Quark Matter 2005 Conference   Quark Matter 2005 Conference


Probing the Quark Gluon Liquid using Transverse Momentum Fluctuations

Presenting Author: Prof. Sean Gavin

Author(s): Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and Sean Gavin

Abstract:

Correlation and fluctuation measurements can distinguish liquids from plasmas. Experiments show that transverse momentum fluctuations are roughly independent of beam energy, but increase as centrality increases [1, 2]. Local equilibration can explain this behavior [3], but jet and flow explanations have also been suggested [2, 4]. Certainly all effects play a role at some level ? the question is how to sort them out. We extend the formulation in [3] to account for contributions to fluctuations from radial flow and the energy loss of the high transverse momentum particles. Calculations are then compared to the measured average transverse momentum and its fluctuations. We then discuss how correlation function measurements may distinguish these effects. [1] S. S. Adler et al. [PHENIX Collaboration], Phys.Rev.Lett. 93 (2004) 092301. [2] J. Adams et al. [STAR Collaboration] arXiv:nucl-ex/0504031. [3] Sean Gavin, Phys.Rev.Lett. 92 (2004) 162301. [4] S. Voloshin, nucl-ex/0505003.


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