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K. Redlich

Publications and source records attributed to K. Redlich.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Experimental exploration of the QCD phase diagram

The different phases of strongly interacting matter are governed by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). At high temperature and/or density a deconfined, chirally symmetric phase of quarks and gluons is expected to govern the nature of strongly interacting matter, the so-called quark-gluon plasma. Here we review what is known about the existence of this exotic form of matter from an experimental point of view and confront the results with QCD predictions based on 'Lattice QCD', where QCD is discretized on a space-time lattice and solved numerically in a Monte Carlo approach. The form of the presentation is explicitly pedagogical but the results include even very recent developments. Our research is based on the interpretation of hadron production data from relativistic nucleus--nucleus collisions over a wide energy range, with the aim to make progress in the understanding of the QCD phase, and of phenomena like deconfinement and hadronization.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2026

Statistical hadronization: successes and some open issues

Hadron production in relativistic nuclear collisions is well described in the framework of the statistical hadronization model, over a broad range of collision energies. We outline this for hadrons composed of light (u, d, s) and heavy (charm and beauty) quarks, discuss recent findings relevant for understanding the phase structure of QCD and formulate some open issues.

nucl-th↗
arXiv2017

Decoding the phase structure of QCD via particle production at high energy

Recent studies based on non-perturbative lattice Monte-Carlo solutions of Quantum Chromodynamics, the theory of strong interactions, demonstrated that at high temperature there is a phase change from confined hadronic matter to a deconfined quark-gluon plasma where quarks and gluons can travel distances largely exceeding the size of hadrons. The phase structure of such strongly interacting matter can be decoded via analysis of particle abundances in high energy nuclear collisions within the framework of the statistical hadronization approach. The results imply quark-hadron duality at and experimental delineation of the location of the phase boundary of strongly interacting matter.

nucl-th↗
arXiv2016

Hadron yields, the chemical freeze-out and the QCD phase diagram

We present the status of the chemical freeze-out, determined from fits of hadron yields with the statistical hadronization (thermal) model, with focus on the data at the LHC. A description of the yields of hadrons containing light quarks as well as the application of the model for the production of the J/$\psi$ meson is presented. The implications for the QCD phase diagram are discussed.

nucl-th↗
arXiv2016

Collisions of Small Nuclei in the Thermal Model

An analysis is presented of the expectations of the thermal model for particle production in collisions of small nuclei. The maxima observed in particle ratios of strange particles to pions as a function of beam energy in heavy ion collisions, are reduced when considering smaller nuclei. Of particular interest is the $\Lambda/\pi^+$ ratio shows the strongest maximum which survives even in collisions of small nuclei.

nucl-th↗
arXiv2016

Thermal Model Description of Collisions of Small Nuclei

The dependence of particle production on the size of the colliding nuclei is analysed in terms of the thermal model using the canonical ensemble. The concept of strangeness correlation in clusters of sub-volume $V_c$ is used to account for the suppression of strangeness. A systematic analysis is presented of the predictions of the thermal model for particle production in collisions of small nuclei. The pattern of the maxima of strange-particles-to-pion ratios as a function of beam energy is quite special, as they do not occur at the same beam energy and are sensitive to system size. In particular, the $\Lambda/\pi^+$ ratio shows a clear maximum even for small systems while the maximum in the K$^+/\pi^+$ ratio is less pronounced

hep-ph↗
arXiv2016

Confronting fluctuations of conserved charges in central nuclear collisions at the LHC with predictions from Lattice QCD

We construct net baryon number and strangeness susceptibilities as well as correlations between electric charge, strangeness and baryon number from experimental data on the particle production yields at midrapidity of the ALICE Collaboration at CERN. The data were taken in central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$~=~2.76~TeV and cover one unit of rapidity. We show that the resulting fluctuations and correlations are consistent with Lattice QCD results at the chiral crossover pseudocritical temperature $T_{c} \simeq$ 155 MeV. This agreement lends strong support to the assumption that the fireball created in these collisions is of thermal origin and exhibits characteristic properties expected in QCD at the transition from the quark gluon plasma to the hadronic phase. Since Lattice QCD calculations are performed at a baryochemical potential of $\mu_{B}$ = 0, the comparisons with LHC data are the most direct due to the vanishing baryon transport to midrapidity at these high energies.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2012

The statistical model in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC

We briefly review the predictions of the thermal model for hadron production in comparison to latest data from RHIC and extrapolate the calculations to LHC energy. Our main emphasis is to confront the model predictions with the recently released data from ALICE at the LHC. This comparison reveals an apparent anomaly for protons and anti-protons which we discuss briefly. We also demonstrate that our statistical hadronization predictions for J/$\psi$ production agree very well with the most recent LHC data, lending support to the picture in which there is complete charmonium melting in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) followed by statistical generation of J/$\psi$ mesons at the phase boundary.

nucl-th↗
arXiv2012

Volume fluctuations and higher order cumulants of the net baryon number

We consider the effect of volume fluctuations on cumulants of the net baryon number. Based on a general formalism, we derive universal expressions for the net baryon number cumulants in the presence of volume fluctuations with an arbitrary probability distribution. The relevance of these fluctuations for the baryon-number cumulants and in particular for the ratios of cumulants is assessed in the Polyakov loop extended quark-meson model within the functional renormalization group. We show that the baryon number cumulants are generally enhanced by volume fluctuations and that the critical behavior of higher order cumulants may be modified significantly.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

Net-charge probability distributions in heavy ion collisions at chemical freeze-out

We explore net charge probability distributions in heavy ion collisions within the hadron resonance gas model. The distributions for strangeness, electric charge and baryon number are derived. We show that, within this model, net charge probability distributions and the resulting fluctuations can be computed directly from the measured yields of charged and multi-charged hadrons. The influence of multi-charged particles and quantum statistics on the shape of the distribution is examined. We discuss the properties of the net proton distribution along the chemical freeze-out line. The model results presented here can be compared with data at RHIC energies and at the LHC to possibly search for the relation between chemical freeze-out and QCD cross-over lines in heavy ion collisions.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

Transport Coefficients in Gluodynamics: From Weak Coupling towards the Deconfinement Transition

We study the ratio of bulk to shear viscosity in gluodynamics within a phenomenological quasiparticle model. We show that at large temperatures this ratio exhibits a quadratic dependence on the conformality measure as known from weak coupling perturbative QCD. In the region of the deconfinement transition, however, this dependence becomes linear as known from specific strongly coupled theories. The onset of the strong coupling behavior is located near the maximum of the scaled interaction measure. This qualitative behavior of the viscosity ratio is rather insensitive to details of the equation of state.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

Chiral condensate and Mott-Anderson freeze-out

We present the idea of a Mott-Anderson freeze-out that suggests a key role of the localization of the hadron wave functions when traversing the hadronization transition. The extension of hadron wave functions in dense matter is governed by the behavior of the chiral quark condensate such that its melting at finite temperatures and chemical potentials entails an increase of the size of hadrons and thus their geometrical strong interaction cross sections. It is demonstrated within a schematic resonance gas model, that a kinetic freeze-out condition reveals a correlation with the reduction of the chiral condensate in the phase diagram up to 50 % of its vacuum value. Generalizing the description of the chiral condensate by taking into account a full hadron resonance gas such correlation gets distorted. We discuss, that this may be due to our approximations in calculating the chiral condensate which disregard both, in-medium effects on hadron masses and hadron-hadron interactions. The latter, in particular due to quark exchange reactions, could lead to a delocalization of the hadron wave functions in accordance with the picture of a Mott-Anderson transition.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

Shear and bulk viscosities of the gluon plasma in a quasiparticle description

Shear and bulk viscosities of deconfined gluonic matter are investigated within an effective kinetic theory by describing the strongly interacting medium phenomenologically in terms of quasiparticle excitations with medium-dependent self-energies. We show that the resulting transport coefficients reproduce the parametric dependencies on temperature and coupling obtained in perturbative QCD at large temperatures and small running coupling. The extrapolation into the non-perturbative regime results in a decreasing specific shear viscosity with decreasing temperature, exhibiting a minimum in the vicinity of the deconfinement transition, while the specific bulk viscosity is sizeable in this region falling off rapidly with increasing temperature. The temperature dependence of specific shear and bulk viscosities found within this quasiparticle description of the pure gluon plasma is in agreement with available lattice QCD results.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

Non-perturbative dynamics and charge fluctuations in effective chiral models

We discuss the properties of fluctuations of the electric charge in the vicinity of the chiral crossover transition within effective chiral models at finite temperature and vanishing net baryon density. The calculation includes non-perturbative dynamics implemented within the functional renormalization group approach. We study the temperature dependence of the electric charge susceptibilities in the linear sigma model and explore the role of quantum statistics. Within the Polyakov loop extended quark-meson model, we study the influence of the coupling of quarks to mesons and to an effective gluon field on charge fluctuations. We find a clear signal for the chiral crossover transition in the fluctuations of the electric charge. Accordingly, we stress the role of higher order cumulants as probes of criticality related to the restoration of chiral symmetry and deconfinement.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

Charge fluctuations in chiral models and the QCD phase transition

We consider the Polyakov loop-extended two flavor chiral quark--meson model and discuss critical phenomena related with the spontaneous breaking of the chiral symmetry. The model is explored beyond the mean-field approximation in the framework of the functional renormalisation group. We discuss properties of the net-quark number density fluctuations as well as their higher cumulants. We show that with the increasing net-quark number density, the higher order cumulants exhibit a strong sensitivity to the chiral crossover transition. We discuss their role as probes of the chiral phase transition in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LHC.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

Net-proton probability distribution in heavy ion collisions

We compute net-proton probability distributions in heavy ion collisions within the hadron resonance gas model. The model results are compared with data taken by the STAR Collaboration in Au-Au collisions at sqrt(s_{NN})= 200 GeV for different centralities. We show that in peripheral Au-Au collisions the measured distributions, and the resulting first four moments of net-proton fluctuations, are consistent with results obtained from the hadron resonance gas model. However, data taken in central Au-Au collisions differ from the predictions of the model. The observed deviations can not be attributed to uncertainties in model parameters. We discuss possible interpretations of the observed deviations.

hep-ph↗