Imprints of clustering in multiplicity fluctuations

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the multiplicity fluctuations of charged particles observed in high-energy nuclear collisions and relate them to the size of hadronizing systems which happen during such processes. We use the average multiplicities $⟨N⟩$ and variances $Var\left(N\right)$ of multiplicity distributions of charged particles produced in centrality selected collisions of relativistic heavy-ion nuclei to evaluate the dynamic variable $\hat{I}\text{c◯}$ and study its dependence on the size of colliding nuclei. We connect the observed system-size dependence of multiplicity fluctuations with the clustering phenomena and the finiteness of the hadronizing sources and the thermal bath.