Multiparticle dynamics of Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS

✍ Scribed by G. Roland

• Book ID: 104355552
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 687 KB
• Volume: 71
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0920-5632
• DOI: 10.1016/s0920-5632(98)00352-1

✦ Synopsis

We discuss recent results on single-and multiparticle distributions obtained for Pb+Pb collisions at 158 GeV/nucleon at the CERN SPS. By combining information from single particle spectra and Bose-Einstein correlation of like-sign pions with the results of an event-by-event analysis of charged hadron phase space distributions, a consistent picture of a particle source in local thermal equilibrium undergoing a longitudinal and transverse expansion emerges. We discuss further measurements that will allow a quantitative analysis of thermal equilibration based on event-by-event correlation measurements. This will provide vital information on the question whether conditions suitable for the existence of an equilibrated deconfined state of partonic matter, the quark gluon plasma, are reached in the early stages of these collisions.