Numerical study of the equation of state for two flavor QCD at finite density

Abstract

We discuss the equation of state for 2 flavor QCD at non-zero temperature and density. Derivatives of $\ln Z$ with respect to quark chemical potential ${\mu }_q$ up to fourth order are calculated, enabling estimates of the pressure, quark number density and associated susceptibilities as functions of ${\mu }_q$ via a Taylor series expansion. It is found that the fluctuations in the quark number density increase in the vicinity of the phase transition temperature and the susceptibilities start to develop a pronounced peak as ${\mu }_q$ is increased. This suggests the presence of a critical endpoint in the $(T,{\mu }_q)$ plane.

arXiv comment5 pages, 4 figures, Talk at Confinement 2003