On the Quantum Nature of a Fireball Created in Ultrarelativistic Nuclear Collisions

TL;DR

This paper models the fireball in ultrarelativistic nuclear collisions as a quantum object with two possible states, explaining experimental differences in hyperon yields and highlighting the non-zero probability of QGP formation even at high energies.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum mechanical framework for understanding fireball states in nuclear collisions, accounting for the coexistence of QGP and non-QGP states at high energies.

Findings

At SPS energies, only about half of the collisions produce QGP.

The fireball can exist in two quantum states: with and without QGP.

The probability of QGP formation increases with collision energy.

Abstract

In the article, the fireball formed in the collision of relativistic nuclei is considered as a quantum object. Based on this, an attempt is made to explain the difference in the measurements of hyperon yields in the two experiments - NA49 and NA57. Using the basic principles of quantum mechanics, it was shown that a fireball can have two quantum states - with and without ignited Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). With an increase of the collision energy of heavy ions, the probability of QGP ignition increases. At the same time, the probability of the formation of fireball without QGP ignition also remains nonzero even at nuclear collision energies that are much higher than the threshold QGP formation energy, which may be erroneously considered to be fixed and which is intensively sought in modern heavy ion accelerators. Thus, at SPS energy of heavy ion collisions \sqrt{s_{NN}} = 17.3 GeV, which is much higher than the assumed threshold energy of QGP formation in the region around or slightly above of \sqrt{s_{NN}} = 3 GeV, only half of the central collisions of heavy ions bring to the formation of a fireball consisted of deconfined matter, the remaining half of the collisions lead to the formation of a fireball from only hadronic matter.