Charge fluctuations in chiral models and the QCD phase transition

Skokov V, Friman B, Karsch F, Redlich K. Charge fluctuations in chiral models and the QCD phase transition. In: Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics. Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics. Vol 38. IOP Publishing; 2011.We consider the Polyakov loop-extended two flavor chiral quark--meson model and discuss critical phenomena related with the spontaneous breaking of the chiral symmetry. The model is explored beyond the mean-field approximation in the framework of the functional renormalisation group. We discuss properties of the net-quark number density fluctuations as well as their higher cumulants. We show that with the increasing net-quark number density, the higher order cumulants exhibit a strong sensitivity to the chiral crossover transition. We discuss their role as probes of the chiral phase transition in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LH