Event-by-event analysis of high multiplicity Pb(158 GeV/NUCLEON)-Ag/Br collisions

Abstract

High multiplicity nucleus-nucleus collisions are studied on an event-by-event basis. Different methods of analysis of individual collision events are presented and their ability to reveal anomalous features of the events is discussed. This study is based on full acceptance measurements of particle production in the interactions of 158 GeV/nucleon Pb with the heavy target nuclei in nuclear emulsion. No events are observed with global characteristics that differ significantly from expectations based on either Monte Carlo simulations, or the characteristics of the entire sample of events. On the other hand, it is shown that systematic analysis of particle density fluctuations in phase space domains of varying size, performed in terms of factorial moments, can be used as an effective triggering for events with large dynamical fluctuations.