Pion Interferemetry from p+p to Au+Au in STAR

Abstract

The geometric substructure of the particle-emitting source has been characterized via two-particle interferometry by the STAR collaboration for all energies and colliding systems at RHIC. We present systematic studies of charged pion interferometry. The collective nature of the source is revealed through the $m_T$ dependence of HBT radii for all particle types. Preliminary results suggest a scaling in the pion HBT radii with overall system size, as central Au+Au collisions are compared to peripheral collisions as well as with Cu+Cu and even with d+Au and p+p collisions, naively suggesting comparable flow strength in all systems. To probe this issue in greater detail, multidimensional correlation functions are studied using a spherical decomposition method. This allows clear identification of source anisotropy and, for the light systems, the presence of significant long-range non-femtoscopic correlations.