Heavy Ion Tea

Jet Correlation Studies with Direct Photon Triggers at RHIC
Matthew Nguyen (SUNY Stony Brook)

Abstract: Two-particle correlations using direct photon triggers have long been regarded as a promising channel to measure partonic energy loss in dense nuclear matter [1]. Such studies are challenging due to the large background from decay photons. I will discuss a recent article from PHENIX [2] describing a method of extracting the direct photon correlation signal and presenting first results in nuclear collisions. I will further discuss direct photon correlation measurements in p+p collisions which test the theoretical description of direct photon correlations in vacuum, the baseline for models of in-medium energy loss. Finally, I will discuss future prospects for measurements at high luminosity. -------------- References : -------------- [1] X.N. Wang, Z. Huang and I. Sarcevic, Phys.Rev.Lett. 77 (1996) 231-234 [2] PHENIX, arXiv:0903.3399 [nucl-ex]