Cluster Production in Quark-Hadron Phase Transition

Abstract

The problem of cluster formation and growth in first-order quark-hadron phase transition in heavy-ion collisions is considered. Behaving as Brownian particles, the clusters carry out random walks and can encounter one another, leading to coalescence and breakup. A simulation of the process in cellular automaton suggests the possibility of a scaling distribution in the cluster sizes. The experimental determination of the cluster-size distribution is urged as a means to find a clear signature of phase transition.

12 pages + 1 figure. Report # OITS-517. To be published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, xxx (1994)