.5$. Comparison is also made to theoretical models incorporating jet quenching. These data provide new insight into the mechanisms underlying jet quenching and the angular dependence of medium-induced jet-energy transport, and provide new constraints on modelling such effects.