Centrality dependence of the charged particle multiplicity near mid-rapidity in Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ (NN) = 130-GeV and 200-GeV

The PHOBOS experiment has measured the charged particle multiplicity at mid-rapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV as a function of the collision centrality. Results on dN/deta(eta , are presented as a function of . As was found from similar data at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV, the data can be equally well described by parton saturation models and two-component fits which include contributions that scale as Npart and the number of binary collisions, Ncoll. We compare the data at the two energies by means of the ratio R(200/130) of the charged particle multiplicity for the two different energies as a function of . For events with >100$, we find that this ratio is consistent with a constant value of 1.14+-0.01(stat.)+-0.05(syst.).