Search

We study the transverse momentum (pT) spectra of neutral pions and identified charged hadrons produced in proton–proton (pp), deuteron–gold (d–Au), and gold–gold (Au–Au) collisions at the center of mass energy sNN=200 GeV. The study is made in the framework of a multisource thermal model used in the partonic level. It is assumed that the contribution to the pT-value of any hadron comes from two or three partons with an isotropic distribution of the azimuthal angle. The contribution of each parton to the pT-value of a given hadron is assumed to obey any one of the standard (Maxwell-Boltzmann, Fermi-Dirac, and Bose-Einstein) distributions with the kinetic freeze-out temperature and average transverse flow velocity. The pT spectra of the final-state hadrons can be fitted by the superposition of two or three components. The results obtained from our Monte Carlo method are used to fit the experimental results of the PHENIX and STAR Collaborations. The results of the present work serve as a suitable reference baseline for other experiments and simulation studies.

The standard (Bose–Einstein/Fermi–Dirac, or Maxwell–Boltzmann) distribution from the relativistic ideal gas model is used to study the transverse momentum (pT) spectra of identified charged hadrons (π−, π+, K−, K+, p¯, and p) with different rapidities produced in inelastic proton–proton (pp) collisions at a Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS). The experimental data measured using the NA61/SHINE Collaboration at the center-of-mass (c.m.) energies s=6.3, 7.7, 8.8, 12.3, and 17.3 GeV are fitted well with the distribution. It is shown that the effective temperature (Teff or T), kinetic freeze-out temperature (T0), and initial temperature (Ti) decrease with the increase in rapidity and increase with the increase in c.m. energy. The kinetic freeze-out volume (V) extracted from the π−, π+, K−, K+, and p¯ spectra decreases with the rapidity and increase with the c.m. energy. The opposite tendency of V, extracted from the p spectra, is observed to be increasing with the rapidity and decreasing with the c.m. energy due to the effect of leading protons.

Abstract The transverse momentum spectra of light nuclei (deuteron, triton and helion) produced in various centrality intervals in Gold–Gold (Au–Au), Lead–Lead (Pb–Pb) and proton–Lead (p–Pb) collisions, as well as in inelastic (INEL) proton–proton (p–p) collisions are analyzed by the blast wave model with Boltzmann Gibbs statistics. The model results are nearly in agreement with the experimental data measured by STAR and ALICE Collaborations in special transverse momentum ranges. We extracted the bulk properties in terms of kinetic freezeout temperature, transverse flow velocity and freezeout volume. It is observed that deuteron and anti-deuteron freezeout later than triton and helion as well as their anti-particles due to its smaller mass, while helion and triton, and anti-helion and anti-triton freezeout at the same time due to isospin symmetry at higher energies. It is also observed that light nuclei freezeout earlier than their anti-nuclei due to the large coalescence of nucleons for light nuclei compared to their anti-nuclei. The kinetic freezeout temperature, transverse flow velocity and kinetic freezeout volume decrease from central to peripheral collisions. Furthermore, the transverse flow velocity depends on mass of the particle which decreases with increasing the mass of the particle.

The squared momentum transfer spectra of η and η0, produced in high-energy photon–proton (γp) →η(η0)+p processes in electron–proton (ep) collisions performed at CEBAF, NINA, CEA, SLAC, DESY, and WLS are analyzed. The Monte Carlo calculations are used in the analysis of the squared momentum transfer spectra, where the transfer undergoes from the incident γ to emitted η(η0) or equivalently from the target proton to emitted proton. In the calculations, the Erlang distribution and Tsallis–Levy function are used to describe the transverse momentum (pT) spectra of emitted particles. Our results show that the average transverse momentum (⟨pT⟩), the initial-state temperature (Ti), and the final-state temperature (T0) roughly decrease from the lower center-of-mass energy (W) to the higher one in the concerned energy range of a few GeV, which is different from the excitation function from heavy-ion collisions in the similar energy range.

Transverse momentum spectra of negative and positive pions produced at mid-(pseudo)rapidity in inelastic or non-single-diffractive proton-proton collisions over a center-of-mass energy, s , range from a few GeV to above 10 TeV are analyzed by the blast-wave fit with Boltzmann (Tsallis) distribution. The blast-wave fit results are well fitting to the experimental data measured by several collaborations. In a particular superposition with Hagedorn function, both the excitation functions of kinetic freeze-out temperature ( T 0 ) of emission source and transverse flow velocity ( β T ) of produced particles obtained from a given selection in the blast-wave fit with Boltzmann distribution have a hill at s ≈ 10 GeV, a drop at dozens of GeV, and then an increase from dozens of GeV to above 10 TeV. However, both the excitation functions of T 0 and β T obtained in the blast-wave fit with Tsallis distribution do not show such a complex structure, but a very low hill. In another selection for the parameters or in the superposition with the usual step function, T 0 and β T increase generally quickly from a few GeV to about 10 GeV and then slightly at above 10 GeV, there is no such the complex structure, when also studying nucleus-nucleus collisions.

We have studied the transverse momentum (pT) spectra of the final-state strange particles, including K±, ϕ, Ξ, and Ω, produced in high energy lead–lead (Pb–Pb), proton–lead (p–Pb), xenon–xenon (Xe–Xe) collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Taking into account the contribution of multiquark composition, whose probability density distribution is described by the modified Tsallis–Pareto-type function; we simulate the pT spectra of the final-state strange particles by a Monte Carlo method, which is shown to be in good agreement with the experimental data in most the cases. The kinetic freeze-out parameters are obtained. The present method provides a new tool for studying the spectra of various particles produced in high energy collisions, reflecting more realistically the collision process, which is of great significance to study the formation and properties of the produced particles.

We collected the transverse momentum (mass) spectra of charged hadrons (π−, π+, K−, K+, p¯, and p) produced in collisions over a center-of-mass energy range from 2.70 to 200 GeV (per nucleon pair). The modified Tsallis–Pareto-type function (the TP-like function) with average transverse flow velocity is used to describe the contribution of participant or constituent quarks to transverse momentum of considered hadron. The experimental spectra of π∓ and K∓ (or p¯ and p) are fitted by the convolution of two (or three) TP-like functions due to the fact that two (or three) constituent quarks are regarded as two (or three) energy resources in the formation of considered hadron. From the reasonable fits to the spectra, the thermal freeze-out parameters are extracted, and the pseudoentropy is newly defined and extracted. Some parameters quickly change in the energy range of less than 7.7 GeV, and slowly change in the energy range of greater than 7.7 GeV, indicating the variation of collision mechanism at around 7.7 GeV.

In this minireview article, the transverse momentum spectra of final-state particles produced in high-energy hadron-hadron, hadron-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus collisions described by the multisource thermal model at the quark or parton level are summarized. In the model, the participant or contributor quarks or partons are considered to contribute together to the transverse momentum distribution of final-state particles with different modes of contributions. The concrete mode of contribution is generally determined by the difference of azimuthal angles of contributor partons in their emissions.

The squared momentum transfer spectra of light mesons, π0, π+, η, and ρ0, produced in high-energy virtual photon-proton (γ*p) → meson + nucleon process in electron-proton (ep) collisions measured by the CLAS Collaboration are analyzed by the Monte Carlo calculations, where the transfer undergoes from the incident γ* to emitted meson or equivalently from the target proton to emitted nucleon. In the calculations, the Erlang distribution from a multi-source thermal model is used to describe the transverse momentum spectra of emitted particles. Our results show that the average transverse momentum (⟨pT⟩) and the initial-state temperature (Ti) increase from lower squared photon virtuality (Q2) and Bjorken variable (xB) to higher one. This renders that the excitation degree of emission source, which is described by ⟨pT⟩ and Ti, increases with increasing of Q2 and xB.

The midrapidity transverse momentum distributions of the charged pions, kaons, protons, and antiprotons in ten groups of centrality of Pb + Pb collisions at snn = 2.76 TeV, measured by the ALICE Collaboration, have been analyzed successfully using both thermodynamically consistent and non-consistent Tsallis distribution functions with transverse flow. The collision centrality dependencies of the extracted parameters of two kinds of Tsallis functions with transverse flow have been investigated. The significantly different behavior (growth rates) of ⟨βT⟩ in regions ⟨Npart⟩ < 71 and ⟨Npart⟩ > 71 with the temperature T0 becoming constant in region ⟨Npart⟩ > 71 has been observed. This could indicate that ⟨Npart⟩ = 71 ± 5 (corresponding to ⟨dNch/dη⟩ = 205 ± 15) is a threshold border value of collision centrality for crossover phase transition from the dense hadronic state to the QGP state (or a mixed state of QGP and hadrons) in Pb + Pb collisions at snn = 2.76 TeV. This conjecture is supported further by the observed, significantly different correlations between T0 and ⟨βT⟩ parameters in the corresponding ⟨βT⟩ < 0.44 and ⟨βT⟩ > 0.44 ranges. The strong positive linear correlation between non-extensivity parameter q for pions and kaons, between q for pions and (anti)protons, and between q for kaons and (anti)protons has been obtained. The parameter q for all studied particle species has proven to be strongly anticorrelated with the average transverse flow velocity, ⟨βT⟩. Quite a large positive linear correlation has been obtained between the q of the studied particle species and temperature parameter T0. Analysis of q versus ⟨Npart⟩ dependencies for the studied particle species suggests that the highly thermalized and equilibrated QGP is produced in central Pb + Pb collisions at snn = 2.76 TeV with ⟨Npart⟩ > 160.

Transverse momentum spectra of particles produced in high energy collisions are very important due to their relations to the excitation degree of interacting system. To describe the transverse momentum spectra, one can use more than one probability density functions of transverse momenta, which are simply called the functions or distributions of transverse momenta in some cases. In this paper, a few distributions of transverse momenta in high energy collisions are compared with each other in terms of plots to show some quantitative differences. Meanwhile, in the framework of Tsallis statistics, the distributions of momentum components, transverse momenta, rapidities, and pasudorapidities are obtained according to the analytical and Monte Carlo methods. These analyses are useful to understand carefully different distributions in high energy collisions. Keywords: Transverse momentum spectra, Different distributions, High energy collisions

In the framework of a multi-source thermal model at the partonic level, we have analyzed transverse momentum spectra of hadrons measured by the ALICE Collaboration in proton–proton (pp or p–p) collisions at the center-of-mass energy of s=7 and 13 TeV, proton–lead (p–Pb) collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV, and lead–lead (Pb–Pb) collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV. For mesons (baryons), the contributions of two (three) constituent quarks are considered, in which each quark contributes to hadron transverse momentum to obey the revised phenomenological Tsallis transverse momentum distribution for Maxwell–Boltzmann particles (the TP-like function, in short) with isotropic random azimuthal angles. Three main parameters, namely, the revised index a0, effective temperature T, and entropy-related index n, are obtained, showing the same tendency for both small and large systems with respect to the centrality (or multiplicity) of events, the rest mass of hadrons, and the constituent mass of quarks.

The midrapidity transverse momentum distributions of the charged pions, kaons, protons, and antiprotons, measured by ALICE Collaboration at ten centrality classes of Pb + Pb collisions at snn = 5.02 TeV in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC, CERN, Switzerland), are successfully analyzed using combined minimum χ2 fits with a thermodynamically non-consistent, as well as thermodynamically consistent, Tsallis function with transverse flow. The extracted non-extensivity parameter q decreases systematically for all considered particle species with increasing Pb + Pb collision centrality, suggesting an increase in the degree of system thermalization with an increase in collision centrality. The results for q suggest quite a large degree of thermalization of quark–gluon plasma (QGP) created in central Pb + Pb collisions at snn = 5.02 TeV with the average number of participant nucleons ⟨Npart⟩ > 160. The obtained significantly different growth rates of transverse flow velocity, ⟨βT⟩, in regions ⟨Npart⟩ < 71 ± 7 and ⟨Npart⟩ > 71 ± 7 with the temperature parameter T0 remaining constant within uncertainties in region ⟨Npart⟩ > 71 ± 7 probably indicates that ⟨Npart⟩ ≈ 71 ± 7 (corresponding to ⟨dNch/dη⟩ ≈ 251 ± 20) is a threshold border value for a crossover transition from a dense hadronic state to the QGP phase (or mixed phase of QGP and hadrons) in Pb + Pb collisions at snn = 5.02 TeV. The threshold border value for transverse flow velocity ⟨βT⟩ ≈ 0.46 ± 0.03 (corresponding to ⟨Npart⟩ ≈ 71 ± 7), estimated by us in Pb + Pb collisions at snn = 5.02 TeV, agrees well with the corresponding border value ⟨βT⟩ ≈ 0.44 ± 0.02, recently obtained in Xe + Xe collisions at snn = 5.44 TeV, and with almost constant ⟨βT⟩ values extracted earlier in the Beam Energy Scan (BES) program of the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC, Brookhaven, GA, USA) in central Au + Au collisions in the snn = 7.7 − 39 GeV energy range, where the threshold for QGP production is achieved. The correlations between extracted T0 and ⟨βT⟩ parameters are found to be greatly different in regions ⟨βT⟩ < 0.46 and ⟨βT⟩ > 0.46, which further supports our result obtained for the threshold border value in Pb + Pb collisions at snn = 5.02 TeV.

With the framework of the multisource thermal model, we analyze the experimental transverse momentum spectra of various jets produced in different collisions at high energies. Two energy sources, a projectile participant quark and a target participant quark, are considered. Each energy source (each participant quark) is assumed to contribute to the transverse momentum distribution to be the TP-like function, i.e., a revised Tsallis–Pareto-type function. The contribution of the two participant quarks to the transverse momentum distribution is then the convolution of two TP-like functions. The model distribution can be used to fit the experimental spectra measured by different collaborations. The related parameters such as the entropy index-related, effective temperature, and revised index are then obtained. The trends of these parameters are useful to understand the characteristic of high energy collisions.

We analyze the transverse momentum (pT) spectra of lepton pairs (ℓℓ¯) generated in the Drell-Yan process, as detected in proton-nucleus (pion-nucleus) and proton-(anti)proton collisions by ten collaborations over a center-of-mass energy sNN or s if in a simplified form) range from ~20 GeV to above 10 TeV. Three types of probability density functions (the convolution of two Lévy-Tsallis functions, the two-component Erlang distribution, and the convolution of two Hagedorn functions) are utilized to fit and analyze the pT spectra. The fit results are approximately in agreement with the collected experimental data. Consecutively, we obtained the variation law of related parameters as a function of s and invariant mass Q. In the fit procedure, a given Lévy-Tsallis (or Hagedorn) function can be regarded as the probability density function of transverse momenta contributed by a single quark (q) or anti-quark (q¯). The Drell-Yan process is then described by the statistical method.

The differential cross-section in squared momentum transfer of ρ, ρ0, ω, ϕ, f0980, f11285, f01370, f11420, f01500, and J/ψ produced in high-energy virtual photon-proton (γ∗p), photon-proton (γp), and proton-proton (pp) collisions measured by the H1, ZEUS, and WA102 Collaborations is analyzed by the Monte Carlo calculations. In the calculations, the Erlang distribution, Tsallis distribution, and Hagedorn function are separately used to describe the transverse momentum spectra of the emitted particles. Our results show that the initial- and final-state temperatures increase from lower squared photon virtuality to a higher one and decrease with the increase of center-of-mass energy.

Centrality-dependent double-differential transverse momentum spectra of negatively charged particles (π−, K−, and p¯) at the mid(pseudo)rapidity interval in nuclear collisions are analyzed by the standard distribution in terms of multicomponent. The experimental data measured in gold-gold (Au-Au) collisions by the PHENIX Collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and in lead-lead (Pb-Pb) collisions by the ALICE Collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are studied. The effective temperature, initial temperature, kinetic freeze-out temperature, transverse flow velocity, and kinetic freeze-out volume are extracted from the fitting to transverse momentum spectra. We observed that the mentioned five quantities increase with the increase of event centrality due to the fact that the average transverse momentum increases with the increase of event centrality. This renders that larger momentum (energy) transfer and further multiple scattering had happened in central centrality.

The momentum spectra of charged pions (π+ and π−) and kaons (K+ and K−), as well as protons (p), produced in the beam proton-induced collisions in a 90 cm long graphite target (proton-carbon (p-C) collisions) at the beam momentum pLab=31 GeV/c are studied in the framework of a multisource thermal model by using Boltzmann distribution and the Monte Carlo method. The theoretical model results are approximately in agreement with the experimental data measured by the NA61/SHINE Collaboration. The related free parameters (effective temperature, rapidity shifts, and fraction of nonleading protons) and derived quantities (average transverse momentum and initial quasitemperature) under given experimental conditions are obtained. The considered free parameters and derived quantities are shown to be strongly dependent on the emission angle over a range from 0 to 380 mrad and weakly dependent on longitudinal position (graphite target thickness) over a range from 0 to 90 cm.

The yield ratios of negatively to positively charged pions (π−/π+), negatively to positively charged kaons (K−/K+), and anti-protons to protons (p¯/p) produced in mid-rapidity interval in central gold-gold (Au-Au) collisions, central lead-lead (Pb-Pb) collisions, and inelastic (INEL) or non-single-diffractive (NSD) proton-proton (pp) collisions, as well as in forward rapidity region in INEL pp collisions are analyzed in the present work. Over an energy range from a few GeV to above 10 TeV, the chemical potentials of light flavor particles (pion, kaon, and proton) and quarks (up, down, and strange quarks) are extracted from the mentioned yield ratios in which the contributions of strong decay from high-mass resonance and weak decay from heavy flavor hadrons are removed. Most energy dependent chemical potentials show the maximum at about 4 GeV, while the energy dependent yield ratios do not show such an extremum.

Transverse momentum (mass) spectra of positively and negatively charged pions and of positively and negatively charged kaons, protons, and antiprotons produced at mid-(pseudo)rapidity in various collisions at high energies are analyzed in this work. The experimental data measured in central gold-gold, central lead-lead, and inelastic proton-proton collisions by several international collaborations are studied. The (two-component) standard distribution is used to fit the data and extract the excitation function of effective temperature. Then, the excitation functions of kinetic freeze-out temperature, transverse flow velocity, and initial temperature are obtained. In the considered collisions, the four parameters increase with the increase of collision energy in general, and the kinetic freeze-out temperature appears at the trend of saturation at the top Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider.

The transverse momentum spectra of J/ψ, ψ2S, and YnS,n=1,2,3 produced in proton-proton p+p, proton-antiproton p+p¯, proton-lead p+Pb, gold-gold Au+Au, and lead-lead (Pb+Pb) collisions over a wide energy range are analyzed by the (two-component) Erlang distribution, the Hagedorn function (the inverse power-law), and the Tsallis-Levy function. The initial temperature is obtained from the color string percolation model from the fit by the (two-component) Erlang distribution in the framework of a multisource thermal model. The excitation functions of several parameters such as the mean transverse momentum and initial temperature increase from 39 GeV to 13 TeV, which is considered in this work. The mean transverse momentum and initial temperature decrease (increase slightly or do not change significantly) with the increase of rapidity (centrality). Meanwhile, the mean transverse momentum of YnS,n=1,2,3 is larger than that of J/ψ and ψ2S, and the initial temperature for YnS,n=1,2,3 emission is higher than that for J/ψ and ψ2S emission, which shows a mass-dependent behavior.

The transverse momentum spectra of identified particles produced in high energy proton-proton p+p collisions are empirically described by a new method with the framework of the participant quark model or the multisource model at the quark level, in which the source itself is exactly the participant quark. Each participant (constituent) quark contributes to the transverse momentum spectrum, which is described by the TP-like function, a revised Tsallis–Pareto-type function. The transverse momentum spectrum of the hadron is the convolution of two or more TP-like functions. For a lepton, the transverse momentum spectrum is the convolution of two TP-like functions due to two participant quarks, e.g., projectile and target quarks, taking part in the collisions. A discussed theoretical approach seems to describe the p+p collisions data at center-of-mass energy s=200 GeV, 2.76 TeV, and 13 TeV very well.

Dependencies of midrapidity pt distributions of the charged pions and kaons, protons and antiprotons on charged-particle multiplicity density () in inelastic proton-proton collisions at (s)1/2 = 7 TeV at the LHC, measured by ALICE Collaboration, are investigated. The simultaneous minimum χ2 fits with the Tsallis function with thermodynamical consistence and the Hagedorn function with included transverse flow have well-described the pt spectra of the particle species in the ten studied groups of charged-particle multiplicity density. The effective temperatures, T, of the Tsallis function with thermodynamical consistence have shown a steady rise with increasing the charged-particle multiplicity in proton-proton collisions at (s)1/2 = 7 TeV, in agreement with the similar result obtained recently in proton-proton collisions at (s)1/2 = 13 TeV at the LHC. The respective T versus dependence in proton-proton collisions at (s)1/2 = 7 TeV is reproduced quite well by the simple power function with the same value (≈ 1/3) of the exponent parameter as that extracted in proton-proton collisions at (s)1/2 = 13 TeV. The identical power dependence T~ε1/3 between the initial energy density and effective temperature of the system has been observed in proton-proton collisions at (s)1/2 = 7 and 13 TeV. We have observed that the transverse radial flow emerges at ≈ 6 and then increases, becoming substantial at larger multiplicity events in proton-proton collisions at (s)1/2 = 7 TeV. We have estimated, analyzing T0 and ⟨βt⟩ versus dependencies, that the possible onset of deconfinement phase transition in proton-proton collisions at (s)1/2 = 7 TeV occurs at ≈ 6.1 ± 0.3, which is close to the corresponding recent estimate ( ≈ 7.1 ± 0.2) in proton-proton collisions at (s)1/2 = 13 TeV. The corresponding critical energy densities for probable onset of deconfinement phase transition in proton-proton collisions at (s)1/2 = 7 and 13 TeV at the LHC have been estimated to be 0.67 ± 0.03 and 0.76 ± 0.02 GeV/fm3, respectively.

We analyzed the transverse momentum spectra of positively and negatively charged pions (π+ and π−), positively and negatively charged kaons (K+ and K−), protons and antiprotons (p and p¯), as well as ϕ produced in mid-(pseudo)rapidity region in central nucleus–nucleus (AA) collisions over a center-of-mass energy range from 2.16 to 2760 GeV per nucleon pair. The transverse momentum of the considered particle is regarded as the joint contribution of two participant partons which obey the modified Tsallis-like transverse momentum distribution and have random azimuths in superposition. The calculation of transverse momentum distribution of particles is performed by the Monte Carlo method and compared with the experimental data measured by international collaborations. The excitation functions of effective temperature and other parameters are obtained in the considered energy range. With the increase of collision energy, the effective temperature parameter increases quickly and then slowly. The boundary appears at around 5 GeV, which means the change of reaction mechanism and/or generated matter.

The rapidity dependent transverse momentum spectra of heavy quarkonia (J/ψ and Υ mesons) produced in small collision systems such as proton-proton (pp) and proton-lead (p-Pb) collisions at center-of-mass energy (per nucleon pair) s (sNN) = 5-13 TeV are described by a two-component statistical model which is based on the Tsallis statistics and inverse power-law. The experimental data measured by the LHCb Collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are well fitted by the model results. The related parameters are obtained and the dependence of parameters on rapidity is analyzed.

The transverse momentum spectra of different types of particles, π±, K±, p and p¯, produced at mid-(pseudo)rapidity in different centrality lead–lead (Pb–Pb) collisions at 2.76 TeV; proton–lead (p–Pb) collisions at 5.02 TeV; xenon–xenon (Xe–Xe) collisions at 5.44 TeV; and proton–proton (p–p) collisions at 0.9, 2.76, 5.02, 7 and 13 TeV, were analyzed by the blast-wave model with fluctuations. With the experimental data measured by the ALICE and CMS Collaborations at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the kinetic freeze-out temperature, transverse flow velocity and proper time were extracted from fitting the transverse momentum spectra. In nucleus–nucleus (A–A) and proton–nucleus (p–A) collisions, the three parameters decrease with the decrease of event centrality from central to peripheral, indicating higher degrees of excitation, quicker expansion velocities and longer evolution times for central collisions. In p–p collisions, the kinetic freeze-out temperature is nearly invariant with the increase of energy, though the transverse flow velocity and proper time increase slightly, in the considered energy range.

The transverse momentum spectra of charged pions, kaons, and protons produced at mid-rapidity in central nucleus–nucleus (AA) collisions at high energies are analyzed by considering particles to be created from two participant partons, which are assumed to be contributors from the collision system. Each participant (contributor) parton is assumed to contribute to the transverse momentum by a Tsallis-like function. The contributions of the two participant partons are regarded as the two components of transverse momentum of the identified particle. The experimental data measured in high-energy AA collisions by international collaborations are studied. The excitation functions of kinetic freeze-out temperature and transverse flow velocity are extracted. The two parameters increase quickly from ≈3 to ≈10 GeV (exactly from 2.7 to 7.7 GeV) and then slowly at above 10 GeV with the increase of collision energy. In particular, there is a plateau from near 10 GeV to 200 GeV in the excitation function of kinetic freeze-out temperature.

The experimental (simulated) transverse momentum spectra of negatively charged pions produced at midrapidity in central nucleus-nucleus collisions at the Heavy-Ion Synchrotron (SIS), Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC), and Large Hadron Collider (LHC) energies obtained by different collaborations are selected by us to investigate, where a few simulated data are taken from the results of FOPI Collaboration which uses the IQMD transport code based on Quantum Molecular Dynamics. A two-component standard distribution and the Tsallis form of standard distribution are used to fit these data in the framework of a multisource thermal model. The excitation functions of main parameters in the two distributions are analyzed. In particular, the effective temperatures extracted from the two-component standard distribution and the Tsallis form of standard distribution are obtained, and the relation between the two types of effective temperatures is studied.

The transverse momentum spectra of π-, π+, K-, K+, p¯, and p produced in Au+Au collisions at center-of-mass energy sNN=7.7, 11.5, 19.6, 27, 39, 62.4, 130, and 200 GeV are analyzed in the framework of a multisource thermal model. The experimental data measured at midrapidity by the STAR Collaboration are fitted by the (two-component) standard distribution. The effective temperature of emission source increases obviously with the increase of the particle mass and the collision energy. At different collision energies, the chemical potentials of up, down, and strange quarks are obtained from the antiparticle to particle yield ratios in given transverse momentum ranges available in experiments. With the increase of logarithmic collision energy, the chemical potentials of light flavor quarks decrease exponentially.

The transverse momentum distributions of final-state particles are very important for high energy collision physics. In this work, we investigate J/ψ and Υ meson distributions in the framework of a particle-production source, where Tsallis statistics are consistently incorporated. The results are in good agreement with the experimental data in p-p and p-Pb collisions at LHC energies. The temperature of the emission source and the nonequilibrium degree of the collision system are extracted.

We collect the yields of charged pions ( π − and π + ), charged kaons ( K − and K + ), anti-protons ( p ¯ ), and protons (p) produced in mid-rapidity interval (in most cases) in central gold−gold (Au−Au), central lead−lead (Pb−Pb), and inelastic or non-single-diffractive proton−proton ( p p ) collisions at different collision energies. The chemical potentials of light particles and quarks are extracted from the yield ratios, π − / π + , K − / K + , and p ¯ / p , of antiparticles to particles over an energy range from a few GeV to above 10 TeV. At a few GeV (∼4 GeV), the chemical potentials show, and the yield ratios do not show, different trends comparing with those at other energies, although the limiting values of the chemical potentials and the yield ratios at very high energy are 0 and 1, respectively.

Transverse momentum (pT) and rapidity (y) spectra of Z bosons and quarkonium states (some charmonium cc¯ mesons such as J/ψ and ψ(2S) and some bottomonium bb¯ mesons such as Υ(1S), Υ(2S), and Υ(3S)) produced in proton-proton (pp) and lead-lead (Pb-Pb) collisions at the large hadron collider (LHC) are uniformly described by a hybrid model of two-component Erlang distribution for pT spectrum and two-component Gaussian distribution for y spectrum. The former distribution results from a multisource thermal model, and the latter one results from the revised Landau hydrodynamic model. The modelling results are in agreement with the experimental data measured in pp collisions at center-of-mass energies s=2.76 and 7 TeV and in Pb-Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair sNN=2.76 TeV. Based on the parameter values extracted from pT and y spectra, the event patterns (particle scatter plots) in two-dimensional pT-y space and in three-dimensional velocity space are obtained.

Experimental results of the rapidity distributions of negatively charged pions produced in proton-proton (p-p) and beryllium-beryllium (Be-Be) collisions at different beam momentums, measured by the NA61/SHINE Collaboration at the super proton synchrotron (SPS), are described by a revised (three-source) Landau hydrodynamic model. The squared speed-of-sound parameter cs2 is then extracted from the width of rapidity distribution. There is a local minimum (knee point) which indicates a softest point in the equation of state (EoS) appearing at about 40A GeV/c (or 8.8 GeV) in cs2 excitation function (the dependence of cs2 on incident beam momentum (or center-of-mass energy)). This knee point should be related to the searching for the onset of quark deconfinement and the critical point of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) phase transition.

We study the transverse momentum spectra of J/ψ and Υ mesons by using two methods: the two-component Erlang distribution and the two-component Schwinger mechanism. The results obtained by the two methods are compared and found to be in agreement with the experimental data of proton-proton (pp), proton-lead (p-Pb), and lead-lead (Pb-Pb) collisions measured by the LHCb and ALICE Collaborations at the large hadron collider (LHC). The related parameters such as the mean transverse momentum contributed by each parton in the first (second) component in the two-component Erlang distribution and the string tension between two partons in the first (second) component in the two-component Schwinger mechanism are extracted.

We present two methods to extract the chemical potentials of quarks in high energy collisions. The first method is based on the ratios of negatively/positively charged particles, and the temperatures extracted from the transverse momentum spectra of related hadrons are needed. The second method is based on the chemical potentials of some particles, and we also need the transverse momentum spectra of related hadrons. To extract the quark chemical potentials, we would like to propose experimental collaborations to measure simultaneously not only the transverse momentum spectra of p-, p, K-, K+, π-, and π+, but also those of D-, D+, B-, and B+ (even those of Δ++, Δ-, and Ω-) in high energy nuclear collisions.

The transverse momentum and rapidity distributions of net-baryons (baryons minus antibaryons) produced in central gold-gold (Au-Au) collisions at 62.4 and 200 GeV are analyzed in the framework of a multisource thermal model. Each source in the model is described by the Tsallis statistics to extract the effective temperature and entropy index from the transverse momentum distribution. The two parameters are used as input to describe the rapidity distribution and to extract the rapidity shift and contribution ratio. Then, the four types of parameters are used to structure some scatter plots of the considered particles in some three-dimensional (3D) spaces at the stage of kinetic freeze-out, which are expected to show different characteristics for different particles and processes. The related methodology can be used in the analyses of particle production and event holography, which are useful for us to better understand the interacting mechanisms.

We propose a new revised Landau hydrodynamic model to study systematically the pseudorapidity distributions of charged particles produced in heavy ion collisions over an energy range from a few GeV to a few TeV per nucleon pair. The interacting system is divided into three sources, namely, the central, target, and projectile sources, respectively. The large central source is described by the Landau hydrodynamic model and further revised by the contributions of the small target/projectile sources. The modeling results are in agreement with the available experimental data at relativistic heavy ion collider, large hadron collider, and other energies for different centralities. The value of square speed of sound parameter in different collisions has been extracted by us from the widths of rapidity distributions. Our results show that, in heavy ion collisions at energies of the two colliders, the central source undergoes a phase transition from hadronic gas to quark-gluon plasma liquid phase; meanwhile, the target/projectile sources remain in the state of hadronic gas. The present work confirms that the quark-gluon plasma is of liquid type rather than being of a gas type.

In Tsallis statistics, we investigate charged pion and proton production for pCu and pPb interactions at 3, 8, and 15 GeV/c. Two versions of Tsallis distribution are implemented in a multisource thermal model. A comparison with experimental data of the HARP-CDP group shows that they both can reproduce the transverse momentum spectra, but the improved form gives a better description. It is also found that the difference between q and q′ is small when the temperature T = T′ for the same incident momentum and angular interval, and the value of q is greater than q′ in most cases.

The revised (three-source) Landau hydrodynamic model is used in this paper to study the (pseudo)rapidity distributions of charged particles produced in proton-proton and proton-antiproton collisions at high energies. The central source is assumed to contribute with a Gaussian function which covers the rapidity distribution region as wide as possible. The target and projectile sources are assumed to emit isotropically particles in their respective rest frames. The model calculations obtained with a Monte Carlo method are fitted to the experimental data over an energy range from 0.2 to 13 TeV. The values of the squared speed-of-sound parameter in different collisions are then extracted from the width of the rapidity distributions.

The transverse momentum distributions of jets produced in p-p, p-p-, d-Au, Au-Au, and Pb-Pb collisions at high energies with different selected conditions are analyzed by using a multisource thermal model. The multicomponent (mostly two-component) Erlang distribution used in our description is in good agreement with the experimental data measured by the STAR, D0, CDF II, ALICE, ATLAS, and CMS Collaborations. Related parameters are extracted from the transverse momentum distributions and some information on different interacting systems is obtained. In the two-component Erlang distribution, the first component has usually two or more sources which are contributed by strong scattering interactions between two quarks or more quarks and gluons, while the second component has mostly two sources which are contributed by harder head-on scattering between two quarks.

Based on the (pseudo)rapidity distribution of final-state particles produced in proton-proton (pp) collisions at high energy, the probability distributions of momenta, longitudinal momenta, transverse momenta (transverse masses), energies, velocities, longitudinal velocities, transverse velocities, and emission angles of the considered particles are obtained in the framework of a multisource thermal model. The number density distributions of particles in coordinate and momentum spaces and related transverse planes, the particle dispersion plots in longitudinal and transverse coordinate spaces, and the particle dispersion plots in transverse momentum plane at the stage of freeze out in high energy pp collisions are also obtained.

The transverse momentum spectrums of final-state products produced in nucleus-nucleus and proton-proton collisions at different center-of-mass energies are analyzed by using a multicomponent Erlang distribution and the Lévy distribution. The results calculated by the two models are found in most cases to be in agreement with experimental data from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The multicomponent Erlang distribution that resulted from a multisource thermal model seems to give a better description as compared with the Lévy distribution. The temperature parameters of interacting system corresponding to different types of final-state products are obtained. Light particles correspond to a low temperature emission, and heavy particles correspond to a high temperature emission. Extracted temperature from central collisions is higher than that from peripheral collisions.

Two-particle azimuthal correlations are studied in the framework of a multisource thermal model. Each source is assumed to produce many particles. Each particle pair measured in final state is considered to be produced at two emission points (subsources) in a single or two sources. The first emission point corresponds to the production of “trigger” particle and the second one corresponds to that of “associated” particle. There are oscillations and other interactions between the two emission points. In the rest frame of the “associated” particle's emission point, the oscillations and other interactions cause the momentum of the “trigger” particle to depart from the original value. The modelling results are in agreement with the experimental data of proton-lead (p-Pb) collisions at sNN = 5.02 TeV, one of the Large Hadron Collider energies, measured by the ALICE and ATLAS Collaborations.

In the framework of a multisource thermal model, the transverse momentum distributions of charged particles produced in nucleus-nucleus (A-A) and deuteron-nucleus (d-A) collisions at relativistic heavy ion collider (RHIC) energies are investigated by a two-component revised Boltzmann distribution. The calculated results are in agreement with the PHENIX experimental data. It is found that the source temperature increases obviously with increase of the particle mass and incident energy, but it does not show an obvious change with the collision centrality. Then, the values of chemical potentials for up, down, and strange quarks can be obtained from the antiparticle to particle yield ratios in a wide transverse momentum range. The relationship between the chemical potentials of quarks and the transverse momentum with different centralities is investigated, too.

The transverse momentum spectra obtained in the frame of an isotropic emission source are compared in terms of Tsallis, Boltzmann, Fermi-Dirac, and Bose-Einstein distributions and the Tsallis forms of the latter three standard distributions. It is obtained that, at a given set of parameters, the standard distributions show a narrower shape than their Tsallis forms which result in wide and/or multicomponent spectra with the Tsallis distribution in between. A comparison among the temperatures obtained from the distributions is made with a possible relation to the Boltzmann temperature. An example of the angular distributions of projectile fragments in nuclear collisions is given.