Cluster production in quark-hadron phase transition in heavy-ion collisions.

Abstract

The problem of cluster formation and growth in the first-order quark-hadron phase transition in heavy-ion collisions is considered. Behaving as Brownian particles, the clusters carry out random walks and can encounter one another, leading to coalescence and breakup. A simulation of the process in a cellular automaton suggests the possibility of a scaling distribution in the cluster sizes. The experimental determination of the cluster-size distribution is urged as a means to find a clear signature of the phase transition.