Forward-backward multiplicity fluctuations in ultrarelativistic nuclear collisions with wounded quarks and fluctuating strings

Abstract

We analyze a generic model where wounded quarks are amended with strings in which both end-point positions fluctuate in spatial rapidity. With the assumption that the strings emit particles independently of one another and with a uniform distribution in rapidity, we are able to analyze the model semi-analytically, which allows for its detailed understanding. Using as a constraint the one-body string emission functions obtained from the experimental data for collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV, we explore the two-body correlations for various scenarios of string fluctuations. We find that the popular measures used to quantify the longitudinal fluctuations are limited with upper and lower bounds and assume close values for the most likely models of the end-point distributions, which may explain why various approaches yield here very similar results.