FORWARD-BACKWARD MULTIPLICITY CORRELATIONS IN Au+Au COLLISIONS AT $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200\, {\rm GeV}$

The study of correlations among particles produced in different rapidity regions may provide understanding of the mechanisms of particle production. Correlations that extend over a longer range are observed in hadron-hadron interactions only at higher energies. Results for short and long-range multiplicity correlations (Forward-Backward) are presented for Au + Au collisions at [Formula: see text]. The growth of long range correlations are observed as a function of the pseudorapidity gap in central Au + Au collisions. The Dual Parton model and Color Glass Condensate phenomenology have been explored to understand the origin of long range correlations.

QGP SIGNALS AND THE DUAL PARTON MODEL: IS THERMAL EQUILIBRIUM REACHED IN HEAVY ION COLLISIONS?

Some of the so-called signals of Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP) formation are examined in the framework of a string model, the Dual Parton Model, supplemented with final state interaction. The aim is to determine the strength and duration time of the final state interaction required to describe the data, in order to gain some insight on whether or not the system reaches thermal equilibrium.