title: Bombarding energy dependence of pi(-) interferometry at the brookhaven AGS
abstract: We present the first excitation function of pi(-) intensity interferometry at Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) energies (2-8 A GeV). The sensitivity of the multidimensional correlation functions to the geometry and dynamics of the pion-emitting system provides a stringent test of transport models of heavy ion collisions. Detailed comparisons with a realistic transport model, both with and without an explicit nuclear mean field, suggest that the beam energy evolution in the reaction dynamics is different in the model than in the data. A significantly increased pi(-) emission time scale, which has been suggested as a signal of the onset of the transition to quark-gluon plasma, is not observed.
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lisa
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Ajitanand
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Best
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Brady
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Case
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Caskey
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cebra
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Chance
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Crowe
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Das
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Draper
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Gilkes
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gushue
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heffner
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Hirsch
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Hjort
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Justice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Keane
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Kintner
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Klay