Work

Locating the QCD critical point through contours of constant entropy density

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: We propose a new method to investigate the existence and location of the conjectured high-temperature critical point of strongly interacting matter via contours of constant entropy density. By approximating these lines as a power series in the baryon chemical potential μ B , one can extrapolate them from first-principle results at zero net-baryon density, and use them to locate the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) critical point, including the associated first-order and spinodal lines. As a proof of principle, we employ currently available continuum-extrapolated lattice data from the Wuppertal-Budapest collaboration to find a critical point at a temperature and a baryon chemical potential of T c = 114.3 ± 6.9 MeV and μ B , c = 602.1 ± 62.1 MeV, respectively, at expansion order O ( μ B 2 ) . We advocate for a more precise determination of the required expansion coefficients via lattice QCD simulations as a means of pinpointing the location of the critical endpoint in the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter.

Source: Physical Review C

DOI: 10.1103/cbwj-4jfl

Authors: Hitansh Shah, Mauricio Hippert, Jorge Noronha, Claudia Ratti, Volodymyr Vovchenko

Institutions: University of Houston, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Language: English

Topic: High-Energy Particle Collisions Research

Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Nuclear Physics