N-PARTICLE TRANSVERSE CORRELATION AND COLLECTIVITY FOR 1.2A GEV AR+KCL COLLISIONS

An n-particle transverse correlation function for analysis collective flow is proposed, which extends the study of n-particle azimuthal corr elations and the estimation of collectivity to include the effects of both magnitude and angle for the n-particle transverse momentum vector s. This method is more sensitive to the collectivity of collective flo w than the method based on multi-particle azimuthal correlations. Usin g the new method, n-particle transverse correlations are analyzed for collisions of 1.2 A GeV Ar + KCl in the Bevalac streamer chamber, and the results have been compared with a Monte Carlo simulation, which sh ow that the collectivity for this experiment is between 85% and 95%.