Hard QCD probes. Motivation (I)

Hard probes: high-pT (jets, prompt ), heavy-quark (D, B, ..).
Early production ( ~ 1/pT< 0.1 fm/c) in parton-parton scatterings with large Q2.
Direct probes of partonic phase(s)  Sensitive to dense medium properties:
Incoherent processes: Direct comparison A+A to p+p data via “collision scaling”
TAB  # of binary inelastic NN colls.

Hard probes: high-pT (jets, prompt ), heavy-quark (D, B, ..).