Continuum-extrapolated high-order baryon fluctuations

Abstract

Fluctuations play a key role in the study of QCD phases. Lattice QCD is a valuable tool to calculate them, but going to high orders is challenging. Up to the fourth order, continuum results have been available since 2015. We present the first continuum results for sixth-order baryon fluctuations for temperatures between T=130 and 200 MeV and eighth order at T=145  MeV in a fixed volume. Comparison with earlier studies with imaginary chemical potential suggests that the volume effect is under control for T<145  MeV. Our results are in sharp contrast with well-known results in the literature obtained at finite lattice spacing. Published by the American Physical Society 2024