H. Appelshauser et al., Event-by-event fluctuations of average transverse momentum in central Pb plus Pb collisions at 158 GeV per nucleon, PHYS LETT B, 459(4), 1999, pp. 679-686
We present first data on event-by-event fluctuations in the average transve
rse momentum of charged particles produced in Pb + Pb collisions at the CER
N SPS. This measurement provides previously unavailable information allowin
g sensitive tests of microscopic and thermodynamic collision models and to
search for fluctuations expected to occur in the vicinity of the predicted
QCD phase transition. We find that the observed variance of the event-by-ev
ent average transverse momentum is consistent with independent particle pro
duction modified by the known two-particle correlations due to quantum stat
istics and final state interactions and folded with the resolution of the N
A49 apparatus. For two specific models of non-statistical fluctuations in t
ransverse momentum limits are derived in terms of fluctuation amplitude. We
show that a significant part of the parameter space for a model of isospin
fluctuations predicted as a consequence of chiral symmetry restoration in
a non-equilibrium scenario is excluded by our measurement. (C) 1999 Publish
ed by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.