Quark number susceptibilities and the Wróblewski parameter

The Wróblewski parameter is a convenient indicator of strangeness production and can be employed to monitor a signal of quark-gluon plasma production : enhancement of strangeness production. It has been shown to be about a factor two higher in heavy ion collisions than in hadronic collisions. Using a method proposed by us earlier, we obtained lattice QCD results for the Wróblewski parameter from our simulations of QCD with two light quarks both below and above the chiral transition. Our first principles based and parameter free result compare well with the A-A data from SPS and RHIC.Arrival of the final proofs: 24 March 2005PACS: 12.38.Mh, 12.38.GcR.V. Gavai: Alexander von Humboldt Fellow on leave from TIFR, Mumbai and speaker at the conference.