Centrality dependence of two-particle correlations in relativistic heavy ion collisions

Abstract

Results on the centrality dependence of two-particle correlations in Au+Au collisions at ... 200GeV are presented. A particular focus is devoted to investigating any anomalous behavior in the centrality dependence of correlation functions, as previous results suggest existence of such tendencies around Npart [approx.] 50. Correlation functions are calculated for a wide kinematic region of ... from data obtained by the PHOBOS experiment at RHIC. The RHIC layout and the PHOBOS detector setup is discussed. Data acquisition method employed by the PHOBOS experiment, data processing procedures and event selection criteria are presented. The two-particle correlation function is defined and calculation procedures are described. Decomposition analysis is explained as the fit function and the constituting components are introduced. Analysis results for correlation functions and fits are presented. The results suggest that in the kinematic region covered by the analysis of this thesis, no anomalous trends in component behavior exists.