Quark

Mathematical physics

Discrete mathematics

Lattice QCD

Particle physics

Vertex (graph theory)

Critical point (mathematics)

Gluon

Acoustics

Quark–gluon plasma

Lattice (music)

Physics

Graph

QCD vacuum

Mathematics

Flavour

Mathematical analysis

Propagator

Combinatorics

Quantum chromodynamics

Physics Letters B

We map out the QCD phase structure at finite temperature and chemical potential for 2-flavour and 2+1-flavour QCD. This is done within a generalised functional approach to QCD put forward in [1]. Specifically we compute the quark propagator and the finite-temperature and density fluctuations of the gluon propagator and the quark-gluon vertex on the basis of precision data for vacuum correlation functions. The novel ingredient is the direct self-consistent computation of the DSEs for the three dominant dressings of the quark-gluon vertex, in contrast to the common use of STI-inspired vertices. For small densities the results for the chiral order parameter agree with the respective lattice and functional renormalisation group results, for large densities the present results are in a quantitative agreement with the latter, including the location of the critical end point.

Chiral phase structure and critical end point in QCD