Particle number fluctuations in a canonical ensemble

Abstract

Fluctuations of charged particle number are studied in the canonical ensemble. In the infinite volume limit the fluctuations in the canonical ensemble are different from the fluctuations in the grand canonical one. Thus, the well-known equivalence of both ensembles for the average quantities does not extend for the fluctuations. In view of the possible relevance of the results for the analysis of fluctuations in nuclear collisions at high energies, a role of the limited kinematical acceptance is studied.