The elliptic wind on jet wakes in high-energy heavy-ion collisions

Abstract

Energy loss by fast partons induces a Mach-cone-like medium response as they propagate inside the hot quark-gluon plasma (QGP) in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. Because the QGP is nonuniform and its initial gradients generate collective flow, jet-induced medium response in this evolving system is also distorted by the flow and density gradient. This distortion leads to a broadened jet wake whose transverse width depends on the azimuthal angle of the jet propagation due to the elliptic anisotropy of the density gradient and the flow velocity in noncentral heavy-ion collisions. We propose and calculate the difference between the azimuth-dependent jet-hadron correlations for soft charged hadrons in in-plane and out-plane $γ$-jets as a measure of the elliptic broadening of the wake front and the deepening of the diffusion wake. We also study the sensitivity of this observable to the shear viscosity of the QGP. Experimental measurements of the azimuthal modulation of jet wakes induced by the wind of the elliptic flow at RHIC and LHC can provide additional constraints on the transport properties of the QGP.