HBT interferometry and the parton-hadron phase transition

TL;DR

This paper analyzes pion and kaon interferometry in heavy ion collisions, comparing transport model predictions with RHIC data to address the HBT-puzzle and explore the quark-gluon plasma to hadron gas phase transition.

Contribution

It provides a critical comparison of transport model predictions including a first-order phase transition with experimental data, offering insights into the HBT-puzzle and phase transition scenarios.

Findings

Transport models with a first-order phase transition are compared to RHIC data.

The HBT-puzzle is critically examined from both theoretical and experimental perspectives.

Alternative phase transition scenarios are briefly discussed.

Abstract

We discuss predictions for the pion and kaon interferometry measurements in relativistic heavy ion collisions at SPS and RHIC energies. In particular, we confront relativistic transport model calculations that include explicitly a first-order phase transition from a thermalized quark-gluon plasma to a hadron gas with recent data from the RHIC experiments. We critically examine the "HBT-puzzle" both from the theoretical as well as from the experimental point of view. Alternative scenarios are briefly explained.