Centrality-Dependent Modification of Jet-Production Rates in Deuteron-Gold Collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV

Abstract

Jet production rates are measured in p + p and d + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV recorded in 2008 with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Jets are reconstructed using the R = 0.3 anti-k(t) algorithm from energy deposits in the electromagnetic calorimeter and charged tracks in multiwire proportional chambers, and the jet transverse momentum (p(T)) spectra are corrected for the detector response. Spectra are reported for jets with 12 < p(T) < 50 GeV/c, within a pseudorapidity acceptance of vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.3. The nuclear-modification factor (R-dAu) values for 0%-100% d + Au events are found to be consistent with unity, constraining the role of initial state effects on jet production. However, the centrality-selected RdAu values and central-to-peripheral ratios (R-CP) show large, p(T)-dependent deviations from unity, challenging the conventional models that relate hard-process rates and soft-particle production in collisions involving nuclei.