Universal Pion Freeze-Out in Heavy-Ion Collisions

D. Adamová et al. (CERES Collaboration)
Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 022301 – Published 15 January 2003

Abstract

Based on an evaluation of data on pion interferometry and on particle yields at midrapidity, we propose a universal condition for thermal freeze-out of pions in heavy-ion collisions. We show that freeze-out occurs when the mean free path of pions λf reaches a value of about 1 fm, which is much smaller than the spatial extent of the system at freeze-out. This critical mean free path is independent of the centrality of the collision and beam energy from the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron to the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider.

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  • Received 17 July 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.022301

©2003 American Physical Society

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Vol. 90, Iss. 2 — 17 January 2003

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