Observable Properties of Quark-Hadron Phase Transition at the Large Hadron Collider

TL;DR

This paper investigates the properties of the quark-hadron phase transition at the LHC using a simulation that models QCD confinement and thermal effects, analyzing pion fluctuations to compare with theoretical predictions.

Contribution

It introduces a simulation incorporating QCD confinement and thermalization effects, and analyzes pion fluctuation patterns to compare with theoretical models like Ginzburg-Landau and Ising.

Findings

Scaling index $ u$ close to Ginzburg-Landau prediction

Consistent erraticity indices $$ obtained through multiple methods

Significant differences observed between model and Ising model values

Abstract

Quark-hadron phase transition is simulated by an event generator that incorporates the dynamical properties of contraction due to QCD confinement forces and randomization due to the thermal behavior of a large quark system on the edge of hadronization. Fluctuations of emitted pions in the $(\eta,\phi)$ space are analyzed using normalized factorial moments in a wide range of bin sizes. The scaling index $\nu$ is found to be very close to the predicted value in the Ginzburg-Landau formalism. The erraticity indices $\mu_q$ are determined in a number of ways that lead to the same consistent values. They are compared to the values from the Ising model, showing significant difference in a transparent plot. Experimental determination of $\nu$ and $\mu_q$ at the LHC are now needed to check the reality of the theoretical study and to provide guidance for improving the model description of quark-hadron phase transition.