Kaon Phase Space Density in Heavy Ion Collisions

The first measurement of kaon phase space densities are presented as a function of transverse mass, center of mass energy and the number of participants. The kaon phase space density increases with the number of participants from e+e- to Pb+Pb collisions. However the ratio of the kaon and pion phase space densities at low transverse momentum is independent of the number of participants for sqrt{s}=17GeV/nucleon This paper is dedicated to Francis Riccardelli, engineer for the Port Authority, who died on September 11th 2001 while evacuating others.Comment: 4 pages, 2 eps figures, proceedings of Strange Quarks in Matter, Frankfurt 2001, submitted to J. Phys. G In response to referees comments I derived an expresion for the ratio of kaon and pion phase space densites and made several clarifications in the tex

Evaluation of Data Acquisition tools based on Java

One of the requirements of today's Data Acquisition systems is aMonitoring and Run Control tool which is easy to use, robust, easy tointegrate with the global environment and possibly portable onmultiple platforms. The ALICE DAQ group at CERN decided to evaluatethe possible use of WWW and Java for development in a quasi-on-linedistributed environment. An Event Display utility that was alreadyimplemented in C and Tcl/Tk was chosen as a test case and wastransposed in Java. We will describe the targets of the project, its evolution and the achieved results

Observing Non-Gaussian Sources in Heavy-Ion Reactions

We examine the possibility of extracting non-Gaussian sources from two-particle correlations in heavy-ion reactions. Non-Gaussian sources have been predicted in a variety of model calculations and may have been seen in various like-meson pair correlations. As a tool for this investigation, we have developed an improved imaging method that relies on a Basis spline expansion of the source functions with an improved implementation of constraints. We examine under what conditions this improved method can distinguish between Gaussian and non-Gaussian sources. Finally, we investigate pion, kaon, and proton sources from the p-Pb reaction at 450 GeV/nucleon and from the S-Pb reaction at 200 GeV/nucleon studied by the NA44 experiment. Both the pion and kaon sources from the S-Pb correlations seem to exhibit a Gaussian core with an extended, non-Gaussian halo. We also find evidence for a scaling of the source widths with particle mass in the sources from the p-Pb reaction.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures, 5 tables, uses RevTex3.

Interferometry with Resonances and Flow in High-Energy Nuclear Collisions

The effects of resonances and flow on the correlation function for two identical particles are described assuming chaotic sources and classical propagation of particles. Expanding to second order in relative momenta, the source sizes can be calculated directly and understood as contributions from various fluctuations in the source. Specific calculations of source size radii are given assuming Bjorken longitudinal flow with additional transverse expansion. Results are compared to recent $\pi\pi$ and $KK$ correlation data from relativistic nuclear collisions with particular attention to the reduction in the $\pi\pi$ correlation function due to resonances and the decreasing source sizes with increasing transverse momenta of the particles.Comment: 8 pages including 2 figure

Interprocess and Interprocessor Data Flow in the Kloe Data Acquisition System

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Baryon phase-space density in heavy-ion collisions

The baryon phase-space density at mid-rapidity from central heavy-ion collisions is estimated from proton spectra with interferometry and deuteron coalescence measurements. It is found that the mid-rapidity phase-space density of baryons is significantly lower at the SPS than the AGS, while those of total particles (pion + baryon) are comparable. Thermal and chemical equilibrium model calculations tend to over-estimate the phase-space densities at both energies.Comment: 5 pages, 2 tables, no figure. RevTeX style. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C Rapid Communicatio

Two-Proton Correlations near Midrapidity in p+Pb and S+Pb Collisions at the CERN SPS

Correlations of two protons emitted near midrapidity in p+Pb collisions at 450 GeV/c and S+Pb collisions at 200A GeV/c are presented, as measured by the NA44 Experiment. The correlation effect, which arises as a result of final state interactions and Fermi-Dirac statistics, is related to the space-time characteristics of proton emission. The measured source sizes are smaller than the size of the target lead nucleus but larger than the sizes of the projectiles. A dependence on the collision centrality is observed; the source size increases with decreasing impact parameter. Proton source sizes near midrapidity appear to be smaller than those of pions in the same interactions. Quantitative agreement with the results of RQMD (v1.08) simulations is found for p+Pb collisions. For S+Pb collisions the measured correlation effect is somewhat weaker than that predicted by the model simulations, implying either a larger source size or larger contribution of protons from long-lived particle decays.Comment: 10 pages (LaTeX) text, 4 (EPS) figures; accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

Source Dimensions in Ultrarelativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

Recent experiments on pion correlations, interpreted as interferometric measurements of the collision zone, are compared with models that distinguish a prehadronic phase and a hadronic phase. The models include prehadronic longitudinal expansion, conversion to hadrons in local kinetic equilibrium, and rescattering of the produced hadrons. We find that the longitudinal and outward radii are surprisingly sensitive to the algorithm used for two-body collisions. The longitudinal radius measured in collisions of 200 GeV/u sulfur nuclei on a heavy target requires the existence of a prehadronic phase which converts to the hadronic phase at densities around 0.8-1.0 GeV/fm$^3$. The transverse radii cannot be reproduced without introducing more complex dynamics into the transverse expansion.Comment: RevTeX 3.0, 28 pages, 6 figures, not included, revised version, major change is an additional discussion of the classical two-body collision algorithm, a (compressed) postscript file of the complete paper including figures can be obtained from Authors or via anonymous ftp at ftp://ftp_int.phys.washington.edu/pub/herrmann/pisource.ps.