Neutral to charged kaon yield fluctuations in Pb – Pb collisions at TeV

We present the first measurement of event-by-event fluctuations in the kaon sector in Pb – Pb collisions at $\sqrt{{s}_{\mathrm{NN}}}=2.76$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The robust fluctuation correlator ${\nu }_{\mathrm{dyn}}$ is used to evaluate the magnitude of fluctuations of the relative yields of neutral and charged kaons, as well as the relative yields of charged kaons, as a function of collision centrality and selected kinematic ranges. While the correlator ${\nu }_{\mathrm{dyn}}\left[{K}^{+},{K}^{-}\right]$ exhibits a scaling approximately in inverse proportion of the charged particle multiplicity, ${\nu }_{\mathrm{dyn}}\left[{K}_{S}^{0},{K}^{±}\right]$ features a significant deviation from such scaling. Within uncertainties, the value of ${\nu }_{\mathrm{dyn}}\left[{K}_{S}^{0},{K}^{±}\right]$ is independent of the selected transverse momentum interval, while it exhibits a pseudorapidity dependence. The results are compared with HIJING, AMPT and EPOS–LHC predictions, and are further discussed in the context of the possible production of disoriented chiral condensates in central Pb – Pb collisions.