Jet modification near the transition between the quark-gluon and hadronic plasma.

Jets produced in high-energy heavy-ion collisions undergo complex multi-stage evolution, transitioning from initial hard partons to fully developed parton showers. Their energy loss is sensitive to factors including jet energy, collision geometry, and the path traversed through the medium. Precise modelling of jet–medium interactions requires a consistent treatment of energy–momentum exchange with thermal partons. While standard thermal distributions suffice within the quark–gluon plasma (QGP), they yield unphysical results for the transport coefficient $hat{q}$ near the critical temperature T_c. This work introduces modified medium distributions designed to regulate scattering rates and enable realistic jet quenching behavior collectively in the parton and hadronic phases. By extending the applicability of jet–medium interaction frameworks beyond the QGP, the study provides a foundation for temperature-dependent modelling of partonic transport and improved phenomenology of jet energy loss.