Event-by-event physics in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Motivated by forthcoming experiments at RHIC and LHC, and results from SPS, a review is given of the present state of event-by-event fluctuations in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. Fluctuations in particle multiplicities, ratios, transverse momenta, rapidity, etc. are calculated in participant nucleon as well as thermal models. The physical observables, including multiplicity, kaon-to-pion ratios, and transverse momenta agree well with recent NA49 data at the SPS, and indicate that such studies do not yet reveal the presence of new physics. Predictions for RHIC and LHC energies are given. The centrality dependence with and without a phase transition to a quark–gluon plasma is discussed – in particular, how the physical quantities are expected to display a qualitative different behavior in case of a phase transition, and can be signaled by anomalous fluctuations and correlations in a number of observables.