Abstract
The relative multiplicities for hadron production in different high energy collisions are in general well described by an ideal gas of all hadronic resonances, except that under certain conditions, strange particle rates are systematically reduced. We show that the suppression factor γs, accounting for reduced strange particle rates in pp, pA and AA collisions at different collision energies, becomes a universal function when expressed in terms of the initial entropy density s0 or the initial temperature T of the produced thermal medium. It is found that γs increases from about 0.5 to 1.0 in a narrow temperature range around the quark-hadron transition temperature Tc ≃ 160 MeV. Strangeness suppression thus disappears with the onset of color deconfinement; subsequently, full equilibrium resonance gas behavior is attained.
Highlights
The relative multiplicities for hadron production in different high energy collisions are in general well described by an ideal gas of all hadronic resonances, except that under certain conditions, strange particle rates are systematically reduced
It had been observed that in elementary collisions as well as in low energy nucleus-nucleus interactions, the production of strange particles was suppressed relative to the rates expected for an equilibrium resonance gas
The aim of the present paper is to provide clear experimental evidence showing that in AA, pA and pp collisions, strangeness production as function of the initial temperature of the produced thermal medium follows a universal form, with suppression ending in a narrow temperature band around the color deconfinement temperature
Summary
The relative multiplicities for hadron production in different high energy collisions are in general well described by an ideal gas of all hadronic resonances, except that under certain conditions, strange particle rates are systematically reduced. The relation of color deconfinement and strange hadron production in high energy collisions has attracted much attention over more than thirty years.
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