Higher-order Proton Cumulants in Au+Au Collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 3 GeV from RHIC-STAR

Abstract

In these proceedings, we present the higher-order cumulants of proton multiplicity distributions of the fixed-target (FXT) run in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 3.0 GeV. The cumulant ratios are presented as a function of centrality and collision energy. The proton cumulant ratio C4/C2 is consistent with fluctuations driven by baryon number conservation and indicates an energy regime dominated by hadronic interactions. These data imply that the QCD critical point could exist at energies higher than 3 GeV if created in heavy-ion collisions.

3 figures; Presented at Quark Matter 2022, Karkow, Poland, April 4-10, 2022