Velocity of sound in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Abstract

We have studied the rapidity distribution of secondary hadrons produced in nucleus-nucleus collisions at ultra-relativistic energies within the ambit of the Landau's hydrodynamical model. A reasonable description of the data can also be obtained by using the Bjorken's hydrodynamical model if the boost invariance is restricted to a finite rapidity range. The sensitivity of the hadronic spectra on the equation of state vis- a -vis the velocity of sound has been discussed. The correlation between the velocity of sound and the freeze-out temperature has been indicated. The effects of the non-zero widths of various mesonic and baryonic degrees of freedom up to the mass value ~ 2.5 GeV is seen to be small.

9 pages and 11 figures. Major changes. To appear in Physical Review C