Three-particle correlations from PHENIX to investigate the properties of the QGP at RHIC

There is now a consensus of opinion that in heavy ion collisions at RHIC energies a strongly interacting state of matter resembling a near-perfect liquid (termed sQGP) is formed. Attention is now being focused on elucidating the properties of this medium e.g. size, shape, collectivity, viscosity, closeness to the critical point etc. In this work we describe the efforts in the soft and hard sectors to quantify these properties. In particular, the study of jet-medium interactions are described via correlation based studies. Details of three particle correlation studies of RHIC data will be discussed. Such studies are important as they provide an avenue for estimates of the viscosity and the sound speed of the medium.