Hyperorder net baryon number fluctuations in nuclear matter at low temperature

Abstract

We calculate the density fluctuations of net baryon number up to sixth order induced by the interactions of nuclear matter, and explore their relationship with the nuclear liquid-gas phase transition (LGPT), including the stable and metastable phase as well as the region far from the phase transition. The results show that dramatic density fluctuations exist in the vicinity of LGPT, and the hyperorder density fluctuations are more sensitive than the lower order ones to the interactions and structural properties of nuclear matter. The study also indicates that, even far away from the critical region of LGPT, the hadronic interactions can still lead to significant hyperorder density fluctuations. In combination with the chemical freeze-out line fitted from the experimental data, the derived results can be referred to investigate the chiral phase transition, nuclear LGPT, as well as the analysis of related experimental signals.