Signals for the QCD phase transition and critical point in a Langevin dynamical model

Abstract

The search for the critical point is one of the central issues that will be investigated in the upcoming FAIR project. For a profound theoretical understanding of the expected signals we go beyond thermodynamic studies and present a fully dynamical model for the chiral and deconfinement phase transition in heavy ion collisions. The corresponding order parameters are propagated by Langevin equations of motions on a thermal background provided by a fluid dynamically expanding plasma of quarks. By that we are able to describe nonequilibrium effects occurring during the rapid expansion of a hot fireball. For an evolution through the phase transition the formation of a supercooled phase and its subsequent decay crucially influence the trajectories in the phase diagram and lead to a significant reheating of the quark medium at highest baryon densities. Furthermore, we find inhomogeneous structures with high density domains along the first order transition line within single events.