We compare recent lattice QCD calculations of higher order cumulants of net-strangeness fluctuations with hadron resonance gas (HRG) model calculations. Up to the QCD transition temperature Tc=( 154 +/- 9) MeV we find good agreement between QCD and H
RG model calculations of second and fourth order cumulants, even when subtle aspects of net-baryon number, strangeness and electric charge fluctuations are probed. In particular, the fourth order cumulants indicate that also in the strangeness sector of QCD the failure of HRG model calculations sets in quite abruptly in the vicinity of the QCD transition temperature and is apparent in most observables for T > 160 MeV.
Higher order moments of net conserved charge fluctuations, in particular net baryon number and net electric charge, are sensitive thermodynamic observables that respond strongly to critical behavior in strong interaction matter. In order to use them
also as a sensible probe to detect critical behavior in heavy ion experiments we not only need to better understand the relation between chemical freeze-out in heavy ion collision and the QCD phase boundary, we also need to verify that charge fluctuations measured experimentally indeed correspond to thermal conditions as described by equilibrium QCD. This requires a model independent characterization of thermal conditions for which cumulants of conserved charge fluctuations themselves are ideally suited.
We present a determination of chemical freeze-out conditions in heavy ion collisions based on ratios of cumulants of net electric charge fluctuations. These ratios can reliably be calculated in lattice QCD for a wide range of chemical potential value
s by using a next-to-leading order Taylor series expansion around the limit of vanishing baryon, electric charge and strangeness chemical potentials. From a computation of up to fourth order cumulants and charge correlations we first determine the strangeness and electric charge chemical potentials that characterize freeze-out conditions in a heavy ion collision and confirm that in the temperature range 150 MeV < T < 170 MeV the hadron resonance gas model provides good approximations for these parameters that agree with QCD calculations on the (5-15)% level. We then show that a comparison of lattice QCD results for ratios of up to third order cumulants of electric charge fluctuations with experimental results allows to extract the freeze-out baryon chemical potential and the freeze-out temperature.
We calculate the quadratic fluctuations of net baryon number, electric charge and strangeness as well as correlations among these conserved charges in (2+1)-flavor lattice QCD at zero chemical potential. Results are obtained using calculations with t
ree level improved gauge and the highly improved staggered quark (HISQ) actions with almost physical light and strange quark masses at three different values of the lattice cut-off. Our choice of parameters corresponds to a value of 160 MeV for the lightest pseudo scalar Goldstone mass and a physical value of the kaon mass. The three diagonal charge susceptibilities and the correlations among conserved charges have been extrapolated to the continuum limit in the temperature interval 150 MeV <T < 250 MeV. We compare our results with the hadron resonance gas (HRG) model calculations and find agreement with HRG model results only for temperatures T<= 150 MeV. We observe significant deviations in the temperature range 160 MeV < T < 170 MeV and qualitative differences in the behavior of the three conserved charge sectors. At T < 160 MeV quadratic net baryon number fluctuations in QCD agree with HRG model calculations while, the net electric charge fluctuations in QCD are about 10% smaller and net strangeness fluctuations are about 20% larger. These findings are relevant to the discussion of freeze-out conditions in relativistic heavy ion collisions.
We compute net-proton probability distributions in heavy ion collisions within the hadron resonance gas model. The model results are compared with data taken by the STAR Collaboration in Au-Au collisions at sqrt(s_{NN})= 200 GeV for different central
ities. We show that in peripheral Au-Au collisions the measured distributions, and the resulting first four moments of net-proton fluctuations, are consistent with results obtained from the hadron resonance gas model. However, data taken in central Au-Au collisions differ from the predictions of the model. The observed deviations can not be attributed to uncertainties in model parameters. We discuss possible interpretations of the observed deviations.
We discuss the relevance of higher order moments of net baryon number fluctuations for the analysis of freeze-out and critical conditions in heavy ion collisions at LHC and RHIC. Using properties of O(4) scaling functions, we discuss the generic stru
cture of these higher moments at vanishing baryon chemical potential and apply chiral model calculations to explore their properties at non-zero baryon chemical potential. We show that the ratios of the sixth to second and eighth to second order moments of the net baryon number fluctuations change rapidly in the transition region of the QCD phase diagram. Already at vanishing baryon chemical potential they deviate considerably from the predictions of the hadron resonance gas model which reproduce the second to fourth order moments of the net proton number fluctuations at RHIC. We point out that the sixth order moments of baryon number and electric charge fluctuations remain negative at the chiral transition temperature. Thus, they offer the possibility to probe the proximity of the thermal freeze-out to the crossover line.
We calculate the equation of state in 2+1 flavor QCD at finite temperature with physical strange quark mass and almost physical light quark masses using lattices with temporal extent Nt=8. Calculations have been performed with two different improved
staggered fermion actions, the asqtad and p4 actions. Overall, we find good agreement between results obtained with these two O(a^2) improved staggered fermion discretization schemes. A comparison with earlier calculations on coarser lattices is performed to quantify systematic errors in current studies of the equation of state. We also present results for observables that are sensitive to deconfining and chiral aspects of the QCD transition on Nt=6 and 8 lattices. We find that deconfinement and chiral symmetry restoration happen in the same narrow temperature interval. In an Appendix we present a simple parametrization of the equation of state that can easily be used in hydrodynamic model calculations. In this parametrization we also incorporated an estimate of current uncertainties in the lattice calculations which arise from cutoff and quark mass effects. We estimate these systematic effects to be about 10 MeV
