Deconfinement energy threshold: analysis of hadron yields at 11.6 A GeV

Abstract

We analyze the hadron yields obtained at the AGS in the range 11--11.6 A GeV and discuss strategies to identify possible deconfinement at this energy scale. These include consideration of chemical nonequilibrium at hadronization, and the study of (multi)strange hadrons. We find that the totality of experimental results available favors the interpretation as hadron freeze-out at the phase boundary between confined and deconfined phase.

8 revtex pages including 4 multiframe figures, expanded version, v3 additional text and references