sPHENIX Fully Calorimetric Jet Energy Measurements

The sPHENIX detector, a state-of-the-art jet detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), began commissioning in 2023. Equipped with large coverage (-1.1 < eta < +1.1) electromagnetic and two layers of hadronic calorimetry, sPHENIX offers unique capabilities for the full reconstruction of jets, which are collimated streams of particles initiated by high-energy partons. In heavy ion collisions, a strongly-coupled medium known as the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) is created, within which these high-energy partons interact. The interactions of jets with this medium are of fundamental importance for understanding Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) and the emergent properties of the QGP.

In 2024, sPHENIX is collecting a large data sample from proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energy 200 GeV that allow for detailed calibrations and precision studies of jet reconstruction. This presentation focuses on the progress towards measurements of the jet energy spectrum and, specifically, the energy deposited in the different calorimeter layers. These studies have been used to improve the jet reconstruction and jet triggers, which play an essential role in sampling the full luminosity provided by RHIC.