Issues with Search for Critical Point in QCD with Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

Abstract

A systematic search for a critical point in the phase diagram of QCD matter is underway at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and is planned at several future facilities. Its existence, if confirmed, and its location will greatly enhance our understanding of QCD. In this note we emphasize several important issues that are often not fully recognized in theoretical interpretations of experimental results relevant to the critical point search. We discuss ways in which our understanding on these issues can be improved.

The title has been changed. One reference has been added. Physical Review C in press

References in corpus (2)

• Dynamic universality class of the QCD critical point
• Skewness and kurtosis of net baryon-number distributions at small values of the baryon chemical potential

Cited by in corpus (12)

• Cumulants and Correlation Functions of Net-proton, Proton and Antiproton Multiplicity Distributions in Au+Au Collisions at energies available at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider
• A Study of the Properties of the QCD Phase Diagram in High-Energy Nuclear Collisions
• Proton number cumulants and correlation functions in Au-Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=7.7-200$ GeV from hydrodynamics
• Phase transitions and critical behavior in hadronic transport with a relativistic density functional equation of state
• Critical lensing and kurtosis near a critical point in the QCD phase diagram in and out-of-equilibrium
• Effects of QCD critical point on light nuclei production
• Enhanced yield ratio of light nuclei in heavy ion collisions with a first-order QCD phase transition
• Hydrodynamic description of the baryon-charged quark-gluon plasma
• Density Functional Equation of State and Its Application to the Phenomenology of Heavy-Ion Collisions
• Enhancement of photon emission rate near QCD critical point
• Coupled baryon, electric charge and strangeness fluctuations in heavy-ion collisions
• Ratio of baryon and electric-charge cumulants at second order with acceptance corrections