Identified Particle Correlations at RHIC: Medium Interactions & Modified Fragmentation

Abstract

Azimuthal angle two particle correlations have been shown to be a powerful probe for extracting novel features of jet induced correlations produced in Au+Au collisions at RHIC. At intermediate $p_T$, 2-5GeV/c, the jets have been shown to be significantly modified in both their particle composition and their angular distribution compared to p+p collisions. Two-particle angular correlations with identified particles provide sensitive probes of both the interactions between hard scattered partons and the medium. The systematics of these correlations are essential to understanding the physics of intermediate $p_T$ in heavy ion collisions.