Third moments of conserved charges as probes of QCD phase structure

TL;DR

This paper explores how third moments of conserved charges like baryon number and electric charge can serve as sensitive probes of the QCD phase boundary, providing detailed insights into the state of matter in heavy ion collisions.

Contribution

It introduces the use of third moments of conserved charges and their signs as novel indicators for the QCD phase structure, demonstrated through an effective model.

Findings

Third moments carry more information than previous fluctuation observables.

Signs of third moments indicate the location of the state in the QCD phase diagram.

Effective model confirms the sensitivity of third moments to phase boundary features.

Abstract

The third moments of conserved charges, the baryon and electric charge numbers, and energy, as well as their mixed moments, carry more information on the state around the QCD phase boundary than previously proposed fluctuation observables and higher order moments. In particular, their signs give plenty of information on the location of the state created in relativistic heavy ion collisions in the temperature and baryon chemical potential plane. We demonstrate this with an effective model.