Jets in heavy ion collisions at RHIC

Abstract

Full jet reconstruction in heavy-ion collisions enables a complete study of the modification of jet structure due to energy loss in hot and dense QCD matter, but is challenging due to the high multiplicity environment. The STAR and PHENIX collaborations at RHIC have recently presented measurements of fully reconstructed jets from p+p, Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=200\mathrm{GeV}$. We review the first results on inclusive jet spectra, di-jets and fragmentation functions and discuss their implications on understanding of jet quenching.

to appear in ISMD 2009 conference proceedings