Thermal Conductivity and Chiral Critical Point in Heavy Ion Collisions

Abstract

Background: Quantum Chromodynamics is expected to have a phase transition in the same static universality class as the 3D Ising model and the liquid-gas phase transition. The properties of the equation of state, the transport coefficients, and especially the location of the critical point are under intense theoretical investigation. Some experiments are underway, and many more are planned, at high energy heavy ion accelerators. Purpose: Develop a model of the thermal conductivity, which diverges at the critical point, and use it to study the impact of hydrodynamic fluctuations on observables in high energy heavy ion collisions. Methods: We apply mode coupling theory, together with a previously developed model of the free energy that incorporates the critical exponents and amplitudes, to construct a model of the thermal conductivity in the vicinity of the critical point. The effect of the thermal conductivity on correlation functions in heavy ion collisions is studied in a boost invariant hydrodynamic model via fluctuations, or noise. Results: We find that the closer a thermodynamic trajectory comes to the critical point the greater is the magnitude of the fluctuations in thermodynamic variables and in the 2-particle correlation functions in momentum space. Conclusions: It may be possible to discern the existence of a critical point, its location, and thermodynamic and transport properties near to it in heavy ion collisions using the methods developed here.

36 pages, 8 figures. Version published in Phys.Rev.C86, 054911 (2012). It contains some minor improvements with respect to v1: further clarifications, small changes on figures and two extra references

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• Transport coefficients of the quark-gluon plasma at the critical point and across the first-order line
• Causal Baryon Diffusion and Colored Noise
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• Dynamical exploring the QCD matter at finite temperatures and densities-a short review
• Causal Electric Charge Diffusion and Balance Functions in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions
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• Thermal transport in a weakly magnetized hot QCD medium
• Dynamics of critical fluctuations: Theory -- phenomenology -- heavy-ion collisions
• Thermoelectric response of a weakly magnetized thermal QCD medium
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• Role of slow, out-of-equilibrium modes on the dynamic structure factor near the QCD critical point
• Correlation of density fluctuation in a magnetized QCD matter near the critical end point
• Covariant formulation of spinodal decomposition in rapidly expanding quark gluon plasma
• Fluctuations in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions
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• Thermoelectric transport coefficients of quark matter
• Transport coefficients of the quark-gluon plasma in ultrarelativistic limit