Freeze-out and anisotropic flow in microscopic models

It appears that in microscopic calculations hadrons are continuously emitted from the whole reaction volume. Different species decouple at different times. At RHIC energies significant fractions of both mesons and baryons are emitted from the surface region within the first two fm/c. The hadrons contribute differently to the formation and evolution of the anisotropic flow, which can be decomposed into three components: (i) flow created by hadrons emitted from the surface at the onset of the collision; (ii) flow produced by jets; (iii) hydrodynamic flow. Due to these features, e.g., the elliptic flows of mesons and baryons have different transverse momentum dependences. Comparison with experimental data reveals that centrality, rapidity, and transverse momentum dependences of the anisotropic flow are reproduced, at least qualitatively, by the microscopic models.