English

NA61/SHINE results on search for critical point

Nuclear Experiment 2026-05-15 v1 High Energy Physics - Experiment Nuclear Theory

Abstract

The NA61/SHINE experiment at the CERN SPS is a multipurpose fixed-target spectrometer for charged and neutral hadron measurements. Its research program includes studies of strong interactions as well as reference measurements for neutrino and cosmic-ray physics. One major goal of its strong interaction program is to determine the existence and pinpoint the location of the QCD critical point, an object of both experimental and theoretical studies. This contribution will summarize the current status of NA61/SHINE critical point searches in nucleus-nucleus collisions, in the collision energy range sNN=517\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 5-17~GeV. The review includes studies of fluctuations of net-electric charge, femtoscopy analysis of ππ\pi-\pi pairs, as well as intermittency of protons and negatively charged hadrons. No clear indication of the critical point has been observed so far. Finally, we report on the development of novel methods aimed at solving the long-standing problem of bin-by-bin correlations in experimental intermittency analysis, and for a more accurate handling of systematics and uncertainties.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2605.14737,
  title  = {NA61/SHINE results on search for critical point},
  author = {Nikolaos Davis},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.14737},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

Presented at XXXII Cracow Epiphany Conference on the recent results from Heavy Ion Physics, 12-16 Jan 2026, IFJ PAN, Krak\'ow, Poland; for the NA61/SHINE Collaboration; 8 pages, 5 figures