Abstract
We present results for the ratios of mean (), variance (), skewness () and kurtosis () of net baryon-number fluctuations obtained in lattice QCD calculations with physical values of light and strange quark masses. Using next-to-leading order Taylor expansions in baryon chemical potential we find that qualitative features of these ratios closely resemble the corresponding experimentally measured cumulant ratios of net proton-number fluctuations for beam energies down to . We show that the difference in cumulant ratios for the mean net baryon-number, , and the normalized skewness, , naturally arises in QCD thermodynamics. Moreover, we establish a close relation between skewness and kurtosis ratios, and , valid at small values of the baryon chemical potential.
- Received 20 August 2017
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.96.074510
© 2017 American Physical Society