Phase transitions and critical behavior in hadronic transport with a relativistic density functional equation of state

We develop a flexible, relativistically covariant parametrization of the dense nuclear matter equation of state suited for inclusion in computationally demanding hadronic transport simulations. Within an implementation in the hadronic transport code smash, we show that effects due to bulk thermodynamic behavior are reproduced in dynamic hadronic systems, demonstrating that hadronic transport can be used to study critical behavior in dense nuclear matter, both at and away from equilibrium. We also show that two-particle correlations calculated from hadronic transport simulation data follow theoretical expectations based on the second-order cumulant ratio, and constitute a clear signature of the crossover region above the critical point.