Coagulation of the quark-gluon plasma in nn¯annihilation and heavy ion collisions

The consequences of the formation of a quark-gluon plasma and its later hadronization are investigated. It is assumed that the plasma is formed beyond a specified energy density in the two reactions considered, the total annihilation of antinucleons on nucleons and the central collision of heavy ions. A coalescence model for the formation of quark clusters or hadrons is formulated. The multiplicity and momentum distribution of pions and kaons from nn¯ annihilation as also the ratio of the production of pions, kaons, and lambdas to protons are estimated for various collision energies of the heavy ions. The ${\mathrm{K}}^{+}$ spectra at three angles are computed and compared with available experimental data.