Two-fluid hydrodynamic model for collisions of relativistic nuclei

A two-fluid hydrodynamic model is developed for collisions of nuclei with energies E/sub lab/approx. >10 GeV/nucleon. Pion-production channels are taken into account in the model, which significantly affect the stopping power of nuclear matter. The one-dimensional form of the model is used to study the collision of two plane layers of nuclear matter, imitating a central collision of two nuclei. The space-time characteristics of the collision process are calculated. Estimates are obtained for the energy density of the baryon sybsystems and the energy dependence of the degree of transparency of the nuclei. It is shown that in a central collision of the heaviest nuclei, like Pb+Pb, the necessary conditions for the formation of a quark-gluon plasma are reached for energies E/sub lab/∼10 GeV/nucleon