Cone size dependence of jet suppression in heavy-ion collisions

Abstract

The strong suppression of high-$p_T$ jets in heavy ion collisions is a result of elastic and inelastic energy loss suffered by the jet multi-prong collection of color charges that are resolved by medium interactions. Hence, quenching effects depend on the fluctuations of the jet substructure that are probed by the cone size dependence of the spectrum. In this letter, we present the first complete, analytic calculation of the inclusive $R$-dependent jet spectrum in PbPb collisions at LHC energies, including resummation of energy loss effects from hard, vacuum-like emissions occurring in the medium and modeling of soft energy flow and recovery at the jet cone. Both the geometry of the collision and the local medium properties, such as the temperature and fluid velocity, are given by a hydrodynamic evolution of the medium, leaving only the coupling constant in the medium as a free parameter. The calculation yields a good description of the centrality and $p_T$ dependence of jet suppression for $R=0.4$ together with a mild cone size dependence, which is in agreement with recent experimental results. Gauging the theoretical uncertainties, we find that the largest sensitivity resides in the leading logarithmic approximation of the phase space of resolved splittings, which can be improved systematically, while non-perturbative modeling of the soft-gluon sector is of relatively minor importance up to large cone sizes.