Elliptic flow at collider energies and cascade string models: the role of hard processes and multi-pomeron exchanges

Centrality, rapidity, and transverse momentum dependence of hadron elliptic flow is studied in Au+Au collisions at BNL RHIC energies within the microscopic quark–gluon string model. The QGSM predictions coincide well with the experimental data at s=130A GeV. Further investigations reveal that multi-pomeron exchanges and hard gluon–gluon scattering in primary collisions, accompanied by the rescattering of hadrons in spatially anisotropic system, are the key processes needed for an adequate description of the data. These processes become essentially important for heavy-ion collisions at full RHIC energy s=200A GeV.