ptdependence of transverse flow in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

The strength of transverse flow is examined as a function of transverse momentum ${\mathit{p}}_{\mathit{t}}$ using a simple, transversely moving thermal model and a more realistic, relativistic transport model. It is shown that the ${\mathit{p}}_{\mathit{t}}$ dependence reveals useful information about the collective flow that is complementary to that obtained from the standard in-plane transverse momentum analysis. Interesting features of using the ${\mathit{p}}_{\mathit{t}}$ dependence to study the equation of state of the superdense hadronic matter formed in relativistic heavy-ion collisions are demonstrated. © 1996 The American Physical Society.