QCD thermodynamics with effective models

Understand

In this talk we extend the Polyakov-quark-meson model to N_f=2+1 quark flavors and study its bulk thermodynamics at finite temperatures in mean-field approximation.

• Three different Polyakov-loop potentials are considered.
• Our findings are confronted to recent QCD lattice simulations of the RBC-Bielefeld and HotQCD collaborations.
• Furthermore, the finite chemical potential expansion of the quark-number susceptibility in a Taylor series around vanishing chemical potential is analyzed.