Alternative Scenarios of Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions: III. Transverse Momentum Spectra

Transverse-mass spectra, their inverse slopes and mean transverse masses in relativistic collisions of heavy nuclei are analyzed in a wide range of incident energies 2.7 GeV $le sqrt{s_{NN}}le$ 39 GeV. The analysis is performed within the three-fluid model employing three different equations of state (EoSs): a purely hadronic EoS, an EoS with the first-order phase transition and that with a smooth crossover transition into deconfined state. Calculations show that inverse slopes and mean transverse masses of all the species (with the exception of antibaryons within the hadronic scenario) exhibit a step-like behavior similar to that observed for mesons and protons in available experimental data. This step-like behavior takes place for all considered EoSs and results from the freeze-out dynamics rather than is a signal of the deconfinement transition. A good reproduction of experimental inverse slopes and mean transverse masses for light species (up to proton) is achieved within all the considered scenarios. The freeze-out parameters are precisely the same as those used for reproduction of particles yields in previous papers of this series. This became possible because the freeze-out stage is not completely equilibrium.