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F. Becattini

Publications and source records attributed to F. Becattini.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Statistical hadronization and hadronic microcanonical ensemble II

We present a Monte-Carlo calculation of the microcanonical ensemble of the of the ideal hadron-resonance gas including all known states up to a mass of about 1.8 GeV and full quantum statistics. The microcanonical average multiplicities of the various hadron species are found to converge to the canonical ones for moderately low values of the total energy, around 8 GeV, thus bearing out previous analyses of hadronic multiplicities in the canonical ensemble. The main numerical computing method is an importance sampling Monte-Carlo algorithm using the product of Poisson distributions to generate multi-hadronic channels. It is shown that the use of this multi-Poisson distribution allows an efficient and fast computation of averages, which can be further improved in the limit of very large clusters. We have also studied the fitness of a previously proposed computing method, based on the Metropolis Monte-Carlo algorithm, for event generation in the statistical hadronization model. We find that the use of the multi-Poisson distribution as proposal matrix dramatically improves the computation performance. However, due to the correlation of subsequent samples, this method proves to be generally less robust and effective than the importance sampling method.

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Particle Number Fluctuations in Statistical Model with Exact Charge Conservation Laws

Even though the first momenta i.e. the ensemble average quantities in canonical ensemble (CE) give the grand canonical (GC) results in large multiplicity limit, the fluctuations involving second moments do not respect this asymptotic behaviour. Instead, the asymptotics are strikingly different, giving a new handle in study of statistical particle number fluctuations in relativistic nuclear reactions. Here we study the analytical large volume asymptotics to general case of multispecies hadron gas carrying fixed baryon number, strangeness and electric charge. By means of Monte Carlo simulations we have also studied the general multiplicity probability distributions taking into account the decay chains of resonance states.

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What is the meaning of the statistical hadronization model?

The statistical model of hadronization succeeds in reproducing particle abundances and transverse momentum spectra in high energy collisions of elementary particles as well as of heavy ions. Despite its apparent success, the interpretation of these results is controversial and the validity of the approach very often questioned. In this paper, we would like to summarize the whole issue by first outlining a basic formulation of the model and then comment on the main criticisms and different kinds of interpretations, with special emphasis on the so-called "phase space dominance". While the ultimate answer to the question why the statistical model works should certainly be pursued, we stress that it is a priority to confirm or disprove the fundamental scheme of the statistical model by performing some detailed tests on the rates of exclusive channels at lower energy.

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Statistical hadronization and hadronic microcanonical ensemble I

We present a full treatment of the microcanonical ensemble of the ideal hadron-resonance gas in a quantum-mechanical framework which is appropriate for the statistical model of hadronization. By using a suitable transition operator for hadronization we are able to recover the results of the statistical theory, particularly the expressions of the rates of different channels. Explicit formulae are obtained for the phase space volume or density of states of the ideal relativistic gas in quantum statistics which, for large volumes, turn to a cluster decomposition whose terms beyond the leading one account for Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac correlations. The problem of the computation of the microcanonical ensemble and its comparison with the canonical one, which will be the main subject of a forthcoming paper, is addressed.

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Chemical equilibrium study in nucleus-nucleus collisions at relativistic energies

We present a detailed study of chemical freeze-out in nucleus-nucleus collisions at beam energies of 11.6, 30, 40, 80 and 158A GeV. By analyzing hadronic multiplicities within the statistical hadronization approach, we have studied the strangeness production as a function of centre of mass energy and of the parameters of the source. We have tested and compared different versions of the statistical model, with special emphasis on possible explanations of the observed strangeness hadronic phase space under-saturation. We show that, in this energy range, the use of hadron yields at midrapidity instead of in full phase space artificially enhances strangeness production and could lead to incorrect conclusions as far as the occurrence of full chemical equilibrium is concerned. In addition to the basic model with an extra strange quark non-equilibrium parameter, we have tested three more schemes: a two-component model superimposing hadrons coming out of single nucleon-nucleon interactions to those emerging from large fireballs at equilibrium, a model with local strangeness neutrality and a model with strange and light quark non-equilibrium parameters. The behaviour of the source parameters as a function of colliding system and collision energy is studied. The description of strangeness production entails a non-monotonic energy dependence of strangeness saturation parameter gamma_S with a maximum around 30A GeV. We also present predictions of the production rates of still unmeasured hadrons including the newly discovered Theta^+(1540) pentaquark baryon.

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Chemical factors in canonical statistical models for relativistic heavy ion collisions

We study the effect of enforcing exact conservation of charges in statistical models of particle production for systems as large as those relevant to relativistic heavy ion collisions. By using a numerical method developed for small systems, we have been able to approach the large volume limit keeping the exact canonical treatment of all relevant charges, namely baryon number, strangeness and electric charge. Hence, we hereby give the information needed in a hadron gas model whether the canonical treatment is necessary or not in actual cases. Comparison between calculations and experimental particle multiplicities is shown. Also, a discussion on relative strangeness chemical equilibrium is given.

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Strange quark production in a statistical effective model

An effective model with constituent quarks as fundamental degrees of freedom is used to predict the relative strangeness production pattern in both high energy elementary and heavy ion collisions. The basic picture is that of the statistical hadronization model, with hadronizing color-singlet clusters assumed to be at full chemical equilibrium at constituent quark level. Thus, by assuming that at least the ratio between strange and non-strange constituent quarks survives in the final hadrons, the apparent undersaturation of strange particle phase space observed in the data can be accounted for. In this framework, the enhancement of relative strangeness production in heavy ion collisions in comparison with elementary collisions is mainly owing to the excess of initial non-strange matter over antimatter and the so-called canonical suppression, namely the constraint of exact color and flavor conservation over small volumes.

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Statistical hadronisation phenomenology

The analyses of hadron production in the framework of the statistical hadronisation model are reviewed. The analysis of average multiplicities in collisions at relatively low centre-of-mass energy confirms previous findings, namely the universality of hadronisation temperature and of strange to non-strange quark production rate. The study of transverse momentum spectra of identified hadrons allows a further determination of the hadronisation temperature which is found to be compatible with that obtained from fits to average multiplicities.

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Strangeness production in a constituent quark model

We develop a model to calculate strangeness production in both elementary and heavy ion collisions, within the framework of a statistical approach to hadronisation. Calculations are based on the canonical partition function of the thermal Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with exact conservation of flavor and color. It turns out that the growth of strange quarks production in heavy ion collisions is due to the initial excess of non-strange matter over antimatter, whereas a suppression occurs for elementary collisions, owing to the constraint of exact quantum charges conservation over small volumes.

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Probing Hadronization with Strangeness

The Omega-bar/Omega ratio originating from string decays is predicted to be larger than unity in proton-proton interaction at SPS energies. The anti-omega dominance increases with decreasing beam energy. This surprising behavior is caused by the combinatorics of quark-antiquark production in small and low-mass strings. Since this behavior is not found in a statistical description of hadron production in proton-proton collisions, it may serve as a key observable to probe the hadronization mechanism in such collisions.

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Hadrosynthesis at SPS and RHIC and the statistical model

An analysis of hadron abundances in heavy ion collisions from SPS to RHIC energy within the statistical-thermal model is presented. Pb--Pb collisions at 40 A GeV are analysed for the first time here. Unlike stated in similar recent studies, the data analysis rules out a complete strange chemical equilibrium in full phase space. In fact, the use of multiplicities integrated in full phase space or in a limited rapidity window at SPS energy gives rise to different results for the extra-strangeness suppression parameter gamma_S while the extracted values of temperature and baryon-chemical potential do not vary significantly. This behaviour rises the question whether the observed hadronic strangeness phase space saturation at RHIC within a small mid-rapidity window would hold in a possible full phase space analysis.

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The canonical effect in statistical models for relativistic heavy ion collisions

Enforcing exact conservation laws instead of average ones in statistical thermal models for relativistic heavy ion reactions gives raise to so called canonical effect, which can be used to explain some enhancement effects when going from elementary (e.g. pp) or small (pA) systems towards large AA systems. We review the recently developed method for computation of canonical statistical thermodynamics, and give an insight when this is needed in analysis of experimental data.

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Overpopulation of $\bar Ω$ in pp collisions: a way to distinguish statistical hadronization from string dynamics

The $\barΩ/Ω$ ratio originating from string decays is predicted to be larger than unity in proton proton interactions at SPS energies ($E_{\rm lab}$=160 GeV). The anti-omega dominance increases with decreasing beam energy. This surprising behavior is caused by the combinatorics of quark-antiquark production in small and low-mass strings. Since this behavior is not found in a statistical description of hadron production in proton proton collisions, it may serve as a key observable to probe the hadronization mechanism in such collisions.

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Statistical hadronisation model and transverse momentum spectra of hadrons in high energy collisions

A detailed analysis of transverse momentum spectra of several identified hadrons in high energy collisions within the canonical framework of the statistical model of hadronisation is performed. The study of particle momentum spectra requires an extension of the statistical model formalism used to handle particle multiplicities, which is described in detail starting from a microcanonical treatment of single hadronising clusters. Also, a new treatment of extra strangeness suppression is presented which is based on the enforcement of fixed numbers of ssbar pairs in the primary hadrons. The considered centre-of-mass energies range from ~ 10 to 30 GeV in hadronic collisions (pion-p, pp and Kp) and from ~ 15 to 35 GeV in e+e- collisions. The effect of the decay chain following hadron generation is accurately and exhaustively taken into account by a newly proposed numerical method. The exact p_T conservation at low energy and the increasing hard parton emission at high energy bound the validity of the presently taken approach within a limited centre-of-mass energy range. However, within this region, a clear consistency is found between the temperature parameter extracted from the present analysis and that obtained from fits to average hadron multiplicities in the same collision systems. This finding indicates that in the hadronisation process the production of different particle species and their momentum spectra are two closely related phenomena governed by one parameter.

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Strangeness production in a statistical effective model of hadronisation

We suppose that overall strangeness production in both high energy elementary and heavy ion collisions can be described within the framework of an equilibrium statistical model in which the effective degrees of freedom are constituent quarks as used in effective lagrangian models. In this picture, the excess of relative strangeness production in heavy ion collisions with respect to elementary particle collisions arises from the unbalance between initial non-strange matter and antimatter and from the exact colour and flavour quantum number conservation over different finite volumes. The comparison with the data and the possible sources of model dependence are discussed.

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Features of particle multiplicities and strangeness production in central heavy ion collisions between 1.7A and 158A GeV/c

A systematic study is performed of fully integrated particle multiplicities in central Au-Au and Pb-Pb collisions at beam momenta of 1.7A GeV, 11.6A GeV (Au-Au) and 158$A$ GeV (Pb-Pb) by using a statistical-thermal model. The close similarity of the colliding systems makes it possible to study heavy ion collisions under definite initial conditions over a range of centre-of-mass energies covering more than one order of magnitude. In order to further study the behaviour of strangeness production, an updated study of Si-Au collisions at 14.6A GeV is also presented. The data analysis has been performed with two completely independent numerical algorithms giving closely consistent results. We conclude that a thermal model description of particle multiplicities, with additional strangeness suppression, is possible for each energy. The degree of chemical equilibrium of strange particles and the relative production of strange quarks with respect to u and d quarks are higher than in e+e-, pp and ppbar collisions at comparable and even at lower energies. The behaviour of strangeness production as a function of centre-of-mass energy and colliding system is presented and discussed. The average energy per hadron in the comoving frame is close to 1 GeV per hadron despite the fact that the energy increases more than 10-fold.

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Common Features of Particle Multiplicities in Heavy Ion Collisions

Results of a systematic study of fully integrated particle multiplicities in central Au-Au and Pb-Pb collisions at beam momenta 1.7 A GeV, 11.6 A GeV (Au-Au) and 158 A GeV (Pb-Pb) using a statistical-thermal model are presented. The close similarity of the colliding systems makes it possible to study heavy ion collisions under definite initial conditions over a range of centre-of-mass energies covering more than one order of magnitude. We conclude that a thermal model description of particle multiplicities, with additional strangeness suppression, is possible for each energy. The degree of chemical equilibrium of strange particles and the relative production of strange quarks with respect to u and d quarks are higher than in e+e-, pp and pp(bar) collisions at comparable and even at lower energies. The average energy per hadron in the comoving frame is always close to 1 GeV per hadron despite the fact that the energy varies more than 10-fold.

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Transverse momentum spectra of identified particles in high energy collisions with statistical hadronisation model

A detailed analysis is performed of transverse momentum spectra of several identified hadrons in high energy collisions within the framework of the statistical model of hadronisation. The effect of the decay chain following hadron generation is accurately taken into account. The considered centre-of-mass energies range from ~ 10 to 30 GeV in hadronic collisions (pi+ p, pp and Kp) and from ~ 15 to 45 GeV in e+e- collisions. A clear consistency is found between the temperature parameter extracted from the present analysis and that obtained from fits to average hadron multiplicities in the same collision systems. This finding indicates that in the hadronisation, the production of different particle species and their momentum spectra are two closely related phenomenons governed by one parameter.

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