Diagnosis of QGP with Strange Hadrons

Abstract

We review the current status of strangeness as signature of the formation and dissociation of the deconfined QGP at the SPS energy scale, and present the status of our considerations for RHIC energies. By analyzing, within the framework of a Fermi statistical model, the hadron abundance and spectra, the properties of a disintegrating, hadron evaporating, deconfined QGP fireball are determined and can be compared with theory for the energy range 160--200AGeV on fixed target. We discuss in more detail our finding that the pion yields occur near to pion condensation condition. Dynamical models of chemical strangeness equilibration are developed and applied to obtain strangeness production in a QGP phase at conditions found at SPS and expected at RHIC. The sudden QGP break up model that works for the SPS data implies at RHIC dominance of both baryon, and antibaryon, abundances by the strange baryon and antibaryon yields.