Experimental evidence and theoretical implications of fluctuations in deep inelastic heavy ion collisions

The role of fluctuations in deep inelastic collisions is discussed. The relevance of the statistical equilibrium limit to the description of substantially relaxed degrees of freedom is assessed. The effects of fluctuations are considered specifically for the following processes: a) the correlation between entrance-channel angular momentum and exit-channel kinetic energy; b) the sharing of the dissipated kinetic energy between the two fragments; c) the alignment of the fragment angular momentum. It is found that statistical fluctuations play a major role and that the statistical equilibrium limit seems to have been reached in a number of instances. (Auth.)