https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-025-14621-z
Regular Article - Experimental Physics
Multiplicity and net-electric charge fluctuations in central Ar+Sc interactions at 13A, 19A, 30A, 40A, 75A, and 150
beam momenta measured by NA61/SHINE at the CERN SPS
1
National Nuclear Research Center, Baku, Azerbaijan
2
Faculty of Physics, University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria
3
LPNHE, Sorbonne University, CNRS/IN2P3, Paris, France
4
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
5
HUN-REN Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Budapest, Hungary
6
Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
7
Institute for Particle and Nuclear Studies, Tsukuba, Japan
8
Okayama University, Okayama, Japan
9
University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
10
University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
11
Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce, Poland
12
Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Cracow, Poland
13
National Centre for Nuclear Research, Warsaw, Poland
14
Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland
15
AGH-University of Krakow, Kraków, Poland
16
University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
17
University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
18
University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland
19
Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland
20
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, International Organization, Dubna, Russia
21
Affiliated with an Institution Formerly Covered by a Cooperation Agreement with CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
22
University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
23
Fermilab, Batavia, USA
24
University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, USA
25
University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
26
University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, USA
27
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA
28
CERN, 1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland
Received:
5
May
2025
Accepted:
7
August
2025
Published online:
29
August
2025
This paper presents results on multiplicity fluctuations of positively and negatively charged hadrons as well as net-electric charge fluctuations measured in central Ar+Sc interactions at beam momenta 13A, 19A, 30A, 40A, 75A, and 150. The fluctuation analysis is one of the tools to search for the predicted critical point of strongly interacting matter. Results are corrected for the experimental biases and quantified using cumulant ratios. In most instances, multiplicity and net-charge distributions appear narrower than the corresponding Poisson or Skellam distributions. Cumulant ratios are compared with the Epos1.99 model predictions, which provide a qualitative description that aligns with observations for positively and negatively charged particles. The obtained results are also compared to earlier NA61/SHINE results from inelastic p+p interactions in the same analysis acceptance.
© CERN for the benefit of the NA61/SHINE Collaboration 2025
corrected publication 2025
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Funded by SCOAP3.
