Geometric Bias and Centrality Dependence of Jet Quenching in High-Energy Nuclear Collisions

Jet quenching provides a valuable measure of the opacity of the quark–gluon plasma (QGP) produced in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. However, substantial suppression of charged hadron spectra is observed in highly peripheral collisions, despite the expectation of negligible jet–QGP interactions in this regime. To address this, we develop a HIJING-based initial condition model that accounts for the impact parameter dependence of both inelastic nucleon–nucleon (NN) collisions and the number of hard partonic scatterings per inelastic NN collision. This dependence introduces a geometric bias effect on the jet yield within a given centrality class of nucleus–nucleus (AA) collisions, suppressing the high-pT hadron spectrum in peripheral collisions due to dilute nucleon overlap at large AA impact parameters. By combining this improved initial condition model with a linear Boltzmann transport model for jet–QGP interactions, we obtain a satisfactory description of the centrality dependence of charged hadron suppression in Pb+Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV.