Multiplicity and pseudorapidity distributions of charged particles in asymmetric and deformed nuclear collisions in the wounded quark model

Abstract.

The charged particle multiplicity ($n_{ch}$) and pseudorapidity density $({\rm d}n_{ch}/{\rm d}\eta)$ are key observables to characterize the properties of matter created in heavy-ion collisions. The dependence of these observables on collision energy and the collision geometry are a key tool to understand the underlying particle production mechanism. Recently much interest has been focused on asymmetric and deformed nuclei collisions since these collisions can provide a deeper understanding about the nature of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). From the phenomenological perspective, a unified model which describes the experimental data coming from various kinds of collision experiments is much needed to provide physical insights on the production mechanism. In this paper, we have calculated the charged hadron multiplicities for nucleon-nucleus, such as proton-lead (p-Pb) and asymmetric nuclei collisions like deutron-gold (d-Au), and copper-gold (Cu-Au) within a new version of the wounded quark model (WQM) and we have shown their variation with respect to centrality. Further we have used a suitable density function within our WQM to calculate pseudorapidity density of charged hadrons at midrapidity in the collisions of deformed uranium nuclei. We found that our model with suitable density functions describes the experimental data for symmetric, asymmetric and deformed nuclei collisions simultaneously over a wide range of the collision energy.