Locating the QCD critical point through contours of constant entropy density

Abstract

We propose a new method to investigate the existence and location of the conjectured high-temperature critical point of strongly interacting matter via contours of constant entropy density. By approximating these lines as a power series in the baryon chemical potential ${\mu }_B$, one can extrapolate them from first-principle results at zero net-baryon density, and use them to locate the QCD critical point, including the associated first-order and spinodal lines. As a proof of principle, we employ currently available continuum-extrapolated first-principle results from the Wuppertal--Budapest collaboration to find a critical point at a temperature and a baryon chemical potential of $T_c=114.3\pm 6.9$ MeV and ${\mu }_{B,c}=602.1\pm 62.1$ MeV, respectively. We advocate for a more precise determination of the required expansion coefficients via lattice QCD simulations as a means of pinpointing the location of the critical endpoint in the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter.

7 pages, 3 figures + supplemental material

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Cited by in corpus (2)

• Lattice-based equation of state with a critical point from constant entropy contours and its comparison to effective QCD approaches
• Non-Monotonicity of $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ Correlations in Au + Au Collisions at RHIC