Particle interferometry, binary sources and oscillations in two-particle correlations

Abstract

The basics and the formalism of Bose-Einstein correlations is briefly reviewed. The invariant Buda-Lund form is summarized. Tools are presented that can be utilized in a model-independent search for non-Gaussian structuctures in the two-particle Bose-Einstein correlation functions. The binary source formalism of particle interferometry is presented and related to oscillations in the two-particle Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac correlation functions. The frequency of the observed oscillations in the NA49 two-proton correlation function in Pb+Pb collisions at CERN SPS energies is explained with the help of the reconstructed space-time picture of particle production and the binary nature of the proton source in this reaction.