The interplay of nuclear effects on the $p_T>2\mathrm{G}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}$ inclusive hadron spectra in $d+\mathrm{A}\mathrm{u}$ and $\mathrm{A}\mathrm{u}+\mathrm{A}\mathrm{u}$ reactions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=17$, 200, and 5500 GeV is compared to leading order perturbative QCD calculations for elementary $p+p$ ($\overline{p}+p$) collisions. The competition between nuclear shadowing, Cronin effect, and jet energy loss due to medium-induced gluon radiation is predicted to lead to a striking energy dependence of the nuclear suppression/enhancement pattern in $A+A$ reactions. We show that future $d+\mathrm{A}\mathrm{u}$ data can be used to disentangle the initial and final state effects.

• Received 15 September 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.252301