Excluded volume hadron gas model for particle number ratios in A+A collisions

We recapitulate a thermodynamically consistent excluded volume hadron gas model and examine its differences with other ``thermal models'' used in the literature. Preliminary experimental data for particle number ratios in the collisions of Au+Au at the BNL AGS (11$A$ GeV/$c$) and Pb+Pb at the CERN SPS (160$A$ GeV/$c$) are analyzed. For equal values of the hadron hard-core parameters the excluded volume model gives essentially the ideal gas predictions for the particle number ratios, which is similar to other thermal models. We observe, however, the systematic excess of experimental pion abundances compared to the ideal gas results. This effect can be explained in our model by a smaller pion hard-core volume compared to those of other hadrons. The absolute values for particle number and energy densities at the chemical freezeout are predicted with a simultaneous fit to all these AGS and SPS particle number ratios.