Intrinsic Broadening of the Transverse Momentum Spectra in Ultrarelativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions?

Abstract

The mean transverse momentum in high energy nuclear collisions is studied. The formation of a Color Glass Condensate results in an increase of the square of the mean transverse momentum with the charged multiplicity per unit rapidity and unit transverse area. This prediction is in agreement with the presently available data, in particular with the heavy-ion data, lending support to the notion that the transverse momentum spectra in ultrarelativistic collisions of heavy nuclei might be controlled by intrinsic transverse momentum broadening and not by hadronic rescattering, i.e. transverse flow.

Comments: 6 pages, 1 figure, final version to appear in Physics Letters B