Medium-induced gluon radiation and jet quenching in heavy ion collisions

Abstract

In this brief review, I summarize the new developments on the description of gluon radiation by energetic quarks traversing a medium as well as the observable consequences in high-energy heavy ion collisions. Information about the initial state is essential for a reliable interpretation of the experimental results and will also be reviewed. Comparison with experimental data from RHIC and expectation for the future LHC will be given.

Comments: 16 pages, 9 postscript figures. Invited brief review for Modern Physics Letters A