Percolation leads to finite-size effects on the transition temperature and center-of-mass energy required for quark-gluon plasma formation

Abstract

We investigate the finite-size effects on the transition temperature associated with the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) formation. From a percolation perspective, the onset of the QGP in high-energy collisions occurs when the spanning cluster of color strings emerges. The principal result presented here is the finite-size effects on the transition temperature expressed as a power law in terms of the nucleon number. We found that the transition temperature is higher for small systems than for large ones. It means that minimal triggering conditions events in pp collisions require about 20 times higher energies than AuAu-PbPb collisions. We also estimate the center-of-mass energy required for the QGP formation as a function of the nucleon number. Our results are consistent with the minimal center-of-mass energies at which the QGP has been observed.