Disappearance of back-to-back high-pT hadron correlations in central Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s NN ] =200 GeV

Phys Rev Lett. 2003 Feb 28;90(8):082302. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.082302. Epub 2003 Feb 26.

Abstract

Azimuthal correlations for large transverse momentum charged hadrons have been measured over a wide pseudorapidity range and full azimuth in Au+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=200 GeV. The small-angle correlations observed in p+p collisions and at all centralities of Au+Au collisions are characteristic of hard-scattering processes previously observed in high-energy collisions. A strong back-to-back correlation exists for p+p and peripheral Au+Au. In contrast, the back-to-back correlations are reduced considerably in the most central Au+Au collisions, indicating substantial interaction as the hard-scattered partons or their fragmentation products traverse the medium.