Volume Effects on Strangeness Production

Abstract

A study of the yields of strange particles produced in heavy-ion and elementary collisions is presented using preliminary results from the STAR experiment at RHIC. The strange particle production rates, relative to those of p+p, have been proposed as a means of determining an enhancement of strangeness production in heavy-ion collisions. Analysis of results from STAR show that this enhancement measure is reduced, or comparable, when contrasted to that at top CERN SPS energies. A smaller suppression in the p+p yields at RHIC energies due to finite volume effects could be the cause of such a result. By studying the yields as a function of centrality we hope to establish how these effects vary with the volume of the source created.