A power-law description of heavy ion collision centrality
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The minimum-bias distribution on heavy ion collision multiplicity $n_{ch}$ is well approximated by power-law form $n_{ch}^{-3/4}$, suggesting that a change of variable to $n_{ch}^{1/4}$ may provide more precise access to the structure of the distribution and to A-A collision centrality. We present a detailed centrality study of Hijing-1.37 Monte Carlo data at 200 GeV using the power-law format. We find that the minimum-bias distribution on $n_{participant}^{1/4}$, determined with a Glauber Monte Carlo simulation, is uniform except for a 5% sinusoidal variation. The power-law format reveals precise linear relations between Glauber parameters $n_{part}$ and $n_{bin}$ and the fractional cross section. The power-law format applied to RHIC data facilitates incorporation of extrapolation constraints on data and Glauber distributions to obtain a ten-fold improvement in centrality accuracy for peripheral collisions.
21 pages, 18 figures, extensive rewrite, with addition of appendices on numerical integration and systematic errors in participant number calculations
21 pages, 18 figures, extensive rewrite, with addition of appendices on numerical integration and systematic errors in participant number calculations