Statistical Model for High-Energy Events

Abstract

The relative probabilities for alternate processes initiated by a nucleon-nucleon collision depend on the dynamics involved and on the volume in phase space accessible to each final state. The assignment of relative a priori probabilities to the final states proportional to their extension in phase must be consistent with the translational, rotational, and Lorentz-invariant properties of the colliding system. The latter in particular implies a conservation law for the center of energy. Its effect is not only to lower the power of the configurational volume by one dimension but also to severely reduce the contributions from high momenta to the phase space integrals.