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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Probing QCD critical point and induced gravitational wave by black hole physics

Rong-Gen Cai2,3,*, Song He1,4,†, Li Li2,3,5,‡, and Yuan-Xu Wang1,§

  • 1Center for Theoretical Physics and College of Physics, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People’s Republic of China
  • 2CAS Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  • 3School of Fundamental Physics and Mathematical Sciences, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS, Hangzhou 310024, China
  • 4Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476 Golm, Germany
  • 5Peng Huanwu Collaborative Center for Research and Education, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China

  • *cairg@itp.ac.cn
  • †Corresponding author. hesong@jlu.edu.cn
  • ‡Corresponding author. liliphy@itp.ac.cn
  • §yuanxu20@mails.jlu.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. D 106, L121902 – Published 13 December, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.L121902

Abstract

Locating the critical endpoint of QCD and the region of a first-order phase transition at finite baryon chemical potential is an active research area for QCD matter. We provide a gravitational dual description of QCD matter at finite baryon chemical potential μB and finite temperature using the nonperturbative approach from gauge/gravity duality. After fixing all model parameters using state-of-the-art lattice QCD data at zero chemical potential, the predicted equations of state and QCD trace anomaly relation are in quantitative agreement with the latest lattice results. We then give the exact location of the critical endpoint as well as the first-order transition line, which is within the coverage of many upcoming experimental measurements. Moreover, using the data from our model at finite μB, we calculate the spectrum of the stochastic gravitational wave background associated with the first-order QCD transition in the early Universe, which could be observable via pulsar timing in the future.

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Phys. Rev. D 106, L121902– Published 13 December, 2022
  • Received 14 January 2022
  • Revised 26 September 2022
  • Accepted 22 November 2022
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