The RHIC Beam Energy Scan Program: Results from the PHENIX Experiment

TL;DR

The PHENIX experiment at RHIC conducted a beam energy scan to find signs of the QCD critical point and deconfinement, analyzing various fluctuation measures, but found no significant evidence of the critical point.

Contribution

First comprehensive measurement of fluctuation observables across multiple energies in the RHIC beam energy scan.

Findings

No significant signals of the QCD critical point detected.

Transverse energy and multiplicity fluctuations consistent with non-critical behavior.

Skewness and kurtosis measurements do not indicate critical phenomena.

Abstract

The PHENIX Experiment at RHIC has conducted a beam energy scan at several collision energies in order to search for signatures of the QCD critical point and the onset of deconfinement. PHENIX has conducted measurements of transverse energy production, muliplicity fluctuations, and the skewness and kurtosis of net charge distributions. The data analyzed to date show no significant indications of the presence of the critical point.