Sample to Sample Uctuations in Fragmentation and Agglomeration Processes

The uctuation dynamics in steady state fragmentation and aggregation processes is analyzed from a kinetic point of view. The uctuations n(x; t) in the number of particles of size between x and x + x, in a sample with average occupation number N(x), appear to behave like sums of uncorrelated events: < n(x; t) 2 >/ N(x). The implications of this fact for the applicability of a mean eld description, and possible relation with intermittency phenomena in three dimensional turbulence are discussed.