Two-pion correlations in heavy ion collisions

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Abstract
An application of intensity interferometry to relativistic heavy ion collisions is reported. Specifically, the correlation between two like-charged pions is used to study the reactions Ar+KCl..-->..2..pi../sup +-/+X and Ne+NaF..-->..2..pi../sup -/+X. Source sizes are obtained that are consistent with a simple geometric interpretation. Lifetimes are less well determined but are indicative of a faster pion production process than predicted by Monte Carlo cascade calculations. There appears to be a substantial coherent component of the pion source, although measurement is complicated by the presence of final state interactions. Additionally, the generation of spectra of uncorrelated events is discussed. In particular, the influence of the correlation function on the background spectrum is analyzed, and a prescription for removal of this influence is given. A formulation to describe the statistical errors in the background is also presented. Finally, drawing from the available literature, a self-contained introduction to Bose-Einstein correlations and the Hanbury-Brown - Twiss effect is provided, with an emphasis on points of contact between classical and quantum mechanical descriptions.

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