Jets and parton energy loss at RHIC: experimental status

Experimental evidence from RHIC indicates that matter having an energy density far in excess of the value required for the creation of a deconfined phase is produced in ultrarelativistic Au+Au collisions at ÖsNN=200 GeV. This matter thermalizes rapidly, is strongly interacting, and displays hydrodynamic properties akin to a fluid with very low viscosity. Studies of the interaction of hard scattered partons with this matter provide an important probe of its properties. In fact, studies of the suppression of high-pT hadrons have been one of the key arguments used by the...