The QCD Equation of State with Thermal Properties of $\phi$ mesons

TL;DR

This paper estimates the QCD Equation of State by analyzing $$ meson data from nuclear collisions across different energies, suggesting a first-order phase transition with a mixed phase.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to extract the QCD EoS from experimental $$ meson data and compares it with thermodynamic and lattice models.

Findings

Evidence of a first-order phase transition in QCD.

Identification of a mixed phase with specific energy density range.

Agreement with lattice QCD results.

Abstract

In this work a first attempt is made to extract the Equation of State (EoS) using experimental results of the $\phi$ meson produced in nuclear collisions at AGS, SPS and RHIC energies. The data are confronted to simple thermodynamic expectations and lattice results. The experimental data indicate a first order phase transition, with a mixed phase stretching energy density between $\sim$ 1 and 3.2 GeV/$fm^3$.