High-image Physics with Identified Particles Original Research Article

The suppression of high-PT particles in heavy ion collisions was one of the key discoveries at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. This is usually parameterized by the average rate of momentum-transfer squared to this particle, View the MathML source. Here we argue that measurements of identified particles at high PT can lead to complementary information about the medium. The leading particle of a jet can change its identity through interactions with the medium. Tracing such flavor conversions could allow us to constrain the mean free path. Here we review the basic concepts of flavor conversions and discuss applications to particle ratios and elliptic flow. We make a prediction that strangeness is enhanced at high PT at RHIC energies while its elliptic flow is suppressed.