Higher Order Bose-Einstein Correlations in Identical Particle Production

Abstract

A diagram technique to calculate the higher order Bose-Einstein correlations is formulated. This technique is applied to derive explicit expressions for the n -pion correlation functions for n =2, 3, 4 and 5. Detailed calculations and numerical predictions are given. In comparison with the AFS and NA23 data on two-pion and three-pion Bose-Einstein correlations good agreement is obtained.