Related papers: Critical Opalescence in Baryonic QCD Matter
The theory of second order phase transitions is one of the foundations of modern statistical mechanics and condensed matter theory. A central concept is the observable `order parameter', whose non-zero average value characterizes one or…
For large baryochemical potential, strongly interacting matter might undergo a first order phase transition at temperatures T ~ 100-200 MeV. Within standard cosmology, however, the chemical potential is assumed to be very small leading to a…
A quantum critical point arises at a continuous transformation between distinct phases of matter at zero temperature. Studies in antiferromagnetic heavy fermion materials have revealed that quantum criticality has several classes, with an…
We review the present status of the search for a phase transition and critical point as well as anomalous transport phenomena in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), with an emphasis on the Beam Energy Scan program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion…
The existence of the QCD critical point at non-zero baryon density is not only of great interest for experimental physics but also a challenge for the theory. We use lattice simulations based on the canonical ensemble method to explore the…
We use the linear sigma model coupled to quarks to explore the location of the phase transition lines in the QCD phase diagram from the point of view of chiral symmetry restoration at high temperature and baryon chemical potential. We…
We discuss deep inelastic scattering at low $x$ as a critical phenomenon in 2+1 space-time dimensions. QCD (SU2) near the light cone becomes a critical theory in the limit of $\lim x \to 0$ with a correlation mass $m(x) \propto x^{\nu/2}$.…
We show that critical systems of finite size develop a fractal structure in momentum space with anomalous dimension given in terms of the isotherm critical exponent delta of the corresponding infinite system. The associated power laws of…
We present evidence about a critical behavior of $4D$ compact QED (CQED) pure gauge theory. Regularizing the theory on lattices homotopic to a sphere, we present evidence for a critical, i.e. second order like behavior at the deconfinement…
The exploration of the QCD phase diagram particularly the search for a phase transition from hadronic to partonic degrees of freedom and possibly a critical endpoint, is one of the most challenging tasks in present heavy-ion physics. As…
Resonant light interacting with matter can support different phases of a polarizable medium, and optical bistability where two such phases coexist. Here we identify signatures of optical phase transitions and optical bistability mapped onto…
The recently discovered coexistence of multifragmentation and residue production for the same total transverse energy of light charged particles can be well reproduced in numerical simulations of the heavy ion reactions. A detailed analysis…
At the Mott transition of a quark/meson plasma, mesons become unbound. This leads to the effect of critical scattering, which is studied by investigating photon pair production due to the process $q\bar q\to\gamma\gamma$. This process can…
Quantum criticality is the intriguing possibility offered by the laws of quantum mechanics when the wave function of a many-particle physical system is forced to evolve continuously between two distinct, competing ground states. This…
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…
The existence and location of the QCD critical point is an object of both experimental and theoretical studies. The comprehensive data collected by NA61/SHINE during a two-dimensional scan in beam momentum (13A-150A GeV/c) and system size…
The ultimate aim of high energy heavy ion collisions is to study quark deconfinement and the quark-gluon plasma predicted by quantum chromodynamics. This requires the identification of observables calculable in QCD and measurable in heavy…
We introduce a first-order quantum-phase-transition model, which exhibits giant sensitivity $\chi \propto N^2$ at the critical point. Exploiting this effect, we propose a quantum critical detector (QCD) to amplify weak input signals. The…
We consider the "membrane in the middle" optomechanical model consisting of a laser pumped cavity which is divided in two by a flexible membrane that is partially transmissive to light and subject to radiation pressure. Steady state…
On the basis of exactly solvable models with the tricritical and critical endpoints I discuss the physical mechanism of endpoints formation which is similar to the usual liquids. It is demonstrated that the necessary condition for the…