Suppression of the high-p(T) charged-hadron R(AA) at the LHC

We present a parameter-free postdiction of the high-p(T) charged-hadron nuclear modification factor (R(AA)) in two centralities, measured by the CMS Collaboration in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC. The evolution of the bulk medium is modeled using viscous fluid dynamics, with parameters adjusted to describe the soft hadron yields and elliptic flow. Assuming the dominance of radiative energy loss, we compute the medium modification of the R(AA) using a perturbative QCD-based formalism, the higher twist scheme. The transverse momentum diffusion coefficient q[over ^] is assumed to scale with the entropy density and is normalized by fitting the R(AA) in the most central Au-Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider. This setup is validated in noncentral Au-Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider and then extrapolated to Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC, keeping the relation between q[over ^] and entropy density unchanged. We obtain a satisfactory description of the CMS R(AA) over the p(T) range from 10 to 100 GeV.