Analysis method for jet-like three-particle azimuthal correlations

Jet-like three-particle azimuthal correlations can discriminate various physical scenarios that have been proposed to explain the observed strong modification to two-particle azimuthal correlations. The three-particle correlation analysis is notoriously difficult in heavy-ion collisions due to the large combinatorial backgrounds. We describe the general idea behind the jet-like three-particle azimuthal correlation analysis, with emphasis on the subtraction of the combinatorial backgrounds. We discuss in detail various sources of systematic uncertainties in such an analysis.