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Title: Probing the properties of event-by-event distributions in Hanbury-Brown–Twiss radii

Abstract

Hanbury-Brown–Twiss interferometry is a method which yields effective widths (i.e., “HBT radii”) of homogeneity regions in the fireballs produced in heavy ion collisions. Because the initial conditions of these collisions are stochastically fluctuating, the measured HBT radii also exhibit variation on an event-by-event basis. Yet, HBT measurements have, to date, been performed only on an ensemble-averaged basis, due to inherent limitations of finite particle statistics. Here, we show that experimental measurements to date are best characterized theoretically as weighted averages of the event-by-event HBT radii, and we propose a new method for extracting experimentally both the arithmetic mean and the variance of the event-by-event distribution of HBT radii. We demonstrate the extraction of the mean and variance of this distribution for a particular ensemble of numerically generated events, and offer some ideas to extend and generalize the method to enable measurement of higher moments of the HBT distribution as well.

Authors:
 [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)
OSTI Identifier:
1604419
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1223548
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0004286; SC0004104
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Review C, Nuclear Physics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 92; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 0556-2813
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS

Citation Formats

Plumberg, Christopher, and Heinz, Ulrich. Probing the properties of event-by-event distributions in Hanbury-Brown–Twiss radii. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.92.044906.
Plumberg, Christopher, & Heinz, Ulrich. Probing the properties of event-by-event distributions in Hanbury-Brown–Twiss radii. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.92.044906
Plumberg, Christopher, and Heinz, Ulrich. 2015. "Probing the properties of event-by-event distributions in Hanbury-Brown–Twiss radii". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.92.044906. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1604419.
@article{osti_1604419,
title = {Probing the properties of event-by-event distributions in Hanbury-Brown–Twiss radii},
author = {Plumberg, Christopher and Heinz, Ulrich},
abstractNote = {Hanbury-Brown–Twiss interferometry is a method which yields effective widths (i.e., “HBT radii”) of homogeneity regions in the fireballs produced in heavy ion collisions. Because the initial conditions of these collisions are stochastically fluctuating, the measured HBT radii also exhibit variation on an event-by-event basis. Yet, HBT measurements have, to date, been performed only on an ensemble-averaged basis, due to inherent limitations of finite particle statistics. Here, we show that experimental measurements to date are best characterized theoretically as weighted averages of the event-by-event HBT radii, and we propose a new method for extracting experimentally both the arithmetic mean and the variance of the event-by-event distribution of HBT radii. We demonstrate the extraction of the mean and variance of this distribution for a particular ensemble of numerically generated events, and offer some ideas to extend and generalize the method to enable measurement of higher moments of the HBT distribution as well.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevC.92.044906},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1604419}, journal = {Physical Review C, Nuclear Physics},
issn = {0556-2813},
number = 4,
volume = 92,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Oct 13 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Tue Oct 13 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}

Journal Article:

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Cited by: 9 works
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Works referenced in this record:

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journal, March 2010


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Works referencing / citing this record:

Averaging and the Shape of the Correlation Function
journal, June 2019