QCD critical point: The race is on

A critical point in the phase diagram of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), if established either theoretically or experimentally, would be as profound a discovery as the good-old gas–liquid critical point. Unlike the latter, however, first-principles-based approaches are being employed to locate it theoretically. Due to the short-lived nature of the concerned phases, novel experimental techniques are needed to search for it. The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in USA has an experimental programme to do so. This short review is an attempt to provide a glimpse of the race between the theorists and the experimentalists as well as the synergy between them.