Centrality dependence of limiting fragmentation

We investigate the centrality-dependent validity of the limiting-fragmentation hypothesis in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at energies reached at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). A phenomenological analysis of Au–Au and Pb–Pb collisions within a three-source relativistic diffusion model (RDM) is performed at $$\sqrt{s_{NN}}=19.6, 62.4, 130, 200, 2760$$ and 5023 GeV using four centrality cuts at each energy. Linear and nonlinear expressions for the rapidity drift function are tested and their physical relevance is discussed. Our results are compatible with the limiting-fragmentation conjecture for the investigated centralities in the full energy range. The number of particles in the fragmentation and fireball sources are found to depend on $$\sqrt{s_{NN}}$$ logarithmically and cubic-logarithmically, respectively