(Strange) Meson Interferometry at RHIC

Abstract

We make predictions for the kaon interferometry measurements in Au+Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). A first order phase transition from a thermalized Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP) to a gas of hadrons is assumed for the transport calculations. The fraction of kaons that are directly emitted from the phase boundary is considerably enhanced at large transverse momenta K_T ~ 1 GeV/c. In this kinematic region, the sensitivity of the R_out/R_side ratio to the QGP-properties is enlarged. Here, the results of the 1-dimensional correlation analysis are presented. The extracted interferometry radii, depending on $K_T$, are not unusually large and are strongly affected by momentum resolution effects.

Comments: 8 pages, 6 figures