Search for Disoriented Chiral Condensates in 158 AGeV Pb+Pb(4)

The restoration of chiral symmetry and its subsequent breaking through a phase transition has been predicted to create regions of Disoriented Chiral Condensates (DCC). This phenomenon has been predicted to cause anomalous fluctuations in the relative produ

thatasthesystemrapidlyexpandsandcoolsthroughthephasetransition,theequationsofmotioninduceanon-equilibriumrelaxationofthechiral eldswhichampli estheproductionofsoftpionmodesinawell-de nedchiraldirec-tion.Thise ectivelycreatesclustersoflow-pTpions,withtheclusterchargedistributionfollowingequation(1).Itshouldbenotedthat,inbothstudies,thestrongestin uenceonthe nalstatecompositionisthesymmetryitselfratherthantheexactphysicsscenariostudied.Furtherworkcon rmedtheseinitialresults,evenafteraccountingforquantum uctuations,andproposedothermechanismswhichmightallowforlarge,long-livedDCCs[1].

Byallowingthepossibilityofeventswithalmostnoelectromagneticenergy,DCCsareanattractivehypothesistoexplainthe“Centauro”eventsseenincosmicrays[7].Theseeventshavealreadymotivatedsearchesforunusualcharge uctuationsattheS