KINETIC DESCRIPTION OF HADRON–HADRON COLLISIONS

A transport model based on the mean free path approach to describe pp collisions is proposed. We assume that hadrons can be treated as bags of partons similarly to the MIT bag model. When the energy density in the collision is higher than a critical value, the bags break and partons are liberated. The partons expand and can coalesce to form new hadrons. The results obtained compare very well with available data, and some predictions for higher energies collisions are discussed. Based on the model we suggest that a QGP could already be formed in pp collisions at high energies.