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Abstract
The results of mid-rapidity (\(0 < y < 0.8\)) neutral pion spectra over an extended
transverse momentum range (\(1 < p_T < 12\) GeV/\(c\)) in \(\sqrt{s_{NN}}\) = 200 GeV Au+Au
collisions, measured by the STAR experiment, are presented. The neutral pions are
reconstructed from photons measured either by the STAR Barrel Electro-Magnetic Calorimeter
(BEMC) or by the Time Projection Chamber (TPC) via tracking of conversion electron-positron
pairs. Our measurements are compared to previously published \(\pi^{\pm}\) and \(\pi^0\)
results. The nuclear modification factors \(R_{\mathrm{CP}}\) and \(R_{\mathrm{AA}}\)
of \(\pi^0\) are also presented as a function of \(p_T\) . In the most central Au+Au collisions,
the binary collision scaled \(\pi^0\) yield at high \(p_T\) is suppressed by a factor
of about 5 compared to the expectation from the yield of p+p collisions. Such a large
suppression is in agreement with previous observations for light quark mesons and
is consistent with the scenario that partons suffer considerable energy loss in the
dense medium formed in central nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC.