A hydrodynamic model for hadron production in e+-e- annihilation

We consider hadron production in e+-e- annihilation within the framework of a hydrodynamic model. The two key assumptions in the model are (i) the initial shape of a Lorentz-contracted disc for the hadronic fireball, with the jet axis providing the necessary longitudinal direction and (ii) the criterion of a critical size of hadronic dimension for the expanding fireball to break up into final-state particles. Experimental data on charged multiplicity, inclusive distributions, dispersions and particle spectra up to the highest centre-of-mass energy, presently accessible in colliding-beam machines, are explained satisfactorily with only three energy-independent parameters. The present analysis brings out the similarity in the mechanism for hadron production in p-p collision and e+-e- annihilation and attributes the apparent differences to the presence of leading-particle effect in the former process. (orig.)