Probing nuclear matter with jet conversions
نویسندگان
چکیده
We discuss the flavor of leading jet partons as a valuable probe of nuclear matter. We point out that the coupling of jets to nuclear matter naturally leads to an alteration of jet chemistry even at high transverse momentum pT . In particular, quantum chromodynamics (QCD) jets coupling to a chemically equilibrated quark gluon plasma in nuclear collisions will lead to hadron ratios at high transverse momentum pT that can differ significantly from their counterparts in p+p collisions. Flavor measurements could complement energy loss as a way to study interactions of hard QCD jets with nuclear matter. Roughly speaking they probe the inverse mean free path 1/λ while energy loss probes the average squared momentum transfer μ2/λ. We present some estimates for the rate of jet conversions in a consistent Fokker-Planck framework and their impact on future high-pT identified hadron measurements at RHIC and LHC. We also suggest some novel observables to test flavor effects.
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