Calculating QCD Phase Diagram Trajectories of Nuclear Collisions using a Semi-analytical Model

Abstract

At low to moderate collision energies where the parton formation time τF is not small compared to the nuclear crossing time, the finite nuclear thickness significantly affects the energy density ϵ(t) and net conserved-charge densities such as the net-baryon density nB(t) produced in heavy ion collisions. As a result, at low to moderate energies the trajectory in the QCD phase diagram is also affected by the finite nuclear thickness. Here, we first discuss our semi-analytical model and its results on ϵ(f), nR(t), nQ(t), and ns(t) in central Au+Au collisions. We then compare the T(t), μB(t), μQ(t), and μS(t) extracted with the ideal gas equation of state (EoS) with quantum statistics to those extracted with a lattice QCD-based EoS. We also compare the T-μB trajectories with the RHIC chemical freezeout data. Finally, we discuss the effect of transverse flow on the trajectories.