Studying the QCD phase diagram using pressure derivatives from lattice QCD

TL;DR

This paper reviews how derivatives of lattice QCD pressure are used to explore the QCD phase diagram, focusing on phase transitions, crossover behavior, and the critical endpoint at physical quark masses.

Contribution

It demonstrates the application of pressure derivatives to probe QCD phase transitions and the critical endpoint using lattice QCD data at physical quark masses.

Findings

Behavior of energy-like observables near the chiral transition

Features of the chiral crossover at different chemical potentials

Relevance of pressure Taylor expansion convergence for the critical endpoint

Abstract

We summarize the application of derivatives of the QCD pressure, calculated within the framework of lattice QCD, in constructing observables that probe aspects of the QCD phase diagram at physical quark masses. We outline how the behavior of energy-like and magnetization-like observables at physical quark masses is influenced by the $(2+1)$-flavor chiral phase transition. We describe features of the chiral crossover at vanishing and non-vanishing chemical potentials and discuss deconfinement at zero chemical potential. We address the relevance of the convergence properties of the Taylor expansion of the QCD pressure in the search for the QCD critical endpoint.