@article{2026:10.1016/j.physletb.2026.140679,
doi = {10.1016/j.physletb.2026.140679},
journal = {Physics Letters Section B Nuclear Elementary Particle and High Energy Physics},
title = {System-size dependence of charged-particle suppression in ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2026.140679},
volume = {880},
year = {2026}
}

Download

TY  - JOUR
AB  - High-energy partons lose energy while propagating through the hot, strongly interacting medium produced in ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions, leading to a suppression of particle production at high transverse momentum (p <inf>T</inf>). The dependence of this energy loss on the size of the colliding nuclear system has yet to be firmly established experimentally. This Letter presents a systematic study of charged-particle suppression across four different nucleus-nucleus collision systems using nuclear modification factors (R <inf>AA</inf>) measured by the CMS Collaboration at the CERN LHC. Previous CMS measurements of R <inf>AA</inf> in oxygen-oxygen, xenon-xenon, and lead-lead collisions are recast with identical p <inf>T</inf> intervals and are complemented by the first measurement of the charged-particle R <inf>AA</inf> in neon-neon collisions at [b]s<inf>NN</inf>=5.36TeV. The neon-neon data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 0.76nb<sup>−1</sup>. The R <inf>AA</inf> in all collision systems examined show similar qualitative trends as a function of p <inf>T</inf>, but have a magnitude which is ordered with the nucleon number A . The R <inf>AA</inf> feature a downward slope at low p <inf>T</inf>, a local minimum at around 5–7GeV, and an upward slope with increasing p <inf>T</inf>. The R <inf>AA</inf> are also compared in terms of A <sup>1/3</sup>, which is proportional to the nuclear radius. Models including only initial-state nuclear effects fail to reproduce the observed trends, whereas energy loss models reproduce the trends in the region p<inf>T</inf>'9.6GeV.
DO  - 10.1016/j.physletb.2026.140679
PY  - 2026///
SN  - 0370-2693
TI  - System-size dependence of charged-particle suppression in ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions
T2  - Physics Letters Section B Nuclear Elementary Particle and High Energy Physics
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2026.140679
VL  - 880
ER  - 

Download