We study the effects of strict conservation laws and the problem of negative contributions to final momentum distribution during the freeze out through 3-dimensional hypersurfaces with space-like normal. We study some suggested solutions for this problem, and demonstrate it on one example.
A finite unbound system which is equilibrium in one reference frame is in general nonequilibrium in another frame. This is a consequence of the relative character of the time synchronization in the relativistic physics. This puzzle was a prime motivation of the Cooper--Frye approach to the freeze-out in relativistic hydrodynamics. Solution of the puzzle reveals that the Cooper--Frye recipe is far not a unique phenomenological method that meets requirements of energy-momentum conservation. Alternative freeze-out recipes are considered and discussed.
Relative hadron abundances from high-energy heavy-ion collisions reveal substantial inhomogeneities of temperature and baryon-chemical potential within the decoupling volume. The freeze-out volume is not perfectly stirred, i.e. the concentrations of pions, kaons, (anti-) nucleons etc are inhomogeneous. Such inhomogeneities in the late stages of the hydrodynamic expansion might be traces of a first-order phase transition.
A QCD phase transition may reflect in a inhomogeneous decoupling surface of hadrons produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We show that due to the non-linear dependence of the particle densities on the temperature and baryon-chemical potential such inhomogeneities should be visible even in the integrated, inclusive abundances. We analyze experimental data from Pb+Pb collisions at CERN-SPS and Au+Au collisions at BNL-RHIC to determine the amplitude of inhomogeneities.
We investigate the kinetic freeze out scenario of a nucleon gas through a finite layer. The in-medium mass modification of nucleons and its impact on the freeze out process is studied. A considerable modification of the thermodynamical parameters temperature, flow-velocity, energy density and particle density has been found in comparison with evaluations which use a constant vacuum nucleon mass.
The space-time structure of the multipion system created in central relativistic heavy-ion collisions is investigated. Using the microscopic transport model UrQMD we determine the freeze-out hypersurface from equation on pion density n(t,r)=n_c. It turns out that for proper value of the critical energy density epsilon_c equation epsilon(t,r)=epsilon_c gives the same freeze-out hypersurface. It is shown that for big enough collision energies E_kin > 40A GeV/c (sqrt(s) > 8A GeV/c) the multipion system at a time moment {tau} ceases to be one connected unit but splits up into two separate spatial parts (drops), which move in opposite directions from one another with velocities which approach the speed of light with increase of collision energy. This time {tau} is approximately invariant of the collision energy, and the corresponding tau=const. hypersurface can serve as a benchmark for the freeze-out time or the transition time from the hydrostage in hybrid models. The properties of this hypersurface are discussed.