dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaThe quantum mechanics of particle-correlation measurements in high-energy heavy-ion collisions
| Authors | Alejandro Ayala, Gordon Baym, James L. Popp |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | nucl-th/9903053 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/nucl-th/9903053 |
| DOI | 10.1016/S0375-9474(99)00388-7 |
| Journal | Nucl.Phys. A660 (1999) 101-117 |
Abstract
The Hanbury Brown--Twiss (HBT) effect in two-particle correlations is a fundamental wave phenomenon that occurs at the sensitive elements of detectors; it is one of the few processes in elementary particle detection that depends on the wave mechanics of the produced particles. We analyze here, within a quantum mechanical framework for computing correlations among high-energy particles, how particle detectors produce the HBT effect. We focus on the role played by the wave functions of particles created in collisions and the sensitivity of the HBT effect to the arrival times of pairs at the detectors, and show that the two detector elements give an enhanced signal when the single-particle wave functions of the detected particles overlap at both elements within the characteristic atomic transition time of the elements. The measured pair correlation function is reduced when the delay in arrival times between pairs at the detectors is of order of or larger than the transition time.
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"abstract": "The Hanbury Brown--Twiss (HBT) effect in two-particle correlations is a\nfundamental wave phenomenon that occurs at the sensitive elements of detectors;\nit is one of the few processes in elementary particle detection that depends on\nthe wave mechanics of the produced particles. We analyze here, within a quantum\nmechanical framework for computing correlations among high-energy particles,\nhow particle detectors produce the HBT effect. We focus on the role played by\nthe wave functions of particles created in collisions and the sensitivity of\nthe HBT effect to the arrival times of pairs at the detectors, and show that\nthe two detector elements give an enhanced signal when the single-particle wave\nfunctions of the detected particles overlap at both elements within the\ncharacteristic atomic transition time of the elements. The measured pair\ncorrelation function is reduced when the delay in arrival times between pairs\nat the detectors is of order of or larger than the transition time.",
"arxiv_id": "nucl-th/9903053",
"authors": [
"Alejandro Ayala",
"Gordon Baym",
"James L. Popp"
],
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"nucl-th"
],
"doi": "10.1016/S0375-9474(99)00388-7",
"journal_ref": "Nucl.Phys. A660 (1999) 101-117",
"title": "The quantum mechanics of particle-correlation measurements in high-energy heavy-ion collisions",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/nucl-th/9903053"
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