On the competition between equilibrium and non-equilibrium particle production mechanisms in nucleus-nucleus collisions at 4.5A GeV/c

In nucleus-nucleus collisions at high energies a competition between different particle production mechanisms is possible. This competition can be studied assuming that experimental data for a given collision can be described using models based on different given hypotheses. An analysis of the particle production mechanisms based on different thermodynamic assumptions (global equilibrium, local equilibrium or non-equilibrium) is performed using (mainly) experimental data obtained from nucleus-nucleus collisions at 4.5 A GeV/c. A competition between these mechanisms is observed in a given collision. Connections with the collision geometry are reported.