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Using the variational principle, we show that the condition of spatial collapse in a Bose gas is not determined by the value of the scattering length of the interaction potential between particles contrary to the result following from the Gross--Pitaevskii equation, where the collapse should take place at a negative scattering length., Comment: 3 pages, 1 Encapsulated PostScript figure, uses ujp.sty

We study an impact of asymmetric fermionic dark matter on neutron star properties, including tidal deformability, mass, radius, etc. We present the conditions at which dark matter particles tend to form a compact structure in a core of the star or create an extended halo around it. We show that compact core of dark matter leads to a decrease of the total gravitational mass and tidal deformability compared to a pure baryonic star, while presence of a dark matter halo increases those observable quantities. By imposing an existing astrophysical and gravitational wave constraints set by LIGO/Virgo Collaboration together with the recent results on the spatial distribution of dark matter in the Milky Way we determine a new upper limit on the mass and fraction of dark matter particles inside compact stars. Furthermore, we show that the formation of an extended halo around a NS is incompatible with the GW170817 tidal deformability constraint., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

We suggest to explore an entirely new method to experimentally and theoretically study the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter based on the triple nuclear collisions (TNC). We simulated the TNC using the UrQMD 3.4 model at the beam center-of-mass collision energies $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$ GeV and $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 2.76$ TeV. It is found that in the most central and simultaneous TNC the initial baryonic charge density is about 3 times higher than the one achieved in the usual binary nuclear collisions at the same energies. As a consequence, the production of protons and $\Lambda$-hyperons is increased by a factor of 2 and 1.5, respectively. Using the MIT Bag model equation we study the evolution of the central cell in TNC and demonstrate that for the top RHIC energy of collision the baryonic chemical potential is 2-2.5 times larger than the one achieved in the binary nuclear collision at the same type of reaction. Based on these estimates, we show that TNC offers an entirely new possibility to study the QCD phase diagram at very high baryonic charge densities., Comment: Summary of the talk given at the Online Conference "Strangeness in Quark Matter 2021"

On the basis of morphological thermodynamics we develop an exactly solvable version of statistical mutifragmentation model for the nuclear liquid-gas phase transition. It is shown that the hard-core repulsion between spherical nuclei generates only the bulk (volume), surface and curvature parts of the free energy of the nucleus, while the Gaussian curvature one does not appear in the derivation. The phase diagram of nuclear liquid-gas phase transition is studied for a truncated version of the developed model., Comment: Talk was given at XIX Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute Conference "Theoretical and Practical Problems of Physics, Mathematics and Informatics", May 13-14, 2021, Kyiv, Ukraine (6 pages, 2 figures)

An analytical formula that accurately accounts for the Lorentz contraction of the excluded volume of two relativistic hadrons with hard-core repulsion is worked out. Using the obtained expression we heuristically derive the equation of state of Boltzmann particles with relativistic excluded volumes in terms of system pressure and its surface and curvature tension coefficients. The behavior of effective excluded volumes of lightest baryons and mesons is studied at very high temperatures (particle number densities) and for very large values of degeneracy factors. Several parameterizations of the obtained equation of state demonstrate a universal asymptotics of the effective excluded volume at high particle number densities. It is peculiar, that the found maximal packing fraction $\eta \simeq 0.75$ of Lorentz contracted particles is very close to the dense packing limit of classical hard spheres of same radius $\eta_{exc} \approx 0.74$. We show that the developed equation of state is the grand canonical formulation of the morphological thermodynamics approach applied to Lorentz contracted rigid spheres., Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures

Here we develop an original approach to investigate the grand canonical partition function of the multicomponent mixtures of Boltzmann particles with hard-core interaction in finite and even small systems of the volumes above 20 fm$^3$. The derived expressions of the induced surface tension equation of state are analyzed in details. It is shown that the metastable states, which can emerge in the finite systems with realistic interaction, appear at very high pressures at which the hadron resonance gas, most probably, is not applicable at all. It is shown how and under what conditions the obtained results for finite systems can be generalized to include into a formalism the equation for curvature tension. The applicability range of the obtained equations of induced surface and curvature tensions for finite systems is discussed and their close relations to the equations of the morphological thermodynamics are established. The hadron resonance gas model on the basis of the obtained advanced equation of state is worked out. Also, this model is applied to analyze the chemical freeze-out of hadrons and light nuclei with the number of (anti-)baryons not exceeding 4, including the most problematic ratios of hyper-triton and its antiparticle. Their multiplicities were measured by the ALICE Collaboration in the central lead-lead collisions at the center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} =$ 2.76 TeV., Comment: 24 pages, 3 figures and 1 table

We present a summary of the recent results obtained with the novel hadron resonance gas model with the multicomponent hard-core repulsion which is extended to describe the mixtures of hadrons and light (anti-, hyper-)nuclei. A very accurate description is obtained for the hadronic and the light nuclei data measured by STAR at the collision energy $\sqrt{s_{NN}} =200$ GeV and by ALICE at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} =2.76$ TeV. The most striking result discussed here is that for the most probable chemical freeze-out scenario for the STAR energy the found parameters allow us to reproduce the values of the experimental ratios $S_3$ and $\overline{S}_3$ without fitting., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

The recently developed hadron resonance gas model with multicomponent hard-core repulsion is used to address and resolve the long standing problem to describe the light nuclear cluster multiplicities including the hyper-triton measured by the STAR Collaboration, known as the hyper-triton chemical freeze-out puzzle. An unprecedentedly accurate description is obtained for the hadronic and other light nuclear cluster data measured by STAR at the collision energy $\sqrt{s_{NN}} =200$ GeV and by ALICE at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} =2.76$ TeV. This success is achieved by applying the new strategy of analyzing the light nuclear cluster data and by using the value for the hard-core radius of the (anti-)$\Lambda$ hyperons found in earlier work. One of the most striking results of the present work is that for the most probable scenario of chemical freeze-out for the STAR energy the obtained parameters allow to simultaneously reproduce the values of the experimental ratios $S_3$ and $\bar{S}_3$ which were not included in the fit., Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures and 4 tables

Here we develop a new strategy to analyze the chemical freeze-out of light (anti)nuclei produced in high energy collisions of heavy atomic nuclei within an advanced version of the hadron resonance gas model. It is based on two different, but complementary approaches to model the hard-core repulsion between the light nuclei and hadrons. The first approach is based on an approximate treatment of the equivalent hard-core radius of a roomy nuclear cluster and pions, while the second approach is rigorously derived here using a self-consistent treatment of classical excluded volumes of light (anti)nuclei and hadrons. By construction, in a hadronic medium dominated by pions, both approaches should give the same results. Employing this strategy to the analysis of hadronic and light (anti)nuclei multiplicities measured by ALICE at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} =2.76$ TeV and by STAR at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} =200$ GeV, we got rid of the existing ambiguity in the description of light (anti)nuclei data and determined the chemical freeze-out parameters of nuclei with high accuracy and confidence. At ALICE energy the nuclei are frozen prior to the hadrons at the temperature $T = 175.1^{+2.3}_{-3.9}$ MeV, while at STAR energy there is a single freeze-out of hadrons and nuclei at the temperature $T = 167.2 \pm 3.9$ MeV. We argue that the found chemical freeze-out volumes of nuclei can be considered as the volumes of quark-gluon bags that produce the nuclei at the moment of hadronization., Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables

From the analysis of light (anti)nuclei multiplicities that were measured recently by the ALICE collaboration in Pb+Pb collisions at the center-of-mass collision energy $\sqrt{s_{NN}} =2.76$ TeV there arose a highly non-trivial question about the excluded volume of composite particles. Surprisingly, the hadron resonance gas model (HRGM) is able to perfectly describe the light (anti)nuclei multiplicities under various assumptions. Thus, one can consider the (anti)nuclei with a vanishing hard-core radius (as the point-like particles) or with the hard-core radius of proton, but the fit quality is the same for these assumptions. It is clear, however, that such assumptions are unphysical. Hence we obtain a formula for the classical excluded volume of loosely bound light nuclei consisting of A baryons. To implement a new formula into the HRGM we have to modify the induced surface tension concept to treat the hadrons and (anti)nuclei on the same footing. We perform a simultaneous analysis of hadronic and (anti)nuclei multiplicities measured by the ALICE collaboration. The HRGM with the induced surface tension allows us to verify different assumptions on the values of hard-core radii and different scenarios of chemical freeze-out of light (anti)nuclei. It is shown that the unprecedentedly high quality of fit $\chi^2_{tot}/dof \simeq 0.769$ is achieved, if the chemical freeze-out temperature of hadrons is about $T_h=150$ MeV, while the one for all (anti)nuclei is $T_A=174-175.2$ MeV., Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures

The necessary conditions to derive the quantum VdW EoS with hard-core repulsion from the quantum partition are discussed. On a plausible example it is shown that an alternative way to account correctly for the 3-rd virial coefficient of classical hard spheres leads to inconsistencies. The multicomponent formulation of the quantum VdW EoS with hard-core repulsion is derived within a self-consisting approximation. For practical applications it is simplified, extended to higher densities and generalized to the case of hard convex bodies of any dimension $D\ge 2$., Comment: 8 pages, no figures

Using the model of hexagonal clusters we express the surface, curvature and Gauss curvature coefficients of the nuclear binding energy in terms of its bulk coefficient. Using the derived values of these coefficients and a single fitting parameter we are able to reasonably well describe the experimental binding energies of nuclei with more than 100 nucleons. To improve the description of lighter nuclei we introduce the same correction for all the coefficients. In this way we determine the apparent values of the surface, curvature and Gauss curvature coefficients which may be used for infinite nuclear matter equation of state. This simple model allows us to fix the temperature dependence of all these coefficients, if the temperature dependence for the bulk term is known. The found estimates for critical temperature are well consistent both with experimental and with theoretical findings., Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures

The multiplicities of light (anti)nuclei were measured recently by the ALICE collaboration in Pb+Pb collisions at the center-of-mass collision energy $\sqrt{s_{NN}} =2.76$ TeV. Surprisingly, the hadron resonance gas model is able to perfectly describe their multiplicities under various assumptions. For instance, one can consider the (anti)nuclei with a vanishing hard-core radius (as the point-like particles) or with the hard-core radius of proton, but the fit quality is the same for these assumptions. In this paper we assume the hard-core radius of nuclei consisting of $A$ baryons or antibaryons to follow the simple law $R(A) = R_b (A)^\frac{1}{3}$, where $R_b$ is the hard-core radius of nucleon. To implement such a relation into the hadron resonance gas model we employ the induced surface tension concept and analyze the hadronic and (anti)nuclei multiplicities measured by the ALICE collaboration. The hadron resonance gas model with the induced surface tension allows us to verify different scenarios of chemical freeze-out of (anti)nuclei. It is shown that the most successful description of hadrons can be achieved at the chemical freeze-out temperature $T_h=150$ MeV, while the one for all (anti)nuclei is $T_A=168.5$ MeV. Possible explanations of this high temperature of (anti)nuclei chemical freeze-out are discussed., Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure

The chemical freeze-out irregularities found with the most advanced hadron resonance gas model and possible signals of two QCD phase transitions are discussed. We found that the center-of-mass collision energy range of tricritical endpoint of QCD phase diagram is [9; 9.2] GeV which is consistent both with QCD inspired exactly solvable model and with experimental findings., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures

In this work we discuss a novel approach to model the hadronic and nuclear matter equations of state using the induced surface tension concept. Since the obtained equations of state, classical and quantum, are among the most successful ones in describing the properties of low density phases of strongly interacting matter, they set strong restrictions on the possible value of the hard-core radius of nucleons. Therefore, we perform a detailed analysis of its value which follows from hadronic and nuclear matter properties and find the most trustworthy range of its values: the hard-core radius of nucleons is 0.30--0.36 fm. A comparison with the phenomenology of neutron stars implies that the hard-core radius of nucleons has to be temperature and density dependent., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, references added, typos corrected

In this contributions we discuss the novel version of hadron resonance gas model which is based on the induced surface tension concept. Also we present new arguments in favor of a hypothesis that the chiral symmetry restoration transition in central nuclear collisions may occur at the center of mass energies 4.3-4.9 GeV and that the deconfinement phase transition may occur at the center of mass energies 8.8-9.2 GeV. These arguments are based on the unique thermostatic properties of the mixed phase and the ones of an exponential mass spectrum of hadrons., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures

We present a summary of possible signals of the chiral symmetry restoration and deconfinement phase transitions which may be, respectively, probed at the center of mass collision energies at 4.3-4.9 GeV and above 8.7-9.2 GeV. It is argued that these signals may evidence for an existence of the tricritical endpoint of QCD phase diagram at the collision energy around 8.7-9.2 GeV. The equation of state of hadronic matter with the restored chiral symmetry is discussed and the number of bosonic and fermionic degrees of freedom is found., Comment: 5 pages

We propose a novel family of equations of state for symmetric nuclear matter based on the induced surface tension concept for the hard-core repulsion. It is shown that having only four adjustable parameters the suggested equations of state can, simultaneously, reproduce not only the main properties of the nuclear matter ground state, but the proton flow constraint up its maximal particle number densities. Varying the model parameters we carefully examine the range of values of incompressibility constant of normal nuclear matter and its critical temperature which are consistent with the proton flow constraint. This analysis allows us to show that the physically most justified value of nuclear matter critical temperature is 15.5-18 MeV, the incompressibility constant is 270-315 MeV and the hard-core radius of nucleons is less than 0.4 fm., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures

Using the most advanced formulation of the hadron resonance gas model we analyze the two sets of irregularities found at chemical freeze-out of central nuclear-nuclear collisions at the center of mass energies 3.8-4.9 GeV and 7.6-9.2 GeV. In addition to previously reported irregularities at the collision energies 4.9 GeV and 9.2 GeV we found sharp peaks of baryonic charge density. Also we analyze the collision energy dependence of the modified Wroblewski factor and the strangeness suppression factor. Based on the thermostatic properties of the mixed phase of a 1-st order phase transition and the ones of the Hagedorn mass spectrum we explain, respectively, the reason of observed chemical equilibration of strangeness at the collision energy 4.9 GeV and above 8.7 GeV. It is argued that the both sets of irregularities possibly evidence for two phase transitions, namely, the 1-st order transition at lower energy range and the 2-nd order transition at higher one. In combination with a recent analysis of the light nuclei number fluctuations we conclude that the center of mass collision energy range 8.8-9.2 GeV may be in the nearest vicinity of the QCD tricritical endpoint. The properties of the phase existing between two phase transitions are revealed and discussed., Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures, to appear in PEPAN Lett

A recently suggested equation of state with the induced surface tension is generalized to the case of quantum gases with mean-field interaction. The self-consistency conditions of such a model and the necessary one to obey the Third Law of thermodynamics are found. The quantum virial expansion of the Van der Waals models of such a type is analyzed and its virial coefficients are given. In contrast to traditional beliefs, it is shown that an inclusion of the third and higher virial coefficients of the gas of hard spheres into the interaction pressure of the Van der Waals models either breaks down the Third Law of thermodynamics or does not allow one to go beyond the Van der Waals approximation at low temperatures. It is demonstrated that the generalized equation of state with the induced surface tension allows one to avoid such problems and to safely go beyond the Van der Waals approximation. Besides, the effective virial expansion for quantum version of the induced surface tension equation of state is established and all corresponding virial coefficients are found exactly.The explicit expressions for the true quantum virial coefficients of an arbitrary order of this equation of state are given in the low density approximation. A few basic constraints on such models which are necessary to describe the nuclear and hadronic matter properties are discussed., Comment: 16 pages (extended version), 2 figures

Here we present a physically transparent generalization of the multicomponent Van der Waals equation of state in the grand canonical ensemble. For the one-component case the third and fourth virial coefficients are calculated analytically. It is shown that an adjustment of a single model parameter allows us to reproduce the third and fourth virial coefficients of the gas of hard spheres with small deviations from their exact values. A thorough comparison of the compressibility factor and speed of sound of the developed model with the one and two component Carnahan-Starling equation of state is made. It is shown that the model with the induced surface tension is able to reproduce the results of the Carnahan-Starling equation of state up to the packing fractions 0.2-0.22 at which the usual Van der Waals equation of state is inapplicable. At higher packing fractions the developed equation of state is softer than the gas of hard spheres and, hence, it breaks causality in the domain where the hadronic description is expected to be inapplicable. Using this equation of state we develop an entirely new hadron resonance gas model and apply it to a description of the hadron yield ratios measured at AGS, SPS, RHIC and ALICE energies of nuclear collisions. The achieved quality of the fit per degree of freedom is about 1.08. We confirm that the strangeness enhancement factor has a peak at low AGS energies, while at and above the highest SPS energy of collisions the chemical equilibrium of strangeness is observed. We argue that the chemical equilibrium of strangeness, i.e. $\gamma_s \simeq 1$, observed above the center of mass collision energy 4.3 GeV may be related to the hadronization of quark gluon bags which have the Hagedorn mass spectrum, and, hence, it may be a new signal for the onset of deconfinement.

The liquid droplet formula is applied to an analysis of the properties of geometrical (anti)clusters formed in SU(2) gluodynamics by the Polyakov loops of the same sign. Using this approach, we explain the phase transition in SU(2) gluodynamics as a transition between two liquids during which one of the liquid droplets (the largest cluster of a certain Polyakov loop sign) experiences a condensation, while the droplet of another liquid (the next to the largest cluster of the opposite sign of Polyakov loop) evaporates. The clusters of smaller sizes form two accompanying gases, which behave oppositely to their liquids. The liquid droplet formula is used to analyze the size distributions of the gaseous (anti)clusters. The fit of these distributions allows us to extract the temperature dependence of surface tension and the value of Fisher topological exponent $\tau$ for both kinds of gaseous clusters. It is shown that the surface tension coeficient of gaseous (anti)clusters can serve as an order parameter of the deconfinement phase transition in SU(2) gluodynamics. The Fisher topological exponent $\tau$ of clusters and anticlusters is found to have the same value $1.806 \pm 0.008$. This value disagrees with the famous Fisher droplet model, but it agrees well with an exactly solvable model of the nuclear liquid-gas phase transition. This finding may evidence for the fact that the SU(2) gluodynamics and this exactly solvable model of nuclear liquid-gas phase transition are in the same universality class., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, proceedings of ICPPA 2016 Conference. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1611.07569

Searchers for various irregularities in the behavior of thermodynamic quantities at chemical freeze-out (CFO) are rather important in a view of experimental studies of quark-gluon plasma (QGP). Using the multicomponent hadron resonance gas model (HRGM), developed in (Sagun, 2014; Bugaev et al., 2015), we performed a high-quality fit of 111 hadronic ratios measured for 14 values of the center of mass collision energies between 2.7 GeV and 200 GeV with the overall fit quality $\chi^2/dof \simeq 0.95$. In addition to previously reported singularities (Bugaev et al., 2015) at CFO we found that the hadron yield ratios $\frac{\Lambda}{p}$, $\frac{K^{+}}{p}$, $\frac{K^{+}}{\Lambda}$, $\frac{\Omega^{-}}{p}$ and $\frac{\Xi^{-}}{p}$ measured in central nuclear collisions demonstrate a significant change of slope in the same range of center of mass collision energy $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 4.3-4.9$ GeV (Bugaev et al., 2015). This change of slopes is accompanied by a dramatic increase of resonance decays at CFO. Also at CFO the trace anomaly and baryonic density demonstrate the pronounced peaks at the collision energy $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 4.9 $ GeV. We argue that all these and previously found irregularities provide an evidence for the QGP formation in nuclear collisions at about $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 4.9 $ GeV., Comment: Proceedings of the Week of Doctoral Students (WDS) 2016 Conference, 6 pages, 4 figures

The liquid droplet formula is applied to an analysis of the properties of geometrical (anti)clusters formed in SU(2) gluodynamics by the Polyakov loops of the same sign. Using this approach, we explain the phase transition in SU(2) gluodynamics as a transition between two liquids during which one of the liquid droplets (the largest cluster of a certain Polyakov loop sign) experiences a condensation, while another droplet (the next to the largest cluster of the opposite sign of Polyakov loop) evaporates. The clusters of smaller sizes form two accompanying gases, which behave oppositely to their liquids. The liquid droplet formula is used to analyze the size distributions of the gas (anti)clusters. The fit of these distributions allows us to extract the temperature dependence of surface tension and the value of Fisher topological exponent $\tau$ for both kinds of gaseous clusters. It is shown that the surface tension coeficient of gaseous (anti)clusters can serve as an order parameter of the deconfinement phase transition in SU(2) gluodynamics. The Fisher topological exponent $\tau$ of (anti)clusters is found to have the same value $1.806 \pm 0.008$. This value disagrees with the famous Fisher droplet model, but it agrees well with an exactly solvable model of nuclear liquid-gas phase transition. This finding may evidence for the fact that the SU(2) gluodynamics and this exactly solvable model of nuclear liquid-gas phase transition are in the same universality class., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, proceedings of WDS 2016 Conference

We develop a novel formulation of the hadron-resonance gas model which, besides a hard-core repulsion, explicitly accounts for the surface tension induced by the interaction between the particles. Such an equation of state allows us to go beyond the Van der Waals approximation for any number of different hard-core radii. A comparison with the Carnahan-Starling equation of state shows that the new model is valid for packing fractions 0.2-0.22, while the usual Van der Waals model is inapplicable at packing fractions above 0.1-0.11. Moreover, it is shown that the equation of state with induced surface tension is softer than the one of hard spheres and remains causal at higher particle densities. The great advantage of our model is that there are only two equations to be solved and it does not depend on the various values of the hard-core radii used for different hadronic resonances. Using this novel equation of state we obtain a high-quality fit of the ALICE hadron multiplicities measured at center-of-mass energies of 2.76 TeV per nucleon. Furthermore, using the traditional hadron-resonance gas model with multi-component hard-core repulsion and the novel one we investigate the recently suggested model in which the proper volume of a hadron is proportional to its mass. We find that the high-temperature maximum of $\chi^2/ndf$ observed in the latter model always appears in the region located far above the limit of its applicability., Comment: More results are presented, new figures and new section are added; the list of authors is updated

We present an elaborate version of the hadron resonance gas model with the combined treatment of separate chemical freeze-outs for strange and non-strange hadrons and with an additional $\gamma_{s}$ factor which accounts for the remaining strange particle non-equilibration. Within suggested approach the parameters of two chemical freeze-outs are connected by the conservation laws of entropy, baryonic charge, third isospin projection and strangeness. The developed model enables us to perform a high-quality fit of the hadron multiplicity ratios measured at AGS, SPS and RHIC with $\chi^2/dof \simeq 0.93$. A special attention is paid to a successful description of the Strangeness Horn. The well-known problem of selective suppression of $\bar \Lambda $ and $\bar \Xi$ hyperons is also discussed. The main result is that for all collision energies the $\gamma_{s}$ factor is about 1 within the error bars, except for the center of mass collision energy 7.6 GeV at which we find about 20\% enhancement of strangeness. Also we confirm an existence of strong jumps in pressure, temperature and effective number of degrees of freedom at the stage of strange particle chemical freeze-out, when the center of mass collision energy changes from 4.3 to 4.9 GeV. We argue that these irregularities may signal about the quark-hadron phase transition., Comment: 15 pages. This is greatly improved and essentially extended version of arXiv:1312.5149. The title and list of authors are undated

We apply the liquid droplet model to describe the clustering phenomenon in SU(2) gluodynamics, especially, in the vicinity of the deconfinement phase transition. In particular, we analyze the size distributions of clusters formed by the Polyakov loops of the same sign. Within such an approach this phase transition can be considered as the transition between two types of liquids where one of the liquids (the largest droplet of a certain Polyakov loop sign) experiences a condensation, while the other one (the next to largest droplet of opposite Polyakov loop sign) evaporates. The clusters of smaller sizes form two accompanying gases, and their size distributions are described by the liquid droplet parameterization. By fitting the lattice data we have extracted the value of Fisher exponent $\tau =$ 1.806 $\pm$ 0.008. Also we found that the temperature dependences of the surface tension of both gaseous clusters are entirely different below and above the phase transition and, hence, they can serve as an order parameter. The critical exponents of the surface tension coefficient in the vicinity of the phase transition are found. Our analysis shows that the temperature dependence of the surface tension coefficient above the critical temperature has a $T^2$ behavior in one gas of clusters and $T^4$ in the other one., Comment: Published online in Nucl. Phys. A

Using an advanced version of the hadron resonance gas model we have found several remarkable irregularities at chemical freeze-out. The most prominent of them are two sets of highly correlated quasi-plateaus in the collision energy dependence of the entropy per baryon, total pion number per baryon, and thermal pion number per baryon which we found at center of mass energies 3.6-4.9 GeV and 7.6-10 GeV. The low energy set of quasi-plateaus was predicted a long time ago. On the basis of the generalized shock-adiabat model we demonstrate that the low energy correlated quasi-plateaus give evidence for the anomalous thermodynamic properties of the mixed phase at its boundary to the quark-gluon plasma. The question is whether the high energy correlated quasi-plateaus are also related to some kind of mixed phase. In order to answer this question we employ the results of a systematic meta-analysis of the quality of data description of 10 existing event generators of nucleus-nucleus collisions in the range of center of mass collision energies from 3.1 GeV to 17.3 GeV. These generators are divided into two groups: the first group includes the generators which account for the quark-gluon plasma formation during nuclear collisions, while the second group includes the generators which do not assume the quark-gluon plasma formation in such collisions. Comparing the quality of data description of more than a hundred of different data sets of strange hadrons by these two groups of generators, we find two regions of the equal quality of data description which are located at the center of mass collision energies 4.3-4.9 GeV and 10.-13.5 GeV. These two regions of equal quality of data description we interpret as regions of the hadron-quark-gluon mixed phase formation., Comment: 11 pages, figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1510.03099

Here we present several remarkable irregularities at chemical freeze-out which are found using an advanced version of the hadron resonance gas model. The most prominent of them are the sharp peak of the trace anomaly existing at chemical freeze-out at the center of mass energy 4.9 GeV and two sets of highly correlated quasi-plateaus in the collision energy dependence of the entropy per baryon, total pion number per baryon, and thermal pion number per baryon which we found at the center of mass energies 3.8-4.9 GeV and 7.6-10 GeV. The low energy set of quasi-plateaus was predicted a long time ago. On the basis of the generalized shock-adiabat model we demonstrate that the low energy correlated quasi-plateaus give evidence for the anomalous thermodynamic properties inside the quark-gluon-hadron mixed phase. It is also shown that the trace anomaly sharp peak at chemical freeze-out corresponds to the trace anomaly peak at the boundary between the mixed phase and quark gluon plasma. We argue that the high energy correlated quasi-plateaus may correspond to a second phase transition and discuss its possible origin and location. Besides we suggest two new observables which may serve as clear signals of these phase transformations., Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, new signals of QGP formation are suggested

The performed systematic meta-analysis of the quality of data description (QDD) of existing event generators of nucleus-nucleus collisions allows us to extract a very important physical information. Our meta-analysis is dealing with the results of 10 event generators which describe data measured in the range of center of mass collision energies from 3.1 GeV to 17.3 GeV. It considers the mean deviation squared per number of experimental points obtained by these event generators, i.e. the QDD, as the results of independent meta-measurements. These generators and their QDDs are divided in two groups. The first group includes the generators which account for the quark-gluon plasma formation during nuclear collisions (QGP models), while the second group includes the generators which do not assume the QGP formation in such collisions (hadron gas models). Comparing the QDD of more than a hundred of different data sets of strange hadrons by two groups of models, we found two regions of the equal quality description of data which are located at the center of mass collision energies 4.4-4.87 GeV and 10.8-12 GeV. At the collision energies below 4.4 GeV the hadron gas models describe data much better than the QGP one and, hence, we associate this region with hadron phase. At the collision energies between 5 GeV and 10.8 GeV and above 12 GeV we found that QGP models describe data essentially better than the hadron gas ones and, hence, these regions we associate with the quark-gluon phase. As a result, the collision energy regions 4.4-4.87 GeV and 10.8-12 GeV we interpret as the energies of the hadron-quark-gluon mixed phase formation. Based on these findings we argue that the most probable energy range of the QCD phase diagram (tri)critical endpoint is 12-14 GeV., Comment: 33 pages, 6 figures and 11 tables

Here we thoroughly discuss the present status of the deconfinement phase transition signals outlined in the NICA White Paper 10.01. It is argued that none of the signals outlined in the NICA White Paper is prepared for experimental verification. At the same time we discuss the new irregularities and new signals of the deconfinement transition found recently within the realistic version of the hadron resonance gas model. All new findings evidence that the mixed quark-gluon-hadron phase can be reached at the center of mass energy of collision 4.3-4.9 GeV., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, minor changes of text

A detailed discussion of recent results obtained within the hadron resonance gas model with the multi-component hard core repulsion is presented. Among them there are the adiabatic chemical freeze-out criterion, the concept of separate chemical freeze-out of strange particles and the effects of enhancement and sharpening of wide resonances and quark gluon bags occurring in a thermal medium. These findings are discussed in order to strengthen the planned heavy-ion collision experimental programs at low collision energies. We argue, that due to found effects, at the center of mass collision energy 4-8 GeV the quark gluon bags may appear directly or in decays as new heavy resonances with the narrow width of about 50-150 MeV and with the mass above 2.5 GeV., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures. minor changes of text

Using an advanced version of the hadron resonance gas model we have found indications for irregularities in data for hadrons produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. These include an abrupt change of the effective number of degrees of freedom, a change of the slope of the ratio of lambda hyperons to protons at laboratory energies 8.6--11.6 AGeV, as well as highly correlated plateaus in the collision-energy dependence of the entropy per baryon, total pion number per baryon, and thermal pion number per baryon at laboratory energies 6.9-11.6 AGeV. Also, we observe a sharp peak in the dimensionless trace anomaly at a laboratory energy of 11.6 AGeV. On the basis of the generalized shock-adiabat model we demonstrate that these observations give evidence for the anomalous thermodynamic properties of the mixed phase at its boundary to the quark-gluon plasma. We argue that the trace-anomaly peak and the local minimum of the generalized specific volume observed at a laboratory energy of 11.6 AGeV provide a signal for the formation of a mixed phase between the quark-gluon plasma and the hadron phase. This naturally explains the change of slope in the energy dependence of the yield of lambda hyperons per proton at a laboratory energy of 8.6 GeV., Comment: 35 pages, figure 14 with new data is added, references are updated

Thermodynamic properties of hot and dense hadronic systems with a hard-sphere interaction are calculated in the Boltzmann approximation. Two parametrizations of pressure as a function of density are considered: the first one, used in the excluded volume model and the second one, suggested earlier by Carnahan and Starling. The results are given for one-component systems containing only nucleons or pions, as well as for chemically equilibrated mixtures of pions, nucleons and delta resonances. It is shown that the Carnahan-Starling approach can be used in a much broader range of hadronic densities as compared to the excluded volume model. In this case superluminal sound velocities appear only at very high densities, in the region where the deconfinement effects should be already important., Comment: 28 pages, 12 figures

Using the most advanced model of the hadron resonance gas we reveal, at chemical freeze-out, remarkable irregularities such as an abrupt change of the effective number of degrees of freedom and plateaus in the collision-energy dependence of the entropy per baryon, total pion number per baryon, and thermal pion number per baryon at laboratory energies 6.9-11.6 AGeV. On the basis of the generalized shock adiabat model we show that these plateaus give evidence for the thermodynamic anomalous properties of the mixed phase at its boundary to the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). A new signal for QGP formation is suggested and justified., Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, minor changes in text

The chemical freeze-out of hadrons created in the high energy nuclear collisions is studied within the realistic version of the hadron resonance gas model. The chemical non-equilibrium of strange particles is accounted via the usual $\gamma_{s}$ factor which gives us an opportunity to perform a high quality fit with $\chi^2/dof \simeq 63.5/55 \simeq 1.15$ of the hadronic multiplicity ratios measured from the low AGS to the highest RHIC energies. In contrast to previous findings, at low energies we observe the strangeness enhancement instead of a suppression. In addition, the performed $\gamma_{s}$ fit allows us to achieve the highest quality of the Strangeness Horn description with $\chi^2/dof=3.3/14$. For the first time the top point of the Strangeness Horn is perfectly reproduced, which makes our theoretical horn as sharp as an experimental one. However, the $\gamma_{s}$ fit approach does not sizably improve the description of the multi-strange baryons and antibaryons. Therefore, an apparent deviation of multi-strange baryons and antibaryons from chemical equilibrium requires further explanation., Comment: 7 pages, 12 figures

The Hadron Resonance Gas Model with two chemical freeze-outs, connected by conservation laws is considered. We are arguing that the chemical freeze-out of strange hadrons should occur earlier than the chemical freeze-out of non-strange hadrons. The hadron multiplicities measured in the heavy ion collisions for the center of mass energy range 2.7 - 200 GeV are described well by such a model. Based on a success of such an approach, a radical way to improve the Hadron Resonance Gas Model performance is suggested. Thus, we suggest to identify the hadronic reactions that freeze-out noticeably earlier or later that most of the others reactions (for different collision energies they may be different) and to consider a separate freeze-out for them., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1308.3594

Here we present an explicit counterexample to a bimodality concept as the unique signal of first order phase transition. Using an exact solution of the simplified version of the statistical multifragmentation model we demonstrate that the bimodal distributions can naturally appear in infinite system without a phase transition in the regions of the negative values of the surface tension coefficient. Also we propose a new parameterization for the compressible nuclear liquid which is consistent with the L. van Hove axioms of statistical mechanics. As a result the proposed model does not lead to the irregular behaviour of the isotherms in the mixed phase region which is typical for mean-field models. Peculiarly, the suggested approach to account for the nuclear liquid compressibility automatically leads to an appearance of an additional state that in many respects resembles the physical antinuclear matter., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings of the International School-seminar "New Physics and Quantum Chromodynamics at external Conditions", May 22-24 2013, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine

We propose an elaborate version of the hadron resonance gas model with the combined treatment of separate chemical freeze-outs for strange and non-strange hadrons and with an additional \gamma_{s} factor which accounts for the remaining strange particle non-equilibration. Two sets of chemical freeze-outs parameters are connected by the conservation laws of entropy, baryonic charge, isospin projection and strangeness. The developed approach enables us to perform a high-quality fit of the hadron multiplicity ratios for AGS, SPS and RHIC energies with total \chi^2/dof \simeq 1.05. A special attention is paid to a complete description of the Strangeness Horn. A well-known \bar p, \bar \Lambda and \bar \Xi selective suppression problem is also discussed., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures

Here we develop the hadron resonance gas model with the Gaussian width of hadron resonances. This model allows us to treat the usual hadrons and the quark gluon bags on the same footing and to study the stability of the results obtained within different formulations of the hadron resonance gas model. In this work we perform a successful fit of 111 independent hadronic multiplicity ratios measured for $\sqrt{s_{NN}} $= 2.7- 200 GeV. We demonstrate that in a narrow range of collision energy $\sqrt{s_{NN}} =$ 4.3-4.9 GeV there exist peculiar irregularities in various thermodynamic quantities found at chemical freeze-out. The most remarkable irregularity is an unprecedented jump of the number of effective degrees of freedom observed in this narrow energy range which is seen in all realistic versions of the hadron resonance gas model. Therefore, the developed concept is called the non-smooth chemical freeze-out. We are arguing that these irregularities evidence for the possible formation of quark gluon bags. In order to develop other possible signals of their formation here we study the apparent width of wide hadronic resonances and quark gluon bags in a thermal environment. Two new effects generated for the wide resonances and quark gluon bags by a thermal medium are discussed here: the near threshold thermal resonance enhancement and the near threshold thermal resonance sharpening. On the basis of the new effects we argue that the most optimistic chance to find experimentally the quark gluon bags may be related to their sharpening and enhancement in a thermal medium. In this case the wide quark gluon bags may appear directly or in decays as narrow resonances that are absent in the tables of elementary particles and that have the apparent width about 50-120 MeV and the mass about or above 2.5 GeV., Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures, two pages and 4 figures are added

We present a few explicit counterexamples to the widely spread belief about an exclusive role of the bimodal nuclear fragment size distributions as the first order phase transition signal. In thermodynamic limit the bimodality may appear at the supercritical temperatures due to the negative values of the surface tension coefficient. Such a result is found within a novel exactly solvable formulation of the simplified statistical multifragmentation model based on the virial expansion for a system of the nuclear fragments of all sizes. The developed statistical model corresponds to the compressible nuclear liquid with the tricritical endpoint located at one third of the normal nuclear density. Its exact solution for finite volumes demonstrates the bimodal fragment size distribution right inside the finite volume analog of a gaseous phase. These counterexamples clearly demonstrate the pitfalls of Hill approach to phase transitions in finite systems., Comment: Talk given at the Helmholtz International Summer School "Physics of Heavy Quarks and Hadrons", held in Dubna, Russia, July 15-28, 2013

Two approaches to treat the chemical freeze-out of strange particles in hadron resonance gas model are analyzed. The first one employs their non-equillibration via the usual \gamma_s factor and such a model describes the hadron multiplicities measured in nucleus-nucleus collisions at AGS, SPS and RHIC energies with \chi^2/dof = 1.15. Surprisingly, at low energies we find not the strangeness suppression, but its enhancement. Also we suggest an alternative approach to treat the strange particle freeze-out separately, but with the full chemical equilibration. This approach is based on the conservation laws which allow us to connect the freeze-outs of strange and non-strange hadrons. Within the suggested approach the same set of hadron multiplicities can be described better than within the conventional approach with \chi^2/dof = 1.06. Remarkably, the fully equilibrated approach describes the strange hyperons and antihyperons much better than the conventional one., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures

Below we analyze the `critic' statements made in the Preprint arXiv:1301.1828v1 [nucl-th]. The doubtful scientific argumentation of the authors of the Preprint arXiv:1301.1828v1 [nucl-th] is also discussed., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures

Here we present two explicit counterexamples to the widely spread beliefs about an exclusive role of bimodality as the first order phase transition signal. On the basis of an exactly solvable statistical model generalizing the statistical multifragmentation model we demonstrate that the bimodal distributions can naturally appear both in infinite and in finite systems without a phase transition. In the first counterexample a bimodal distribution appears in an infinite system at the supercritical temperatures due to the negative values of the surface tension coefficient. In the second counterexample we explicitly demonstrate that a bimodal fragment distribution appears in a finite volume analog of a gaseous phase. In contrast to the statistical multifragmentation model, the developed statistical model corresponds to the compressible nuclear liquid with the tricritical endpoint located at one third of the normal nuclear density. The suggested parameterization of the liquid phase equation of state is consistent with the L. van Hove axioms of statistical mechanics and it does not lead to an appearance of the non-monotonic isotherms in the macroscopic mixed phase region which are typical for the classical models of the Van der Waals type. Peculiarly, such a way to account for the nuclear liquid compressibility automatically leads to an appearance of an additional state that in many respects resembles the physical antinuclear matter., Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures

We propose a new formulation of the statistical multifragmentation model based on the analysis of the virial expansion for a system of the nuclear fragments of all sizes. The developed model not only enables us to account for short-range repulsion, but also to calculate the surface free energy which is induced by the interaction between the fragments. We propose a new parameterization for the liquid phase pressure which allows us to introduce a compressible nuclear liquid into the statistical multifragmentation model. The resulting model is exactly solvable and has no irregular behavior of the isotherms in the mixed phase region that is typical for mean-field models. The general conditions for the 1-st and 2-nd (or higher) order phase transitions are formulated. It is shown that all endpoints of the present model phase diagram are the tricritical points, if the Fisher exponent $\tau$ is in the range $\{3}{2} \le \tau \le 2$. The treatment of nuclear liquid compressibility allows us to reduce the tricritical endpoint density of the statistical multifragmentation model to one third of the normal nuclear density. A specific attention is paid to of the fragment size distributions in the region of a negative surface tension at supercritical temperatures., Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures

Here we present an explicit counterexample to the widely spread beliefs about an exclusive role of bimodality as the first order phase transition signal. On the basis of an exactly solvable statistical model generalizing the statistical multifragmentation model of nuclei we demonstrate that the bimodal nuclear fragment size distributions can naturally appear in infinite system without a phase transition. It appears at the supercritical temperatures due to the negative values of the surface tension coefficient. The developed statistical model corresponds to the compressible nuclear liquid with the tricritical endpoint located at one third of the normal nuclear density., Comment: Talk at XI International Scientific Conference of Students and Young Scientists "Shevchenkivska Vesna 2013", held in Kyiv, March 18-22, 2013

Here we develop a model equation of state which successfully parameterizes the thermodynamic functions of hadron resonance gas model at chemical freeze-out and which allows us to naturally explain the adiabatic chemical freeze-out criterion. The present model enables us to clearly demonstrate that at chemical freeze-out the resulting hadronic mass spectrum used in the hadron resonance gas model is not an exponential-like, but a power-like. We argue that such a property of hadronic mass spectrum at chemical freeze-out can be explained by the two new effects found here for wide resonances existing in a thermal environment: the near threshold thermal resonance enhancement and the near threshold resonance sharpening. The effect of resonance sharpening is studied for a sigma meson and our analysis shows that for the temperatures well below 92 MeV the effective width of sigma meson is about 50 to 70 MeV. Thus, the effect of resonance sharpening justifies the usage of the sigma-like field-theoretical models for the strongly interacting matter equation of state at such temperatures. Also we argue that the most optimistic hope to find the quark gluon bags experimentally may be related to their sharpening and enhancement in a thermal medium. In this case the wide quark gluon bags may appear directly or in decays as narrow resonances that are absent in the tables of elementary particles and that have the width about 50-150 MeV and the mass about or above 2.5 GeV., Comment: Talk given at the XXI International Baldin Seminar on High Energy Physics Problems "Baldin ISHEPP XXI", JINR, Dubna, Russia, September 10-15, 2012