Related papers: Revisiting the first-order QCD phase transition in…
In these lectures we provide an introduction to the phase structure of QCD. We begin with a brief discussion of QCD, the symmetries of QCD, and what we mean by a ``phase of QCD''. In the main part of the lectures we discuss the phase…
The phase structure of QCD remains an open fundamental problem of standard model physics. In particular at finite density, our knowledge is limited. Yet, numerous model studies point towards a rich and complex phase diagram at large…
We review recent results on the phase structure of QCD and bulk QCD thermodynamics. In particular we discuss how universal critical scaling related to spontaneous breaking of the chiral symmetry manifests itself in recent lattice QCD…
This contribution presents a brief summary of the recent past efforts to experimentally explore the QCD phase diagram at high baryon chemical potentials through heavy-ion collisions. A few measurements are highlighted to present the current…
Based on an effective QCD Lagrangian we discuss the properties of charge density fluctuations in the vicinity of chiral phase transition. We explore thermodynamics in the presence of spinodal phase separation. We show that appearance of…
The sensing of external fields using quantum systems is a prime example of an emergent quantum technology. Generically, the sensitivity of a quantum sensor consisting of $N$ independent particles is proportional to $\sqrt{N}$. However,…
The phase diagram for quark matter is investigated within a simple Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model without vector correlations. It is found that the phase structure in the temperature-density plane depends sensitively on the parametrization of the…
In this talk I discuss three main topics concerning the theoretical description and observable signatures of possible phase transitions in nuclear collisions. The first one is related to the multifragmentation of thermalized sources and its…
We study 3+1 dimensional $SU(N)$ Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) with $N_f$ degenerate quarks that have a spatially varying complex mass. It leads to a network of interfaces connected by interface junctions. We use anomaly inflow to constrain…
Using lattice simulations, we show that there is a phase of thermal QCD, where the spectral density $\rho(\lambda)$ of Dirac operator changes as $1/\lambda$ for the infrared eigenvalues $\lambda<T$. This behavior persists over the entire…
We explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter as a function of temperature and baryon number density, using a class of models for two-flavor QCD in which the interaction between quarks is modelled by that induced by…
We study the quark mass dependence of the finite temperature QCD phase transition in the heavy quark region using an effective potential defined through the probability distribution function of the average plaquette. Performing a simulation…
A first order phase transition leading to deconfinement and chiral restoration is a likely possibility for QCD, at least in some region of the temperature-density plane. A signal for a unique transition is that the order parameters for such…
The dynamics of weak vs. strong first order phase transitions is investigated numerically for 2+1 dimensional scalar field models. It is argued that the change from a weak to a strong transition is itself a (second order) phase transition,…
In framework of linear $\sigma$-model (LSM) with three quark flavors, the chiral phase-diagram at finite temperature and density is investigated. At temperatures higher than the critical temperature ($ T_c $), we added to LSM the gluonic…
Quantum chromodynamics predicts that the interaction between its fundamental constituents, quarks and gluons, can lead to different states of strongly interacting matter, dependent on its temperature and baryon density. We first survey the…
We study the phase structure and phase transition of cold dense QCD matter via the Dyson-Schwinger equation approach. We take the rainbow approximation and the Gaussian-type gluon model. In order to guarantee that the quark number density…
Supplementing the holographic Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton model of [O. DeWolfe, S.S. Gubser, C. Rosen, Phys. Rev. D83 (2011) 086005; O. DeWolfe, S.S. Gubser, C. Rosen, Phys. Rev. D84 (2011) 126014] by input of lattice QCD data for 2+1 flavors…
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 QCD phase diagram at finite temperature and density has attracted considerable interest over many decades now, not least because of its relevance for a better understanding of heavy-ion collision experiments. Models provide some insight…