Ridge and Transverse Correlation at Separated Rapidities

Abstract

A simple phenomenological relationship between the ridge distribution in $\Delta\eta$ and the single-particle distribution in $\eta$ can be established from the PHOBOS data on both distributions. The implication points to the possibility that there is no long-range longitudinal correlation. An interpretation of the relationship is then developed, based on the recognition that longitudinal uncertainty of the initial configuration allows for non-Hubble-like expansion at early time. It is shown that the main features of the ridge structure can be explained in a model where transverse correlation stimulated by semihard partons is the principal mechanism.