High pt Measurements at the CERN SPS

Abstract

The current experimental situation concerning high pt observables at the CERN SPS is reviewed. Recent data from the NA45, NA49 and NA57 collaborations are discussed and compared to earlier measurements by WA98 and NA45 at the same center-of-mass energies, as well as to measurements at the higher energies by the RHIC experiments. The observables include new p+p, A+A spectra, nuclear modification factors (R_AA, R_CP), two particle azimuthal correlations, and baryon to meson ratios at moderately high pt. Generally, the interpretation of the SPS data suffers from the lack of reliable baseline measurements (p+p and p+A). However, the overall picture that is emerging suggests that already at SPS energies medium effects similar to those observed at RHIC are present.