Generalized scaling of the transverse mass spectrum at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider

Abstract

We argue that the transverse mass spectra of identified hadrons as measured in gold-gold collisions at BNL's Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) follows a generalized scaling law. Such a scaling behavior is motivated by the idea of a Color Glass Condensate, or more generally, saturation of the gluon density. In particular, we describe the shapes of transverse mass spectra as a function of centrality. This scaling of the transverse mass spectrum is shown to be consistent with previously observed scaling of multiplicity with centrality.

15 pages, 6 figures, refs. updated, version to appear in Nucl. Phys. A