Direct observation of dijets in central Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV

The STAR Collaboration at RHIC reports measurements of azimuthal correlations of high transverse momentum (p_T) charged hadrons in Au+Au collisions at higher p_T than reported previously. As p_T is increased, a narrow, back-to-back peak emerges above the decreasing background, providing a clear dijet signal for all collision centralities studied. Using these correlations, we perform a systematic study of dijet production and suppression in nuclear collisions, providing new constraints on the mechanisms underlying partonic energy loss in dense matter.