2006/07/27 by A. Peshier · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #High-Energy Particle Collisions Research #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions #hep-ph #nucl-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevc.75.034906
published as Phys.Rev.C75:034906,2007 · 5 figures
arxiv created 2006/07/27 · openalex publication_date 2007/03/14 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In the calculation of the collisional energy loss of hard partons in the hot quark gluon plasma, loop corrections to the tree-level amplitudes are essential: Not only do they provide the necessary screening of long-range interactions, but they also induce the momentum dependence of the coupling \ensuremathα. The latter fact, as we argued recently, leads to a crucial modification of the hitherto existing theory of this observable. Instead of dEcollB/dx~\ensuremathα2T2ln(ET/mD2), as first derived by Bjorken, the mean energy loss actually reads dEcoll/dx~\ensuremathα(mD2)T2 for E\ensuremath≫T. Here we evaluate, within this mended framework, a less ``inclusive'' quantity, namely the probability distribution (``quenching weights'') of the collisional energy loss, which is necessary to describe jet quenching in heavy-ion collisions. The result is unambiguously determined by \ensuremathΛQCD (whereas previous approaches involved ``guessing'' a value for the coupling). Representative Monte Carlo simulations then suggest a substantial collisional component of jet quenching---which hints at a natural explanation of the ``single electron puzzle.''