Probing the space-time geometry of ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Abstract We report results from a pion interferometry analysis of 200 GeV/nucleon 16 O+Au collisions. Both a gaussian source model and a model based on the inside-outside cascade are used to fit the experimental correlation function, giving transverse and longitudinal shape parameters, a freeze-out time parameter, and a chaoticity parameter for the pion emitting source. We find a transverse source size consistent with the projectile radius except at the CM rapidity, where significantly larger transverse and longitudinal sizes and a longer freeze-out time are measured suggesting a thermalized source. Calculation of correlation lengths, and comparisons with a simple freeze-out model and other pion interferometry experiments are presented.