Open Access

Giorgio Torrieri

• We explain how fluctuations of ratios can constrain and falsify the statistical model of particle production in heavy ion collisions, using K/p fluctuations as an example. We define an observable capable of determining which statistical model, if any, governs freeze-out in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions. We calculate this observable for K/p fluctuations, and show that it should be the same for RHIC and LHC energies, as well as independent of centrality, if the Grand-Canonical statistical model is an appropriate description and chemical equilibrium applies. We describe variations of this scaling for deviations from this scenario, such as light quark chemical non-equilibrium, strange quark over-saturation and local conservation (canonical ensemble) for strange quarks. We also introduce a similar observable capable, together with the published K*/K measurement, of ascertaining if an interacting hadron gas phase governs the system between thermal and chemical freeze-out, and of ascertaining its duration and impact on hadronic chemistry.