We report measurements of transverse momentum $p_t$ spectra for ten event multiplicity classes of p-p collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 200$ GeV. By analyzing the multiplicity dependence we find that the spectrum shape can be decomposed into a part with amplitude proportional to multiplicity and described by a L\'evy distribution on transverse mass $m_t$, and a part with amplitude proportional to multiplicity squared and described by a gaussian distribution on transverse rapidity $y_t$. The functional forms of the two parts are nearly independent of event multiplicity. The two parts can be identified with the soft and hard components of a two-component model of p-p collisions. This analysis then provides the first isolation of the hard component of the $p_t$ spectrum as a distribution of simple form on $y_t$.
FIG. 1: Corrected and normalized charged-particle spectra on transverse momentum $p_t$ (left) and transverse rapidity $y_t$ (right) for 10 event multiplicity classes, displaced upward by successive factors 40 relative to $\hat{n}_{ch}$ = 1 at bottom. Solid curves represent reference function $n_s/n_{ch} · S_0(y_t)$ (cf.Sec. IV C). Dotted curves are spline fits to guide the eye.
FIG. 1: Corrected and normalized charged-particle spectra on transverse momentum $p_t$ (left) and transverse rapidity $y_t$ (right) for 10 event multiplicity classes, displaced upward by successive factors 40 relative to $\hat{n}_{ch}$ = 1 at bottom. Solid curves represent reference function $n_s/n_{ch} · S_0(y_t)$ (cf.Sec. IV C). Dotted curves are spline fits to guide the eye.
FIG. 2. Left: Relative residuals from power-law fits to $p_{t}$ spectra in Fig. 1. The hatched band represents the expected statistical errors for STAR data. Right: Exponents $n$ from power-law fits to data (solid points) and to corresponding twocomponent fixed-model functions (open circles, see Sec. VI) compared to the two-component fixed-model Lévy exponent $12.8 \pm 0.15$ (hatched band). NOTE 1: For points with invisible error bars, the point size was considered as an absolute upper limit for the uncertainty. NOTE 2: The "data_stat" uncertainty corresponds to the expected statistical error (hatched band).
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