Probing the QGP Phase Boundary with Thermal Properties of $\phi$ Mesons

TL;DR

This paper investigates the QCD phase boundary by analyzing the thermal properties of  mesons produced in nuclear collisions across different energies, comparing experimental data with thermodynamic and lattice QCD predictions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to probe the QCD phase boundary using  meson data and identifies signatures of a first-order phase transition.

Findings

Evidence of a first-order phase transition at SPS energies.

Mixed phase with energy density between 1 and 3.2 GeV/fm3.

Consistency with thermodynamic and lattice QCD expectations.

Abstract

A novel attempt has been made to probe the QCD phase boundary by using the experimental data for transverse momenta of {\phi} mesons produced in nuclear collisions at AGS, SPS and RHIC energies. The data are confronted with simple thermodynamic expectations and lattice QCD results. The experimental data indicate a first-order phase transition, with a mixed phase stretching the energy density between \sim1 and 3.2 GeV/fm3 corresponding to SPS energies.