Higher-order moments of net-proton and the QCD phase structure

Abstract

Higher-order cumulants of the conserved quantities and their ratios are powerful tools to study the properties of QGP and explore the QCD phase structure, such as critical point and/or the first-order phase transition boundary. In this proceedings, we present the recent results of the higher-order cumulants and ratios at different collision energies. We compare the results with hadronic transport model, Hadron Resonance Gas model, and QCD thermodynamic calculations and discuss the physics implications. Additionally, we mention the near future cumulant analyses and an initial volume fluctuation issue.