Abstract
We study the effect of the QCD critical point on non-Gaussian moments (cumulants) of fluctuations of experimental observables in heavy-ion collisions. We find that these moments are very sensitive to the proximity of the critical point, as measured by the magnitude of the correlation length . For example, the cubic central moment of multiplicity and the quartic cumulant . We estimate the magnitude of critical point contributions to non-Gaussian fluctuations of pion and proton multiplicities.
- Received 30 September 2008
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.032301
©2009 American Physical Society
Viewpoint
Finding the critical point in quark-gluon plasma
Published 20 January 2009
The critical point is one of the main features of the phase diagram of strongly interacting quark-gluon matter. Finding this critical point in the lab will require luck and an understanding of the possible experimental signatures.
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