Multiplicity distributions for jet parton showers in a medium Original Research Article

The “jet-quenching” interpretation of suppressed high-pT hadron production at RHIC implies that jet multiplicity distributions and jet-like particle correlations in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LHC differ strongly from those seen at e+e− or View the MathML source colliders. Here, we present an approach for describing the changes induced by the medium, which implements jet quenching as a probabilistic medium-modified parton shower, treating leading and subleading parton splittings on an equal footing. We show that the strong suppression of single inclusive hadron spectra measured in Au–Au collisions at RHIC implies a characteristic distortion of the single inclusive distribution of soft partons inside the jet. We determine, as a function of jet energy, to what extent the soft jet fragments can be measured above some momentum cut.