PRODUCTION OF MINIJETS (GLUONS) AND STRANGENESS ENHANCEMENT IN PA ANDAA COLLISIONS AT RELATIVISTIC ENERGIES

The idea that effective string tension increases as a result of the ha rd gluon kinks on a string is applied to study the strange particle pr oduction in proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions. It is found that the effective string tension increases with the increase of cent rality and mass of the colliding system as a consequence of the minije t (gluon) production stemming from the collective string-string intera ction. This mechanism leads to strangeness enhancement in pA and AA co llisions through the enhanced production of the strange quark pairs fr om the color field of strings. We discuss different roles played by th is mechanism and rescattering of the final state hadrons in the produc tion of strange particles and compare our results with experimental da ta.