# High baryon densities achievable in the fragmentation regions at RHIC and LHC

## TL;DR

This paper predicts extremely high baryon densities and temperatures in the fragmentation regions at RHIC and LHC, suggesting conditions that could probe the QCD critical point.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel calculation of baryon densities and temperatures in fragmentation regions using the McLerran-Venugopalan model, highlighting potential QGP formation near the critical point.

## Key findings

- Baryon densities up to 3 baryons/fm$^3$ at RHIC
- Initial temperatures of 200-300 MeV
- Baryon chemical potentials around 1 GeV

## Abstract

We use the McLerran-Venugopalan model of the glasma energy-momentum tensor to compute the rapidity loss and excitation energy of the colliding nuclei in the fragmentation regions followed by a space-time picture to obtain their energy and baryon densities. At the top RHIC energy we find baryon densities up to 3 baryons/fm$^3$, which is 20 times that of atomic nuclei. Assuming the formation of quark-gluon plasma, we find initial temperatures of 200 to 300 MeV and baryon chemical potentials of order 1 GeV. Assuming a roughly adiabatic expansion it would imply trajectories in the $T-\mu$ plane which would straddle a possible critical point.