Is it possible to reconstruct the freeze-out duration of heavy-ion collisions using tomography?

Abstract

We investigate what conditions allow us to extract the relative distribution of freeze-out space and time points in an arbitrary reference frame using tomography and source imaging. The source function may be extracted from the two-particle correlation function measured in heavy-ion collisions using imaging techniques. This imaged source function is related to the relative distribution of freeze-out space and time points through a generalization of the Radon transform found in tomography. Using tomography, the imaged source function may be converted into the relative freeze-out distribution in the frame of interest. We describe how the tomography may be performed in practice.