Three-Particle Cumulant versus Three-Particle Jet-Like Correlation

Two-particle jet-like azimuthal correlations have revealed intriguing modifications to the away side of the high pT trigger particle in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Three-particle jet-like azimuthal correlation and 3-particle azimuthal cumulant have been analyzed in experiments in attempt to distinguish conical emission of jet-like particles from other physics mechanisms. We investigate the difference between 3-particle jet-like correlation and 3-particle cumulant in azimuth. We argue, under the circumstance where the away-side 2-particle correlation is relatively flat and similar in magnitude to the azimuthal average of the di-jet signal, then the 3-particle cumulant cannot distinguish conical emission from other physics mechanisms. The 3-particle jet-like correlation, on the other hand, retains its discrimination power