New Insights into Proton-Proton Interactions from NA61/SHINE Collaboration

Recent research from the NA61/SHINE collaboration has provided new insights into the behavior of multiplicity and net-electric charge distributions in inelastic proton-proton interactions. The study, titled "Measurements of higher-order cumulants of multiplicity and net-electric charge distributions in inelastic proton-proton interactions by NA61/SHINE," presents findings based on data collected at various beam momenta, specifically 20, 31, 40, 80, and 158 GeV/c.

The authors, led by H. Adhikary and 148 collaborators, utilized higher-order cumulants and factorial cumulants to analyze the fluctuations in particle production. This approach allows for a more nuanced understanding of the underlying physics, particularly in relation to the search for the critical point of strongly interacting matter, which is a significant area of interest in heavy ion collision studies.

The results were corrected for experimental biases, providing a clearer picture of the multiplicity distributions. The study also compared the measured signals with theoretical models, specifically the string hadronic models EPOS1.99 and FTFP-BERT. This comparison is crucial as it helps validate the models used in high-energy physics and enhances the understanding of particle interactions at high energies.

These findings contribute to the broader field of particle physics by establishing a baseline for future studies involving heavy ion collisions. The implications of this research extend to various applications, including the development of theoretical frameworks that describe the behavior of matter under extreme conditions.

For further details, the full paper can be accessed at arXiv:2312.13706.