The baryon number fluctuation $\kappa\sigma^2$ as a probe of nuclear matter phase transition at high baryon density

Abstract

Two critical end points (CEPs) of the chiral phase transition and the nuclear liquid-gas phase transition show up at finite baryon chemical potential. The kurtosis $\kappa\sigma^2$ of baryon number fluctuation on the $T-\mu_B$ plane is positive on the first-order side and negative on the crossover side along the phase boundary. The freeze-out line extracted from the heavy ion collisions crosses between these two phase boundaries, one can observe a peak of $\kappa\sigma^2$ around the collision energy $5 {\rm GeV}$ near the CEP of the chiral phase transition, and negative $\kappa\sigma^2$ at low collision energies due to the CEP of the nuclear liquid-gas phase transition. This expalains the experimental measurement of $\kappa\sigma^2$ at the collision energies of 2.4 GeV at HADES and 3 GeV and 7.7-200 GeV at STAR for most central collision. Thus we propose that the baryon number fluctuation $\kappa\sigma^2$ can be used as a probe of nuclear matter phase structure at high baryon density.