Three-Pion Interferometry Results from Central Pb+Pb Collisions at 158 A GeV/c

TL;DR

This paper reports on three-pion interferometry measurements from central Pb+Pb collisions at 158 A GeV/c, revealing significant genuine three-body correlations indicative of a chaotic and symmetric particle-emitting source.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed measurement of three-particle correlations in high-energy heavy-ion collisions, highlighting the role of genuine three-body effects.

Findings

Significant genuine three-body correlations detected

Evidence for a chaotic and symmetric source

Supports models of particle emission in heavy-ion collisions

Abstract

Three-particle correlations have been measured for identified negative pions from central 158 A GeV Pb+Pb collisions by the WA98 experiment at CERN. A substantial contribution of the genuine three-body correlation has been found as expected for a mainly chaotic and symmetric source.