Where Does the Energy Loss Lose Strength?

Abstract

Nuclear modification factors for pion production in AuAu and CuCu collisions are analyzed at very high transverse momenta. At p_T > 10 GeV/c, the R_{AA}(p_T) is determined mostly by the initial state nuclear modifications (e.g. EMC effect) and the non-Abelian jet-energy loss in the final state. At high momenta these effects together are strong enough to suppress R_{AA}(p_T) to below 1 at RHIC energies. We display results using HKN shadowing in our pQCD improved parton model. Result of a similar calculation at LHC energies for PbPb collisions are also displayed. Based on dN/dy estimates, a larger opacity value, L/\lambda_g = 10 +/- 2, is used for the produced partonic matter in central collisions at the LHC.