Evidence for divergent baryon-number susceptibility in QCD matter

TL;DR

This paper investigates baryon-number susceptibility in QCD matter, providing evidence for a critical point at specific chemical potential and temperature, based on systematic analysis of nuclear collision data.

Contribution

It presents experimental evidence for a QCD critical point through analysis of baryon-number susceptibility and its power-law behavior in nuclear collision data.

Findings

Power-law behavior of baryon-number susceptibility at SPS

Evidence for a QCD critical point at μ_B ≈ 214 MeV, T ≈ 155 MeV

Comparison of the equation of state with experimental freeze-out data

Abstract

The baryon-number density formed in relativistic nuclear collisions, versus the chemical potential of the freeze-out states, is systematically studied on the basis of existing measurements. A remarkable power-law behaviour of the baryon-number susceptibility is found at the SPS, consistent with the existence of a QCD critical point at $\mu_{B,c}\simeq 214$ MeV, $T_c\simeq 155$ MeV. The equation of state in different asymptotic regimes of the critical region is also examined and confronted with freeze-out states in these experiments.