Exploring the phase diagram of QCD with complex Langevin simulations

Abstract

Simulations of QCD with a finite chemical potential typically lead to a severe sign problem, prohibiting any standard Monte Carlo approach. Complex Langevin simulations provide an alternative to sample path integrals with oscillating weight factors and therefore potentially enable the determination of the phase diagram of QCD. Here we present results for QCD in the limit of heavy quarks and show evidence that the phase diagram can be mapped out by direct simulation. We apply adaptive step-size scaling and adaptive gauge cooling to ensure the convergence of these simulations.