Effect of Jet Quenching on High-$p_T$ Hadron Spectra in High-energy Nuclear Collisions

Assuming an effective energy loss $dE/dx$ for the high $E_T$ partons which are produced via hard processes of parton scattering and subsequently propagate through a dense medium, effective jet fragmentation functions are constructed in which leading hadrons will be suppressed. Using such effective fragmentation functions, high $p_T$ hadron spectra and particle suppression factors relative to $pp$ collisions are then calculated in central high-energy nuclear collisions. The suppression factors are very sensitive to the value of the effective energy loss. Systematic nuclear and flavor dependence of the hadron spectra are also studied.