Measurement of transverse momentum relative to dijet systems in PbPb and pp collisions at √sNN = 2.76 TeV

Abstract

An analysis of dijet events in PbPb and pp collisions is performed to explore the properties of energy loss by partons traveling in a quark-gluon plasma. Data are collected at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 2.76 TeV at the LHC. The distribution of transverse momentum (pT) surrounding dijet systems is measured by selecting charged particles in different ranges of pT and at different angular cones of pseudorapidity and azimuth. The measurement is performed as a function of centrality of the PbPb collisions, the pT asymmetry of the jets in the dijet pair, and the distance parameter R used in the anti-kT jet clustering algorithm. In events with unbalanced dijets, PbPb collisions show an enhanced multiplicity in the hemisphere of the subleading jet, with the pT imbalance compensated by an excess of low-pT particles at large angles from the jet axes.