Multiplicity distributions in gravitational and strong interactions

The multiplicity distributions produced by the variation of time-dependent gravitational fields in a conformally flat background geometry belong to the same class of infinitely divisible distributions found, for fixed center of mass energies and symmetric (pseudo)rapidity intervals, in charged multiplicities produced in pp, pp¯ and in heavy ion collisions. Apparently unrelated multiplicity distributions are classified in terms of the (positive) discrete representations of the SU(1,1) group. The gravitational analogy suggests a global high-energy asymptote for the distributions measured in pp and pp¯ collisions. Second-order cross correlations between positively and negatively charged distributions represent a relevant diagnostic for a closer scrutiny of the multiparticle final state.