Characteristics of charged particle production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Inclusive spectra of charged particles at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV and 200 GeV were measured with the STAR detector at RHIC. The measured mean transverse momentum shows a characteristic dependence on charged particle multiplicity and beam energy in Au+Au collisions that is distinctly different from pp, pbarp and ee collisions. A comparison with model predictions is discussed.