The Long Slow Death of the HBT Puzzle

Abstract

Femtoscopic measurements at RHIC have been hailed as a source of insight into the bulk properties of QCD matter. However, hydrodynamic models, which have been successful in reproducing other observables have failed to satisfactorily explain femtoscopic two-particle correlation measurements. This failure has been labeled the "HBT puzzle". In this talk, I present correlations using a hybrid model composed of a viscous hydrodynamic module and a hadronic cascade. After incorporating early acceleration, viscosity and a stiffer equation of state, the extracted source sizes come much closer to experiment.

Talk given at WPCF (Workshop on Particle Correlations and Femtoscopy) 2008, Krakow, Poland. Proceedings to be published in Acta Physica Polonica B