Questions and Remarks About Clans in Multiparticle Dynamics

Abstract

The fact that several important effects in multiparticle dynamics, on which QCD has not yet satisfactory predictions, have been interpreted in terms of the validity of negative binomial (Pascal) regularity and related clan properties at the level of simpler substructures, raises intriguing questions on clan properties in all classes of collisions, the main one being whether clans are observable objects or merely a mathematical concept. We approach this problem by studying clan masses and rapidity distributions in each substructure for e+e- annihilation and hh collisions, and find that such properties can indeed characterise the different components. These results support the idea that clans could be observable, a challenging problem for future experiments.