High pT hadron spectra at RHIC: an overview

Abstract

Recent results on high transverse momentum (pT) hadron production in p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) are reviewed. Comparison of the nuclear modification factors, $R_{dAu}(pT)$ and $R_{AA}(pT)$, demonstrates that the large suppression in central Au+Au collisions is due to strong final-state effects. Theoretical models which incorporate jet quenching via gluon Bremsstrahlung in the dense partonic medium that is expected in central Au+Au collisions at ultra-relativistic energies are shown to reproduce the shape and magnitude of the observed suppression over the range of collision energies so far studied at RHIC.