Flow fluctuations in Pb plus Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Abstract

Measurements of four-particle cumulants c(n){4} for n = 1, 2, 3, 4 are presented using 470 mu b(-1) of Pb+Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. These cumulants provide information on the event-by-event fluctuations of single harmonics p(v(n)). For the first time, a negative c(1){4} is observed. The c(4){4} is found to be negative in central collisions but changes sign around 20-25% centrality. This behavior is consistent with a nonlinear contribution to v(4) that is proportional to v(2)(2). c(2){4} and c(3){4} are calculated using two reference event classes in order to investigate the influence of volume fluctuations. Over most of the centrality range, c(2){4} and c(3){4} are found to be negative, while in the ultra-central collisions, c(2){4} changes sign and becomes positive, suggesting a deviation from Gaussian behavior in the event-by-event fluctuation of v(2). The magnitudes of the sign change are also found to be dependent of the event class definition .