Accessing proton number fluctuations in limited regions of phase space
Phys. Rev. C 113, 014907 – Published 13 January, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/kx3m-n1kw
Abstract
In heavy ion collisions particle distributions fluctuate from event to event. It is interesting to study local fluctuations of a specific particle species, e.g., baryons, in the transverse plane. Fluctuations of the harmonic flow provide an integrated measure of such fluctuations. An alternative approach is to study proton number fluctuations measured in a relatively narrow azimuthal angle window. Due to the transverse flow, particles registered in a narrow azimuthal angle window are emitted predominantly from a region located at the same side of the fireball as the observation window. Similarly, it is informative to measure the covariance of the number of protons emitted in two opposite windows of azimuthal angles. The main difficulty lies in distinguishing effects of local baryon density fluctuations in the transverse plane from global particle density and collective flow fluctuations. These global density and flow fluctuations can be estimated using some reference particles, e.g., charged mesons. Reliable estimates of such fluctuations can be constructed both for the second factorial cumulant of the proton number in an azimuthal angle window and for the covariance between two such windows. The simultaneous measurement of both quantities provides a sensitive probe of local baryon number fluctuations superimposed on top of a fluctuating fireball background density.
