In this thesis the jet fragmentation function of inclusive jets with transverse momentum PT > 100 GeV/c in PbPb collisions is measured for reconstructed charged particles with PT > 1 GeV/c within the jet cone. A data sample of PbPb collisions collected in 2011 at a center-of-mass energy of [square root of]sNN = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 150 [mu]b-1 is used. The results for PbPb collisions as a function of collision centrality are compared to reference distributions based on pp data collected at the same collision energy. A centrality-dependent modification of the fragmentation function is revealed. For the most central collisions a significant enhancement is observed in the PbPb/pp fragmentation function ratio for the charged particles with PT less than 3 GeV/c.
The present study combines modern jet reconstruction algorithms and particle identification (PID) techniques in order to study the enhancement of proton/pion ratio at mid transverse momentum ([mathematical symbols] 1.5 - 4.0 GeV/c) observed in central Au + Au collisions at [mathematical symbols] = 200 GeV. The ratio enhancement is thought to be caused by recombination processes and/or parton fragmentation modification of jets in relativistic heavy ion collisions. The fragmentation modification hypothesis is tested in this analysis by reconstructing and selecting energetic jets presumably biased to fragment outside of the medium created in Au + Au collisions and comparing their particle composition to the recoiling (medium-traversing) jets. The bias assumption is confirmed by comparing jets in central collisions, where the effect of proton/pion enhancement is present, with peripheral ones where no medium effects are expected. The selected jets are reconstructed by using the anti-k[subscript T] algorithm from the modern FASTJET package. The PID in the p[subscript T] region of interest is possible by combining measurements of the particles' energy deposition and velocity from the Time Projection Chamber and the recently installed (2009-2010) Time of Flight detectors at STAR. The acceptance of these detectors, [eta]
Annotation. Text reviews the major topics in Quark-Gluon Plasma, including: the QCD phase diagram, the transition temperature, equation of state, heavy quark free energies, and thermal modifications of hadron properties. Includes index, references, and appendix. For researchers and practitioners.
This concise primer reviews the latest developments in the field of jets. Jets are collinear sprays of hadrons produced in very high-energy collisions, e.g. at the LHC or at a future hadron collider. They are essential to and ubiquitous in experimental analyses, making their study crucial. At present LHC energies and beyond, massive particles around the electroweak scale are frequently produced with transverse momenta that are much larger than their mass, i.e., boosted. The decay products of such boosted massive objects tend to occupy only a relatively small and confined area of the detector and are observed as a single jet. Jets hence arise from many different sources and it is important to be able to distinguish the rare events with boosted resonances from the large backgrounds originating from Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). This requires familiarity with the internal properties of jets, such as their different radiation patterns, a field broadly known as jet substructure. This set of notes begins by providing a phenomenological motivation, explaining why the study of jets and their substructure is of particular importance for the current and future program of the LHC, followed by a brief but insightful introduction to QCD and to hadron-collider phenomenology. The next section introduces jets as complex objects constructed from a sequential recombination algorithm. In this context some experimental aspects are also reviewed. Since jet substructure calculations are multi-scale problems that call for all-order treatments (resummations), the bases of such calculations are discussed for simple jet quantities. With these QCD and jet physics ingredients in hand, readers can then dig into jet substructure itself. Accordingly, these notes first highlight the main concepts behind substructure techniques and introduce a list of the main jet substructure tools that have been used over the past decade. Analytic calculations are then provided for several families of tools, the goal being to identify their key characteristics. In closing, the book provides an overview of LHC searches and measurements where jet substructure techniques are used, reviews the main take-home messages, and outlines future perspectives.
The modification of quark- and gluon-initiated jets in the quark-gluon plasma produced in heavy-ion collisions is a long-standing question that has not yet received a definitive answer from experiments. In particular, the size of the modifications differs between theoretical models. Therefore a fully data-driven technique is crucial for an unbiased extraction of the quark and gluon jet spectra and substructure. We demonstrate a fully data-driven method for separating quark and gluon contributions to jet observables using a statistical technique called topic modeling. We will also demonstrate that jet substructures, such as jet shapes and jet fragmentation function, could be extracted using this data-driven method. This proof-of-concept study is based on proton-proton and heavy-ion collision events from the PYQUEN generator with statistics accessible in Run 4 of the Large Hadron Collider. These results suggest the potential for an experimental determination of quark- and gluon-jet spectra and their substructures.
This thesis presents the first measurements of jets in relativistic heavy ion collisions as reported by the ATLAS Collaboration. These include the first direct observation of jet quenching through the observation of a centrality-dependent dijet asymmetry. Also, a series of jet suppression measurements are presented, which provide quantitative constraints on theoretical models of jet quenching. These results follow a detailed introduction to heavy ion physics with emphasis on the phenomenon of jet quenching and a comprehensive description of the ATLAS detector and its capabilities with regard to performing these measurements.
"This is the fifth volume in the series on the subject of quark-gluon plasma, a unique phase created in heavy-ion collisions at high energy. It contains review articles by the world experts on various aspects of quark-gluon plasma taking into account the advances driven by the latest experimental data collected at both the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The articles are pedagogical and comprehensive which can be helpful for both new researchers entering the field as well as the experienced physicists working on the subject."--
