Bulk-viscosity-driven clusterization of quark-gluon plasma and early freeze-out in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Journal Article · Sat Mar 15 04:00:00 EDT 2008 · Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVC.77.034903· OSTI ID:21189852

Torrieri, Giorgio; Tomasik, Boris; Mishustin, Igor ^[1]

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1. Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, J. W. Goethe Universitaet, Frankfurt am Main (Germany)

We introduce a new scenario for heavy ion collisions that could solve the lingering problems associated with the so-called Hanbury Brown-Twiss (HBT) puzzle. We postulate that the system starts expansion as the perfect quark-gluon fluid but close to freeze-out it splits into clusters, due to a sharp rise of bulk viscosity in the vicinity of the hadronization transition. We then argue that the characteristic cluster size is determined by the viscosity coefficient and the expansion rate. Typically it is much smaller and at most weakly dependent of the total system volume (hence reaction energy and multiplicity). These clusters maintain the pre-existing outward-going flow, as a spray of droplets, but develop no flow of their own, and hadronize by evaporation. We provide an ansatz for converting the hydrodynamic output into clusters.

• OSTI ID: 21189852
• Journal Information: Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics, Journal Name: Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 77; ISSN 0556-2813; ISSN PRVCAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
EVAPORATION
EXPANSION
FLUIDS
FREEZING OUT
GLUONS
HADRONS
HEAVY ION REACTIONS
ION COLLISIONS
MULTIPLICITY
QUARK MATTER
QUARKS
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
VISCOSITY