Net-charge fluctuations in relativistic heavy-ion interactions

Different measures of net-charge fluctuations in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion interactions, namely, $v\left(Q\right),$ $v\left(R\right),$ $\Gamma$ and ${\nu }_{\mathrm{dyn}},$ are discussed and compared. Their behaviors are confronted in the context of different experimental scenarios. It is found that the ${\nu }_{\mathrm{dyn}}$ observable exhibits most of the experimentally desirable features. The $v\left(Q\right)\mathrm{}$ and $\Gamma$ observables are also appropriate although proper care must be taken of finite acceptance and efficiency effects. Two simple charged particle production models are considered; production via neutral resonance decay and hadronization from a quark-gluon plasma. The study reveals that dynamical correlations, arising in such models, strongly influence the measures.