Clan structure analysis and QCD parton showers in multiparticle dynamics. An intriguing dialog between theory and experiment

This paper contains a review of the main results of a search of regularities in collective variables properties in multiparticle dynamics, regularities which can be considered as manifestations of the original simplicity suggested by QCD. The method is based on a continuous dialog between experiment and theory. The paper follows the development of this research line, from its beginnings in the seventies to the current state of the art, discussing how it produced both sound interpretations of the most relevant experimental facts and intriguing perspectives for new physics signals in the TeV energy domain.