Hadron production in central nucleus-nucleus collisions at chemical freeze-out

We analyze the experimental hadron yield ratios for central nucleus-nucleus collisions in terms of thermal model calculations over a broad energy range, root(NN)-N-S = 2.7-200 GeV. The fits of the experimental data with the model calculations provide the thermal parameters, temperature and baryo-chemical potential at chemical freeze-out. We compare our results with the values obtained in other studies and also investigate more technical aspects such as a potential bias in the fits when fitting particle ratios or yields. Using parametrizations of the temperature and baryonic chemical potential as a function of energy, we compare the model calculations with data for a large variety of hadron yield ratios. We provide quantitative predictions for experiments at LHC energy, as well as for the low RHIC energy of 62.4 GeV. The relation of the determined parameters with the QCD phase boundary is discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.