(NA49 Collaboration)
Anticic, T.; Baatar, B.; Barna, D.; Bartke, J.; Betev, L.; Bialkowska, H.; Blume, C.; Boimska, B.; Botje, M.; Bracinik, J.; Buncic, P.; Cerny, V.; Christakoglou, P.; Chung, P.; Chvala, O.; Cramer, J. G.; Dinkelaker, P.; Eckardt, V.; Fodor, Z.; Foka, P.; Friese, V.; Gazdzicki, M.; Genchev, V.; Grebieszkow, K.; Hoehne, C.; Kadija, K.; Karev, A.; Kolesnikov, V. I.; Kowalski, M.; Kreps, M.; Laszlo, A.; Lacey, R.; van Leeuwen, M.; Lungwitz, B.; Makariev, M.; Malakhov, A. I.; Mateev, M.; Melkumov, G. L.; Mitrovski, M.; Mrowczynski, St; Nicolic, V.; Palla, G.; Panagiotou, A. D.; Petridis, A.; Peryt, W.; Pikna, M.; Pluta, J.; Prindle, D.; Puehlhofer, F.; Renfordt, R.; Roland, C.; Roland, G.; Rybczynski, M.; Rybicki, A.; Sandoval, A.; Schmitz, N.; Schuster, T.; Seyboth, P.; Sikler, F.; Sitar, B.; Skrzypczak, E.; Slodkowski, M.; Stefanek, G.; Stock, R.; Stroebele, H.; Susa, T.; Szuba, M.; Varga, D.; Vassiliou, M.; Veres, G. I.; Vesztergombi, G.; Vranic, D.; Wlodarczyk, Z.; Antoniou, N. G.; Diakonos, F. K.; Mavromanolakis, G.; 3 ]
(2010)
Search for the QCD critical point in nuclear collisions at 158A GeV at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS).
Physical Review C, 81
(6).
064907/1-064907/13.
ISSN 0556-2813
Abstract
Pion production in nuclear collisions at the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) is investigated with the aim to search, in a restricted domain of the phase diagram, for power laws in the behavior of correlations that are compatible with critical QCD. We analyzed interactions of nuclei of different sizes (p + p, C + C, Si + Si, Pb + Pb) at 158A GeV adopting, as appropriate observables, scaled factorial moments in a search for intermittent fluctuations in transverse dimensions. The analysis is performed for π +π− pairs with an invariant mass very close to the two-pion threshold. In this sector one may capture critical fluctuations of the sigma component in a hadronic medium, even if the σ meson has no well-defined vacuum state. It turns out that for the Pb + Pb system the proposed analysis technique cannot be applied without entering the invariant mass region with strong Coulomb correlations. As a result the treatment becomes inconclusive in this case. Our results for the other systems indicate the presence of power-law fluctuations in the freeze-out state of Si + Si approaching in size the prediction of critical QCD.
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