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Signatures of the Tricritical Point in QCD

M. Stephanov, K. Rajagopal, and E. Shuryak
Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 4816 – Published 30 November 1998
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Abstract

Several approaches to QCD with two massless quarks at finite temperature T and baryon chemical potential μ suggest the existence of a tricritical point on the boundary of the phase with spontaneously broken chiral symmetry. In QCD with massive quarks there is then a critical point at the end of a first order transition line. We discuss possible experimental signatures of this point, which provide information about its location and properties. We propose a combination of event-by-event observables, including suppressed fluctuations in T and μ and, simultaneously, enhanced fluctuations in the multiplicity of soft pions.

  • Received 2 June 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.4816

©1998 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

M. Stephanov1, K. Rajagopal2, and E. Shuryak3

  • 1Institute for Theoretical Physics, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794-3840
  • 2Center for Theoretical Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
  • 3Department of Physics and Astronomy, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794-3800

See Also

The Boiling Point of Quarks

Meher Antia
Phys. Rev. Focus 2, 29 (1998)

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Issue

Vol. 81, Iss. 22 — 30 November 1998

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