Nonlinear diffusion and particle production in relativistic systems

The short parton production phase in high-energy heavy-ion collisions is treated analytically as a nonlinear diffusion process. The initial buildup of the rapidity density distributions of produced charged hadrons within τp≃0.25fm/c occurs in three sources during the colored partonic phase. In a two-step approach, the subsequent diffusion in pseudorapidity space during the interaction time of τint≃7–10fm/c (mean duration of the collision) is essentially linear as expressed in the Relativistic Diffusion Model (RDM) which yields excellent agreement with the data at RHIC energies, and allows for predictions at LHC energies. Results for d+Au are discussed in detail.