PHENIX Results Using $\pi^0$ Triggered Two Particle Correlations as a Probe of Jet Modification by The Quark Gluon Plasma

In order to probe the energy transport properties of the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP)– a hot, dense state of matter with partonic degrees of freedom formed in relativistic heavy ion collisions – we study modifications to highly collimated, energetic sprays of particles known as jets. In the early stages of the collision, hard scatterings – collisions with high $Q^{2}$ -- produce high $p_T$ partons that traverse the QGP, losing energy as they do so and fragmenting into sprays of particles known as jets. The method by which these partons lose energy, soft gluon emission, results in broader jets and suppressed high momentum jet yield, a phenomenon referred to as Jet Quenching. In the presented analysis, we use two particle correlations, where high $p_{T}$ trigger $\pi^{0}$s are correlated in azimuth to associated charged hadrons, to measure modifications to the jet shape and yield. We will present results showing jet modification in the most central collisions (0-20%) of PHENIX’s 2010 and 2011 Au+Au datasets using Acoustic Scaling and Absolute Background Subtraction to subtract higher order (n = 3,4) flow harmonics. Comparisons between p+p and Au+Au jets will be presented examining both the yield – via the double ratio $R_{I}$ -- and the away-side jet width.