Energy loss for heavy quarks in relation to light partons; is radiative energy loss for heavy quarks anomalous?

Abstract

The scaling properties of jet suppression measurements are compared for non-photonic electrons ($e^{\pm}$) and neutral pions ($\pi^0$) in Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV. For a broad range of transverse momenta and collision centralities, the comparison is consistent with jet quenching dominated by radiative energy loss for both heavy and light partons. Less quenching is indicated for heavy quarks via $e^{\pm}$; this gives an independent estimate of the transport coefficient $\hat{q}$ that agrees with its magnitude obtained from quenching of light partons via $\pi^0$'s.