Precision Measurement of Net-Proton-Number Fluctuations in Au+Au Collisions at RHIC

doi:10.1103/9l69-2d7p

Precision Measurement of Net-Proton-Number Fluctuations in Au+Au Collisions at RHIC

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Abstract

We report precision measurements on cumulants (Cn) and factorial cumulants (κn) of (net) proton number distributions up to fourth order in Au+Au collisions over center-of-mass energies sNN=7.7-27 GeV from phase II of the Beam Energy Scan program at RHIC. (Anti)protons are selected at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) within a transverse momentum range of 0.4<pT<2.0 GeV/c. Relative to various noncritical-point model calculations and peripheral collision 70%-80% data, the net proton C4/C2 measurement in 0%-5% collisions shows a minimum around 19.6 GeV for significance of deviation at ∼2-5σ. A minimum in C4/C2 with respect to a noncritical baseline is expected to be a characteristic feature of the signature associated with a critical point in the QCD phase diagram. In addition, deviations from noncritical baselines around the same collision energy region are also seen in proton factorial cumulant ratios, especially in κ2/κ1 and κ3/κ1. Dynamical model calculations including a critical point are called for in order to understand these precision measurements.

Original language	English
Article number	142301
Journal	Physical Review Letters
Volume	135
Issue number	14
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/9l69-2d7p
State	Published - Oct 3 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 American Physical Society.

Funding

We thank the RHIC Operations Group and SDCC at BNL, the NERSC Center at LBNL, and the Open Science Grid consortium for providing resources and support. This work was supported in part by the Office of Nuclear Physics within the U.S. DOE Office of Science, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and the Chinese Ministry of Education, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Science, NSTC Taipei, the National Research Foundation of Korea, Czech Science Foundation and Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office, New National Excellency Programme of the Hungarian Ministry of Human Capacities, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India, the National Science Centre and WUT ID-UB of Poland, the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia, German Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung and Technologie (BMBF), Helmholtz Association, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).

Funders	Funder number
National Research Foundation of Korea
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association
Narodowe Centrum Nauki
Grantová Agentura České Republiky
National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
US DOE Office of Science
Emberi Eroforrások Minisztériuma
Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt
Qianjiang Talents Project of Science and Technology Department of Zhejiang Province
Nemzeti Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal
Changjiang Scholar Program of Chinese Ministry of Education
Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China
National Science and Technology Council
Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie
WUT ID-UB of Poland
Ministarstvo Obrazovanja, Znanosti i Sporta
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Institute for Nuclear Physics
Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a Tělovýchovy
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Physics and Astronomy

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10.1103/9l69-2d7p

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title = "Precision Measurement of Net-Proton-Number Fluctuations in Au+Au Collisions at RHIC",

abstract = "We report precision measurements on cumulants (Cn) and factorial cumulants (κn) of (net) proton number distributions up to fourth order in Au+Au collisions over center-of-mass energies sNN=7.7-27 GeV from phase II of the Beam Energy Scan program at RHIC. (Anti)protons are selected at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) within a transverse momentum range of 0.4",

author = "Aboona, \{B. E.\} and J. Adam and L. Adamczyk and I. Aggarwal and Aggarwal, \{M. M.\} and Z. Ahammed and Alshammri, \{A. K.\} and Aschenauer, \{E. C.\} and S. Aslam and J. Atchison and V. Bairathi and X. Bao and K. Barish and S. Behera and R. Bellwied and P. Bhagat and A. Bhasin and S. Bhatta and Bhosale, \{S. R.\} and J. Bielcik and J. Bielcikova and Brandenburg, \{J. D.\} and C. Broodo and Cai, \{X. Z.\} and H. Caines and S{\'a}nchez, \{M. Calder{\'o}n De La Barca\} and D. Cebra and J. Ceska and I. Chakaberia and P. Chaloupka and Chan, \{B. K.\} and Z. Chang and A. Chatterjee and D. Chen and J. Chen and Chen, \{J. H.\} and Q. Chen and Z. Chen and J. Cheng and Y. Cheng and W. Christie and X. Chu and S. Corey and Crawford, \{H. J.\} and M. Csan{\'a}d and G. Dale-Gau and A. Das and Deppner, \{I. M.\} and A. Deshpande and R. Fatemi",

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AU - Aggarwal, M. M.

AU - Ahammed, Z.

AU - Alshammri, A. K.

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AU - Atchison, J.

AU - Bairathi, V.

AU - Bao, X.

AU - Barish, K.

AU - Behera, S.

AU - Bellwied, R.

AU - Bhagat, P.

AU - Bhasin, A.

AU - Bhatta, S.

AU - Bhosale, S. R.

AU - Bielcik, J.

AU - Bielcikova, J.

AU - Brandenburg, J. D.

AU - Broodo, C.

AU - Cai, X. Z.

AU - Caines, H.

AU - Sánchez, M. Calderón De La Barca

AU - Cebra, D.

AU - Ceska, J.

AU - Chakaberia, I.

AU - Chaloupka, P.

AU - Chan, B. K.

AU - Chang, Z.

AU - Chatterjee, A.

AU - Chen, D.

AU - Chen, J.

AU - Chen, J. H.

AU - Chen, Q.

AU - Chen, Z.

AU - Cheng, J.

AU - Cheng, Y.

AU - Christie, W.

AU - Chu, X.

AU - Corey, S.

AU - Crawford, H. J.

AU - Csanád, M.

AU - Dale-Gau, G.

AU - Das, A.

AU - Deppner, I. M.

AU - Deshpande, A.

AU - Fatemi, R.

PY - 2025/10/3

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Precision Measurement of Net-Proton-Number Fluctuations in Au+Au Collisions at RHIC

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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