Centrality in Relativistic Nuclear Collisions and the Random Matrix Approach

Using the random matrix approach, results for nearest-neighbor distributions obtained from experimental data on ¹²C+¹²C collisions at 4.2 A GeV/c and simulations produced with the aid of an ultra-relativistic quantum molecular dynamics model are studied. Comparison reveals that the observed changes in the nearest-neighbor distributions for different multiplicities can be associated with the onset of a region of central collisions.