Methods for jet studies with three-particle correlations

We present a method based on three-particle azimuthal correlation cumulants for studying jet interactions with the medium produced in heavy ion collisions (at RHIC) where jets cannot be reconstructed on an event-by-event basis with conventional jet-finding algorithms. The method is specifically designed to distinguish a range of jet interaction mechanisms such as Mach cone emission, gluon Cerenkov emission, jet scattering, and jet broadening. We describe how anisotropic flow contributions of second order (e.g., v₂²) are suppressed in three-particle azimuthal correlation cumulants, and discuss specific model representations of dijets, away-side scattering, and Mach cone emission.