A hydrodynamic model coupled to the statistical hadronization code Therminator is used to study a set of observables in the soft sector at RHIC. A satisfactory description of the pT-spectra and elliptic flow is obtained, similarly to other hydrodynamic models. With the Gaussian initial conditions the transverse femtoscopic radii are also reproduced, providing a possible solution of the RHIC HBT puzzle.
We study the production of charmonia and charmed hadrons for nucleus-nucleus collisions at SPS, RHIC, and LHC energies within the framework of the statistical hadronization model. Results from this model are compared to the observed centrality dependence of J/psi production at SPS energy. We further provide predictions for the centrality dependence of the production of open and hidden charm mesons at RHIC and LHC.
The rapidity densities in Au-Au collisions at center-of-mass energies 200 and 130 A GeV measured at Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider by STAR and PHENIX collaborations are analyzed within the statistical hadronization model at chemical freeze-out. We find that the model can describe the experimental rapidity densities well. The corresponding chemical freeze-out parameters are determined and they are seen to be in agreement with what we expect from our previous analyzes at lower beam energies at AGS and SPS.
We study the production of charmonia and charmed hadrons in nucleus-nucleus collisions at SPS, RHIC, and LHC energies within the framework of the statistical hadronization model. Results from this model are compared to the measured yields and centrality dependence of J/psi production at SPS and RHIC energies. We explore and contrast the centrality dependence of the production of mesons with open and hidden charm at SPS, RHIC, and LHC. The sensitivity of the results to various input parameters is analyzed in detail for RHIC energy.
The expansion of strongly interacting matter formed in high-energy nuclear collisions drives the system through the region of phase coexistence. The present study examines the associated spinodal instability and finds that the degree of amplification may be sufficient to raise the prospect of using the spinodal pattern formation as a diagnostic tool for probing the hadronization phase transition.
We address the principles governing QGP hadronization and particle production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We argue that chemical non-equilibrium is required and show that once this condition is assumed a very good description of hadron production in collider RHIC and at LHC heavy ion experiments follows. We present results of our analysis as a function of centrality. Comparing most extreme experimental conditions we show that only the reaction volume and degree of strangeness phase space saturation change. We determine the universal QGP fireball hadronization conditions.
We study the mechanism and probability of in-medium hadronization in the deconfined medium produced in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LHC. We show the likelihood of color-neutral objects to be formed inside the partonic fireball and the probability of these states to escape the medium with reduced interaction strength and energy loss. We will suggest specific measurements that are sensitive to the early degrees of freedom and show predictions for these measurements at RHIC and the LHC
The integrated HydroKinetic Model (iHKM) is applied to analyse the results of direct photon spectra as well as elliptic and triangular flow measurements in 200A GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC for different centrality bins. Experiments detect the strong centrality dependence of photon elliptic and triangular flow as increasing $v_n(p_T)$-coefficients towards peripheral collisions. The photon production in the model is accumulated from the different sources along with the process of relativistic heavy ion collision developing. Those include the primary hard photons from the parton collisions at th…
We discuss experimental features of identified particle production from nucleus-nucleus collisions. These features reflect hadronization from a deconfined partonic matter whose particle formation scheme is distinctly different from fragmentation phenomenology in elementary collisions. Multi-parton dynamics, such as quark coalescences or recombinations, appear to be essential to explain the experimental measurements at the intermediate transverse momentum of 2--5 GeV/c. Constituent quarks seem to be the dominant degrees of freedom at hadronization. Heavy quark production should help quantify de…
We present an analysis of $Ω$, $Ξ$, $Λ$ and $ϕ$ spectra from Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV in terms of distributions of effective constituent quarks at hadronization. Consistency in quark ratios derived from various hadron spectra provides clear evidence for hadron formation dynamics as suggested by quark coalescence or recombination models. We argue that the constituent quark distribution reflects properties of the effective partonic degrees of freedom at hadronization. Experimental data indicate that strange quarks have a transverse momentum distribution flatter than that of up…
This thesis discusses the phenomenological parton recombination approach to describe hadronization in heavy ion collisions. The very good agreement to RHIC data for the flow coefficients v_2 and v_4 is shown and extrapolations are used to make predictions for the LHC.
The most recent data from the CERN LHC are compared with calculations within the statistical hadronization model. The parameters temperature und baryon chemical potential are fitted to the data. The best fit yields a temperature of 156 MeV, slightly below the expectation from RHIC data. Proton yields are nearly three standard deviations below this fit and possible reasons are discussed.
We present new results on the statistical hadronization of heavy quarks at SPS, RHIC and LHC energies. Several new aspects are considered, among them a separation of the collision geometry into a ``core'' and a ``corona'' part and an estimate of the annihilation rate of charm quark in a hot plasma, together with a critical assessment of its influence on the results. For RHIC energies we investigate the centrality dependence of J/psi production focusing on the model results for different values of the charm production cross section, including its theoretical and experimental uncertainty. We als…
Azimuthally-sensitive femtoscopy for heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LHC is explored within the approach consisting of the hydrodynamics of perfect fluid followed by statistical hadronization. It is found that for the RHIC initial conditions the very same framework that reproduces the standard soft observables (including the transverse-momentum spectra, the elliptic flow, and the azimuthally-averaged HBT radii) leads to a proper description of the azimuthally-sensitive femtoscopic observables - we find that the azimuthal variation of the side and out HBT radii is very well reproduced for all …
We discuss the bulk properties of QGP produced at RHIC obtained at time of hadronization. We argue that hadronization of quark--gluon plasma occurs at a critical pressure of 82 MeV/fm3, obtained for SPS energy range.
We show that all central rapidity hadron yields measured in Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=2.76$ TeV are well described by the chemical non-equilibrium statistical hadronization model (SHM), where the chemically equilibrated QGP source breaks up directly into hadrons. SHM parameters are obtained as a function of centrality of colliding ions, and we compare CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) with Brookhaven National Laboratory Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) results. We predict yields of unobserved hadrons and address anti-matter production. The physical properties of the quark--gluon…
We introduce the equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical hadronization picture of particle production in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions. We describe the related physical reaction scenarios, and show how these can lead to quark pair yield non-equilibrium. Using the SHARE1.2 program suite we quantitatively model particle yields and ratios for RHIC-130 run. We study how experimental particle ratios can differentiate between model scenarios, and discuss in depth the importance of hadronic resonances in understanding of hadron production processes.
We discuss the production of charmonium in nuclear collisions within the framework of the statistical hadronization model. We demonstrate that the model reproduces very well the availble data at RHIC. We provide predictions for the LHC energy where, dependently on the charm production cross section, a dramatically different behaviour of charmonium production as a function of centrality might be expected. We extend our predictions for charm production towards the threshold energies, where charm is expected to be measured at the future FAIR facility.
A new dynamical approach that combines covariant parton transport theory with hadronization channels via parton coalescence and fragmentation is applied to Au+Au at RHIC. Basic consequences of the simple coalescence formulas, such as elliptic flow scaling and enhanced proton/pion ratio, turn out to be rather sensitive to the spacetime aspects of coalescence dynamics.
We discuss the production of charmonium in nuclear collisions within the framework of the statistical hadronization model. We demonstrate that the model reproduces very well the availble data at RHIC. We provide predictions for the LHC energy where, dependently on the charm production cross section, a dramatically different behaviour of charmonium production as a function of centrality might be expected. We discuss also the case in elementary collisions, where clearly the statistical model does not reproduce the measurements.
The hydrodynamical models used to describe the evolution of heavy-ion collisions are briefly reviewed and their results compared with recent RHIC data.
Parton energy loss in Au+Au collisions at RHIC energies is studied by numerically solving the relativistic Boltzmann equation for the partons including $2 \leftrightarrow 2$ and $2 \to 2 + final state radiation$ collision processes. Final particle spectra are obtained using two hadronization models; the Lund string fragmentation and independent fragmentation models. Recent, preliminary $π^0$ transverse momentum distributions from central Au+Au collisions at RHIC are reproduced using gluon-gluon scattering cross sections of 5-12 mb, depending upon the hadronization model. Comparisons with the H…
The current status of the application of hydrodynamics to ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions is reviewed. We elaborate on the arguments for strong transverse flow and rapid thermalization and discuss future applications and trends in hydrodynamics.
The hydrodynamic model is used to describe the single-particle spectra and elliptic flow of hadrons at RHIC and to predict the emission angle dependence of HBT correlations at RHIC and LHC energies.
The relativistic hydrodynamics together with the single-freeze-out statistical hadronization model is used to describe the midrapidity hadron production in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LHC. At the highest RHIC energy our approach gives a quite satisfactory global description of soft hadronic observables including the HBT radii. With the increased initial energy, from RHIC to LHC, we expect the saturation of the pion elliptic flow and the moderate increase of the correlation radii.
We consider a physical scenario for ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions where, at the early stage, only transverse degrees of freedom of partons are thermalized, while the longitudinal motion is described by free streaming. When the energy density of the partonic system drops to a certain critical value, the partons hadronize and the newly formed hadronic system freezes out. This sudden change is described with the help of the Landau matching conditions followed by the simulations done with THERMINATOR. The proposed scenario reproduces well the transverse-momentum spectra, the elliptic flo…
We review the apparently hydrodynamic behaviour of low transverse momentum particles (p_T < 1.5 GeV/c) produced in central and semicentral (b < 7 fm) heavy ion collisions at RHIC. We investigate the impact parameter dependence of various observables, elaborating on radial and elliptic flow and particle multiplicities. We also discuss possible ambiguities in the initialization of the hydrodynamic system and present observables that should allow for their resolution.
This survey offers an introductory tutorial for students of any age of the currently thriving field of hadrochemistry. We discuss the different chemical potentials, how the hadronic phase space is described and how one evaluates the abundance of hadrons at time of hadronization. We show that a rather accurate description of experimental data arises and we present results of fits to hadron yields at SPS and RHIC. We show that introduction of chemical non-equilibrium originating in a sudden hadronization of a QGP is favored strongly at SPS and is presently also emerging at RHIC. The low chemical…
A brief overview of the current status of hydrodynamic concepts applied to ultra relativistic heavy-ion collisions is presented. Special emphasis is placed on future prospects for extracting the thermodynamic properties and the bulk features of the created medium from experimental observations.
In an earlier work (arXiv:0808.0953) we established that causal Israel-Stewart viscous hydrodynamics is only accurate in RHIC applications at very low shear viscosities 4 pi eta_s / s < ~ 1.5-2. We show here that the region of applicability is significantly reduced if bulk viscosity plays a role in the dynamics.
I review the successes and limitations of the ideal fluid dynamic model in describing hadron emission spectra from Au+Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC).
We explore the centrality dependence of properties of the dense hadronic matter created in \sqrt{s_{NN}}=200 GeV Au--Au collisions at RHIC. Using the statistical hadronization model we fit particle yields known for 11 centrality bins. We present the resulting model parameters, rapidity yields of physical quantities and the physical properties of bulk matter at hadronization as function of centrality. We discuss the production of strangeness and entropy.
Hydrodynamic behavior and the associated discussions of viscosity at RHIC has inspired a r enaissance in modeling viscous hydrodynamics. An explanation of Israel-Stewart hydrodynamics is presented here, with an emphasis on the tangible benefits compared to Navier Stokes.
It is argued that the use of the initial Gaussian energy density profile for hydrodynamics leads to much better uniform description of the RHIC heavy-ion data than the use of the standard initial condition obtained from the Glauber model. With the modified Gaussian initial conditions we successfully reproduce the transverse-momentum spectra, v2, and the pionic HBT radii (including their azimuthal dependence). The emerging consistent picture of hadron production hints that a solution of the long standing RHIC HBT puzzle has been found.
Current status of dynamical modeling of relativistic heavy ion collisions and hydrodynamic description of the quark gluon plasma is reported. We find the hadronic rescattering effect plays an important role in interpretation of mass splitting pattern in the differential elliptic flow data observed at RHIC. To demonstrate this, we predict the elliptic flow parameter for phi mesons to directly observe the flow just after hadronisation. We also discuss recent applications of outputs from hydrodynamic calculations to J/psi suppression, thermal photon radiation and heavy quark diffusion.
The problem of early thermalization of matter produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at RHIC is discussed in the framework of a hybrid model that consists of the transverse-hydrodynamics stage followed by the standard perfect-fluid hydrodynamics stage and freeze-out. The two hydrodynamic regimes are connected with the help of Landau matching conditions. A satisfactory description of the soft hadronic observables is achieved. This indicates that the early-thermalization problem and also the HBT puzzle may be to large extent circumvented.
We consider the chemical freeze-out of $Ξ$, $\overlineΞ$ and $ϕ$ multistrange hadrons within a Statistical Hadronization Model inspired approach. We study particle yields across a wide range of reaction energy and centrality from NA49 at SPS and STAR at RHIC experiments. We constrain the physical conditions present in the fireball source of strange hadrons, and anticipate results expected at LHC.
We discuss the production of charmonium and open charm in nuclear collisions at SPS/FAIR energies within the framework of the statistical hadronization model. The increasing importance at lower energies of Lambda_c production is discussed and provides a challenge for future experiments. We also show that possible modifications of charmed hadrons in the hot hadronic medium do not lead to measurable changes in the cross sections for D-meson production. A possible influence of medium effects can be seen, however, in yields of charmonium. These effects are visible at all energies and results will …
Non-identical particle femtoscopy probes not only the size of the emitting system, but also the emission asymmetries between particles of different mass, which are intimately related with the collective behavior of matter. We apply the technique to the simulations from the {\tt THERMINATOR}+Lhyquid model of the heavy-ion collisions at sqrt{s_{NN}}=200 AGeV. We present predictions for all common pair combinations and discuss their interpretation. Emphasis is put on extracting unique information about collective behavior of matter from the non-identical particle correlations and understanding th…
We discuss the present collective flow signals for the phase transition to quark-gluon plasma (QGP) and the collective flow as a barometer for the equation of state (EoS). A study of Mach shocks induced by fast partonic jets propagating through the QGP is given. We predict a significant deformation of Mach shocks in central Au+Au collisions at RHIC and LHC energies as compared to the case of jet propagation in a static medium. Results of a hydrodynamical study of jet energy loss are presented.
A popular derivation of the apparent temperature of the particle transverse momentum spectra and its inconsistency are considered. An improved formula for the apparent temperature is discussed. It is shown that recent results on transverse mass spectra of $J/ψ$ and $ψ^{\prime}$ mesons support a hypothesis of statistical production of charmonia at hadronization and suggest the early thermal freeze-out of these mesons. Using the apparent temperature formula the collective transverse velocity of the hadronizing quark gluon plasma is extracted to be $<v_T > \approx 0.2$. Predictions for transverse…
Recent developments in our description of RHIC and related heavy-ion phenomena in terms of hidden local symmetry theories are reviewed with a focus on the novel nearly massless states in the vicinity of -- both below and above -- the chiral restoration temperature T_c. We present complementary and intuitive ways to understand both Harada-Yamawaki's vector manifestation structure and Brown-Rho scaling -- which are closely related -- in terms of "melting" of soft glues observed in lattice calculations and join the massless modes that arise in the vector manifestation (in the chiral limit) just b…
This dissertation examines the phenomenology of statistical hadronization at ultrarelativistic energies. We start with an overview of current experimental and theoretical issues in Relativistic heavy ion physics. We then introduce statistical hadronization, and show how it gives a description of particle abundances and spectra through covariance and entropy maximization. We argue that a distinction can be made between equilibrated staged freeze-out in which post-formation hadron interactions play an important role in determining final-state observables, and non-equilibrium sudden freeze-out wh…
It is argued that the observation of anisotropic azimuthal distribution of final state particles alone is insufficient to show whether the formed matter at RHIC behaves like hydrodynamic flow. Examining the intrinsic interaction (or correlation) of the formed matter should provide more definite judgement. To the end, a spatial-dependent azimuthal multiplicity-correlation pattern is suggested. It shows clearly in the pattern that there are two kinds of interactions at the early stage of Au + Au collisions at $\sqnn=200$ GeV generated by RQMD with hadron re-scattering and AMPT with string meltin…
We show that a consistent hydrodynamic description of soft-hadronic one- and two-particle observables (the HBT radii) studied in the relativistic heavy-ion collisions at RHIC may be obtained if one uses the Gaussian energy density profile as the initial condition. The transverse-momentum spectra, the elliptic flow coefficient $v_2$, and the pionic azimuthally sensitive HBT radii are successfully reproduced, which hints that the long standing HBT puzzle has been solved.
We review the application and successes of a phase-space coalescence plus fragmentation model that has been applied for hadronization at RHIC. The physical concept is discussed together with the practical implementation. The robustness of main predictions is reviewed together with several open issues like relevance of three dimensional calculation, finite width of the wave functions, effects of quark masses, energy-entropy conservation, space-momentum correlation. Eventually the relevance of coalescence also for the study of the microscopic interaction of heavy quarks is highlighted.
The fast simultaneous hadronization and chemical freeze out of supercooled quark-gluon plasma, created in relativistic heavy ion collisions, leads to the re-heating of the expanding matter and to the change in a collective flow profile. We use the assumption of statistical nature of the hadronization process, and study quantitatively the freeze out in the framework of hydrodynamical Bjorken model with different quark-gluon plasma equations of state.
We introduce a transport approach which combines partonic and hadronic degrees of freedom on an equal footing and discuss the resulting reaction dynamics. The initial parton dynamics is modeled in the framework of the parton cascade model, hadronization is performed via a cluster hadronization model and configuration space coalescence, and the hadronic phase is described by a microscopic hadronic transport approach. The resulting reaction dynamics indicates a strong influence of hadronic rescattering on the space-time pattern of hadronic freeze-out and on the shape of transverse mass spectra. …
Recent data on hadron multiplicities in central Pb+Pb collisions at 158A GeV/c at mid-rapidity are analyzed within the concept of chemical freeze-out. A non-uniformity of the baryon chemical potential along the beam axis is taken into account. An approximate analytical solution of the hydrodynamic equations for a chemically frozen Boltzmann-like gas is found. The Cauchy conditions for hydrodynamic evolution of the hadron resonance gas are fixed at the thermal freeze-out hypersurface from analysis of one-particle momentum spectra and HBT correlations. The proper time of chemical freeze-out and …
We report recent progress on causal viscous hydrodynamics for relativistic heavy ion collisions. For fixed specific shear viscosity eta/s, uncertainties in the elliptic flow arising from initial conditions, equation of state, bulk viscosity and numerical viscosity, and the treatment of the highly viscous hadronic stage and freeze-out procedure are analysed. A comparison of current viscous hydrodynamic results with experimental data yields a robust upper limit eta/s < 5/(4pi).
We can establish a new picture, the perfect fluid sQGP core and the dissipative hadronic corona, of the space-time evolution of produced matter in relativistic heavy ion collisions at RHIC. It is also shown that the picture works well also in the forward rapidity region through an analysis based on a new class of the hydro-kinetic model and that this is a manifestation of rapid increase of entropy density in the vicinity of QCD critical temperature, namely deconfinement.
We address the problem if the early thermalization and HBT puzzles in relativistic heavy-ion collisions may be solved by the assumption that the early dynamics of the produced matter is locally anisotropic. The hybrid model describing the purely transverse hydrodynamic evolution followed by the perfect-fluid hydrodynamic stage is constructed. The transition from the transverse to perfect-fluid hydrodynamics is described by the Landau matching conditions applied at a fixed proper time. The global fit to the RHIC data reproduces the soft hadronic observables (the pion, kaon, and the proton spect…
Much of the energy of the nuclei colliding at RHIC or SPS is converted into final state hadronic particles. About a quarter of this energy is in baryons and antibaryons. There are nearly 10 strange quark pairs per central rapidity participant. Do we really understand the hadronic particle yields? Do we need to introduce post-Fermi-model ideas such as chemical non-equilibrium in order to understand how a deconfined state hadronizes?
The bulk of the hot and dense matter created at RHIC behaves like an almost ideal fluid. I present the evidence for this and also discuss what we can learn about the transport properties of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) from the gradual breakdown of ideal fluid dynamic behavior at large transverse momenta, lower beam energies, larger impact parameters, and forward rapidities.
A hybrid parameterization including contributions of hydrodynamics and of expectations from the spectral shape observed in p+p collisions is introduced. This parameterization can successfully describe identified hadron spectra over a wide range of $p_{T}$ in Au+Au reactions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV for all centralities. The parameters of the hydrodynamic source compare reasonably well to other attempts to describe the spectra. The description is obtained using one universal suppression factor of the hard scattering component independent of $p_{T}$ and hadron species. For the fit results ob…
The pseudo-rapidity dependence of the elliptic flow at various excitation energies measured by the PHOBOS Collaboration in Au+Au collisions at RHIC is one of the surprising results that has not been explained before in terms of hydrodynamical models. Here we show that these data are in agreement with theoretical predictions based on perfect fluid hydrodynamics. We also show that these PHOBOS data satisfy the universal scaling relation predicted by the Buda-Lund hydrodynamical model, based on exact solutions of perfect fluid hydrodynamics.
A hydrodynamic + cascade model of relativistic heavy ion collisions is presented and compared to available hadronic data from the SPS to RHIC. The model consistently reproduces the radial and elliptic flow data for different particles, collision energies, and impact parameters. Three ingredients are essential to the success: (a) a reasonable EOS exhibiting the hard and soft features of the QCD phase transition, (b) thermal hadronization at the phase boundary, and (c) subsequent hadronic rescattering. Some features of the RHIC data are readily explained: (i) the observed elliptic flow and its d…
Using the (2+1)-dimensional ultrarelativistic viscous hydrodynamics+hadron cascade, VISHNU, hybrid model, we study the $p_{\rm T}$-spectra and elliptic flow of $Λ$, $Ξ$, and $Ω$ in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200 GeV and in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=2.76 TeV. Comparing our model results with the data measurements, we find that the VISHNU model gives general descriptions of the measurements of these strange and multi-strange hadrons at several centrality classes at RHIC and LHC. Mass ordering of elliptic flow $v_{2}$ among $π$, $K$, $p$, $Λ$, $Ξ$, and $Ω$ are further investiga…
We present additions to the MARTINI event generator for examining heavy quarks and quarkonia in heavy-ion collisions. All stages of a heavy-ion collision affect the observables associated with heavy quarks: the initial phase space of the heavy quarks are sampled with PYTHIA8.1, the heavy quarks are evolved using Langevin dynamics and a 3+1-dimensional hydrodynamical description of the heavy-ion collision, and are fragmented and hadronized using a modified version of the color evaporation model that takes into account non-trivial evolution in position space, as well as the possibility of recomb…
We investigate the sensitivity of fits of hadron spectra produced in heavy ion collisions to the choice of statistical hadronization model. We start by giving an overview of statistical model ambiguities, and what they tell us about freeze-out dynamics. We then use Montecarlo generated data to determine sensitivity to model choice. We fit the statistical hadronization models under consideration to RHIC data, and find that a comparison $χ^2$ fits can shed light on some presently contentious questions.
The charged particles produced in nucleus-nucleus collisions are divided into two parts. One is from the hot and dense matter created in collisions. The other is from leading particles. The hot and dense matter is assumed to expand according to unified hydrodynamics and freezes out into charged particles from a space-like hypersurface with a fixed proper time of Tau_FO.The leading particles are conventionally taken as the particles which inherit the quantum numbers of colliding nucleons and carry off most of incident energy. The rapidity distributions of the charged particles from these two pa…
