TEMPERATURE-FLUCTUATIONS IN MULTIPARTICLE PRODUCTION

We explain how, in the thermodynamic interpretation of multiparticle reactions, it may be possible to experimentally determine a basic quantity characterizing the presumed thermodynamic system: the heat capacity. We exploit the fact that new heavy-ion experiments have such a high multiplicity that a ''temperature'' can be assigned on an event-by-event basis. This permits temperature fluctuations also to be defined. In a thermodynamic system, the latter are related to the heat capacity. The heat capacity may then be used to search for phase transitions and to study other thermodynamic aspects of the system.