Pion Fluctuations near the QCD Critical Point

Antoniou, N. G.; Contoyiannis, Y. F.; Diakonos, F. K.

Pion Fluctuations near the QCD Critical Point

Authors

Antoniou, N. G.

Contoyiannis, Y. F.

Diakonos, F. K.

Description

A critical point of second order, belonging to the universality class of the 3d Ising model, has recently been advocated as a strong candidate for the critical behaviour (at high temperatures) of QCD with non-zero quark masses. The implications of this conjecture are investigated in the multiparticle environment of high-energy collisions. A universal intermittency pattern of pion-density fluctuations is found, at the critical point, and its association to the critical exponents is discussed. A Monte Carlo simulation of critical events, in heavy-ion collisions, reveals the detailed structure of these fluctuations, suggesting a framework of (event-by-event) measurements in which the critical theory of QCD may become falsifiable.
8 pages, 3 figures (ps)