Proton and deuteron distributions as signatures for collective particle dynamics and event shape geometries at ultrarelativistic energies - art. no. 051902

We present predictions for the formation of (anti)nuclear bound states in n ucleus-nucleus reactions at ultrarelativistic energies. The phase-space coa lescence method is used in combination with RQMD v2.4 trans port calculatio ns to demonstrate the relevance of particle production, as well as the long itudinal and transverse flow components. The formation of deuterons follows an approximate scaling law proportional to the relative freeze-out densiti es of nucleons and produced secondaries. For antideuterons, an additional s uppression appears that is proportional to the number of nucleons, pointing toward multiple rescattering and absorption prior to freeze out. [S0556-28 13(99)50411-1].