We propose a model for isotropization and corresponding thermalization in a nucleon system created in the collision of two nuclei. The model is based on the assumption: during the fireball evolution, two-particle elastic and inelastic collisions give
rise to the randomization of the nucleon-momentum transfer which is driven by a proper distribution. As a first approximation, we assume a homogeneous distribution where the values of the momentum transfer is bounded from above. These features have been shown to result in a smearing of the particle momenta about their initial values and, as a consequence, in their partial isotropization and thermalization. The nonequilibrium single-particle distribution function and single-particle spectrum which carry a memory about initial state of nuclei have been obtained.
The partition function of nonequilibrium distribution which we recently obtained [arXiv:0802.0259] in the framework of the maximum isotropization model (MIM) is exploited to extract physical information from experimental data on the proton rapidity a
nd transverse mass distributions. We propose to partition all interacting nucleons into ensembles in accordance with the number of collisions. We analyze experimental rapidity distribution and get the number of particles in every collision ensemble. We argue that even a large number of effective nucleon collisions cannot lead to thermalization of nucleon system; the thermal source which describes the proton distribution in central rapidity region arises as a result of fast thermalization of the parton degrees of freedom. The obtained number of nucleons which corresponds to the thermal contribution is treated as a ``nucleon power of the created quark-gluon plasma in a particular experiment.
