Scaling of v2 in heavy ion collisions

We interpret the scaling of the corrected elliptic flow parameter with respect to the corrected multiplicity, observed to hold in heavy ion collisions for a wide variety of energies and system sizes. We use dimensional analysis and power-counting arguments to place constraints on the changes of initial conditions in systems with different center of mass energy s. Specifically, we show that a large class of changes in the (initial) equation of state, mean free path, and longitudinal geometry over the observed s are likely to spoil the scaling in v₂ observed experimentally. We therefore argue that the system produced at most Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) and Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) energies is fundamentally the same as far as the soft and approximately thermalized degrees of freedom are considered. The “sQGP” (Strongly interacting Quark-Gluon Plasma) phase, if it is there, is therefore not exclusive to RHIC. We suggest, as a goal for further low-energy heavy ion experiments, to search for a “transition” s where the observed scaling breaks.