EMC effect and jet energy loss in relativistic deuteron-nucleus collisions
Abstract
We investigate the influence of modified nuclear parton distribution functions (PDFs) on high-pT hadron production at RHIC and LHC energies using a pQCD-improved parton model. For application at RHIC, we focus on the possible contribution of the EMC modification of the nuclear PDFs in the x > 0.3 region to the observed suppression of pi0 production at pT > 10 GeV/c in dAu collisions. We study three different parameterizations of the nuclear PDF modifications and find that they give consistent results for RdAu(pT) for neutral pions in the region 10 GeV/c < pT < 20 GeV/c. We find that the EMC suppression of the parton distributions in the Au nucleus does not strongly influence the RdAu for pi0 in the pT region where the suppression is observed. Using the HKN parameterization, we evaluate systematic errors in the theoretical RdAu(pT) resulting from uncertainties in the nuclear PDFs. The measured nuclear modification factor is inconsistent with the pQCD model result for pT > 10 GeV/c even when the systematic uncertainties in the nuclear PDFs are accounted for. The inclusion of a small final-state energy loss can reduce the discrepancy with the data, but we cannot perfectly reproduce the pT dependence of the measured RdAu(pT). For the LHC, we find that shadowing of the nuclear PDFs produces a large suppression in the yield of hadrons with pT < 100 GeV/c in p(d)A collisions.
Turn this paper into a full lesson
ArcXiv compiles a staged curriculum from this paper: 8-12 lessons across beginner → advanced, synthesised section guides, visuals, flashcards, a quiz, exercises, and on-demand deep dives per section. Grounded in the abstract, never invented.