Net charge probability distributions in heavy ion collisions at chemical freeze-out

Braun-Munzinger P, Friman B, Karsch F, Redlich K, Skokov V. Net charge probability distributions in heavy ion collisions at chemical freeze-out. Nuclear Physics A. 2012;880:48-64.We explore net charge probability distributions in heavy ion collisions within the hadron resonance gas model. The distributions for strangeness, electric charge and baryon number are derived. We show that, within this model, net charge probability distributions and the resulting fluctuations can be computed directly from the measured yields of charged and multi-charged hadrons. The influence of multi-charged particles and quantum statistics on the shape of the distribution is examined. We discuss the properties of the net proton distribution along the chemical freeze-out line. The model results presented here provide a theoretical baseline in the search for a relation between the chemical freeze-out and the QCD cross-over line at RHIC and LHC energies. Published by Elsevier B.V