Gerald A. Miller

Department of Physics, University of Washington


We present a relativistic quantum mechanical treatment of the influence of
opacity and refractive effects on the production of pions in 
relativistic heavy ion collsions.
Our methods are applied to  two-pion HBT interferometry and the 
determination of source radii.
We are able to reproduce the observed radii and absolute values of pion 
spectra measured by
the STAR collaboration. The inferred emission duration is substantial.   
The  real part of the optical
potential that describes the interaction of the outgoing pion with the 
dense matter system is s trong and
attractive and this feature is  consistent with the emission of pions 
from a system that has a restored chiral symmetry.