Higher order quark-mesonic scattering processes and the phase structure of QCD

Abstract

We study the impact of higher-order quark-meson scattering processes on the chiral phase structure of two-flavor QCD at finite temperature and quark density. Thermal, density and quantum fluctuations are included within a functional renormalization group approach to the quark-meson model. We present results on the chiral phase boundary, the critical endpoint, and the curvature of the phase transition line at vanishing density.