pi-/pi+ ratio in heavy ions collisions: Coulomb effect or chemical equilibration?

We calculate the pi-/pi+ ratio for Pb+Pb at CERN/SPS energies and for Au+Au at BNL/AGS energies using a (3+1) dimensional hydrodynamical model. Without consideration of Coulomb effect an enhancement of this ratio at low mt is found compatible with that observed in these experiments. Our calculations are based on previous (3+1) dimensional hydrodynamical simulations (HYLANDER), which described many other aspects of experimental data. In this model the observed enhancement is a consequence of baryon and strangeness conservation and of chemical equilibration of the system and is caused by the decay of produced hyperons, which leads to a difference in the total number of positive and negative pions as well. Based on the same approach, we also present results for the pi-/pi+ ratio for S+S (CERN/SPS) collisions, where we find a similar effect. The absence of the enhancement of the pi-/pi+ ratio in the S+S data presented by the NA44 Collaboration, if confirmed, could indicate that chemical equilibration has not yet been estabilished in this reaction.Comment: 8 pages and 2 figures, submmited to Phys. Lett. B. This reviewed version (Nov.29,1996) contains more details about the model simulated efficiency considering the experimental detection conditions. Other small modifications were mad

Higher Order Bose-Einstein Correlations test the Gaussian Density Matrix Approach

A multiparticle system produced by a large number of independent sources is described by a gaussian density matrix W. All theoretical approach to Bose-Einstein Correlatios Cn in high energy physics use this form for W. One of the most salient consequences of this form is the fact that all higher order (n>2) moments of the current distribution can be expressed in terms of the first two. We test this property by comparing the data on C2(Q^2), C3(Q^2) and C4(Q^2) from pion-p and K-p reactions at 250 GeV/c with the predictions of a general quantum statistical space-time approach. Even a simplified version of such approach can account for the data. Previous attempts along these lines, which did not use the space-time approach, met with difficulties.Comment: 17 pages (including one Table) and 2 figures. To appear in Physics Letters B (PLB 13397

Thermal photon production in heavy ion collisions

Using a three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation of the collision and an equation of state containing a first order phase transition to the quark-gluon plasma, we study thermal photon production for $Au+Au$ collisions at $E_{lab}=11.5$ AGeV and for $Pb+Pb$ collisions at $160$ AGeV. We obtain surprisingly high rates of thermal photons even at the lower energy, suggesting that, contrary to what was expected so far, photon production may be an interesting topic for experimental search also at the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron. When applied to the reaction $S+Au$ at $200$ AGeV, our model can reproduce preliminary data obtained by the WA80 Collaboration without having to postulate the existence of an extremely long-lived mixed phase as was recently proposed.Comment: 9 pages, figures are uudecoded compressed and tare

Soft Photons from Off-shell Particles in a Hot Plasma

Considering the propagation of off-shell particles in the framework of thermal field theory, we present the general formalism for the calculation of the production rate of soft photons and dileptons from a hot plasma. This approach is illustrated with an electrodynamic plasma. The photon production rate from strongly interacting quarks in the quark-gluon plasma, which might be formed in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions, is calculated in the previously unaccessible regime of photon energies of the order of the plasma temperature within an effective field theory incorporating dynamical chiral symmetry breaking.Comment: 8 pages in RevTeX format, 3 figures uuencoded postscript added. Also available by anonymous ftp at ftp://tpri6c.gsi.de/pub/phenning/qh95ga