Probing the QGP Phase Boundary with Thermal Properties of $\phi$ Mesons

Abstract

A novel attempt has been made to probe the QCD phase boundary by using the experimental data for transverse momenta of {\phi} mesons produced in nuclear collisions at AGS, SPS and RHIC energies. The data are confronted with simple thermodynamic expectations and lattice QCD results. The experimental data indicate a first-order phase transition, with a mixed phase stretching the energy density between \sim1 and 3.2 GeV/fm3 corresponding to SPS energies.Comment: 8-pages, 3-figs, Replaced with the published versio