Chaoticity parameter λ and multiple coherent components in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Three-pion correlations are conventionally analyzed using a chaotic component and a single coherent component of the emitted pions. The existence of source coherence in these experiments is suggested, but the detailed structure of the coherent component remains obscure. An improved understanding of the coherent processes is obtained by incorporating into the model general properties of pulsed radiation, inspired by the free-electron laser operation with multiple, mutually independent coherent source currents due to electron microbunching. This approach with multiple coherent components solves an inconsistency in the earlier three-pion data analysis and leads to a more appealing description of the experimental results