Analysis of variances of quasirapidities in collisions of gold nuclei with track-emulsion nuclei

A new method of an analysis of variances was developed for studying n -particle correlations of quasirapidities in nucleus-nucleus collisions for a large constant number n of particles. Formulas that generalize the results of the respective analysis to various values of n were derived. Calculations on the basis of simple models indicate that the method is applicable, at least for n ≥ 100. Quasirapidity correlations statistically significant at a level of 36 standard deviations were discovered in collisions between gold nuclei and track-emulsion nuclei at an energy of 10.6 GeV per nucleon. The experimental data obtained in our present study are contrasted against the theory of nucleus-nucleus collisions.