Description of local multiplicity fluctuations and genuine multiparticle correlations

Abstract

Various parametrizations of the multiplicity distribution are studied using the recently published large statistics OPAL results on multidimensional local fluctuations and genuine correlations in e+e- -> Z -> hadrons. The measured normalized factorial and cumulant moments are compared to the predictions of the negative binomial distribution, the modified and generalized versions of it, the log-normal distribution and the model of the generalized birth process with immigration. This is the first study which uses the multiplicity distribution parametrizations to describe high-order genuine correlations. Although the parametrizations fit well the measured fluctuations and correlations for low orders, they do show certain deviations at high orders. We have shown that it is necessary to incorporate the multiparticle character of the correlations along with the property of self-similarity to attain a good description of the measurements.