Speaker
Description
The phase transition from hadronic matter to quark-gluon plasma (QGP) is a phenomenon that occurs under extreme conditions of high temperature and high density, as achieved at the relativistic heavy ion collider (RHIC). The QGP causes energy loss of high momentum particles which is observed as suppression of high momentum hadron production in A+A collisions relative to p+p collisions. The study presented in this poster uses PHENIX data to evaluate the energy loss of partons in the QGP in the various collision systems provided by RHIC.
We measure the fractional momentum loss with two quantities, Sloss and S’loss. Sloss is obtained by comparing the inclusive $p_\textrm{T}$ spectra in the A+A and p+p collisions. In contrast, S’loss is obtained by comparing in-plane and out-of-plane spectra using the azimuthal anisotropy $v_2$. These quantities are extracted from PHENIX data in Au+Au, Cu+Au, and Cu+Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV for $\pi^0$s, and the Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV for charged hadrons. The interpretation of these results and their impact on our understanding of the path length dependence of energy loss in the QGP will be discussed.
