QCD Critical Point: Synergy of Lattice & Experiments

TL;DR

This paper combines lattice QCD calculations and experimental data to predict the behavior of baryon number fluctuations across energies, aiming to identify signs of the QCD critical point.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach using Pade resummations of lattice QCD results to connect fluctuations with experimental energy scans for critical point detection.

Findings

Predicted smooth behavior of fluctuation ratios at RHIC and LHC energies.

Deviations from predictions at RHIC could indicate a critical point.

Lattice results suggest the presence of a critical point nearby.

Abstract

The freeze-out curve, which describes a vast amount of precise experimental data in heavy ion collisions, provides a relation between the colliding energy and the thermodynamical parameters of the fireball. The variance, skew and kurtosis of the event distribution of baryon number are studied at several energies of interest through Pade resummations of our Lattice QCD results. A smooth behaviour is predicted for three ratios of these quantities at current RHIC and future LHC energies. Any deviations from these at the RHIC energy scan would signal the presence of a nearby critical point. Our lattice results on the critical point do show such a behaviour.