Existence of the QCD critical point at low density and high temperature

Determine whether quantum chromodynamics exhibits a critical point in its temperature–baryon‑density phase diagram at low density and high temperature, and if so, locate it using theoretical (e.g., lattice QCD and effective models) and experimental (e.g., heavy‑ion collisions) evidence.

Background

QCD is expected to exhibit rich phase behavior, including confinement–deconfinement transitions and possible color superconductivity. The presence of a critical endpoint in the phase diagram remains a central question.

Establishing or excluding the critical point has significant implications for interpreting results from relativistic heavy‑ion experiments and for understanding matter under extreme conditions.