PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

Over the past few years new physics methods and algorithms as well as thelatest supercomputers have enabled the study of the QCD thermodynamic phasetransition using lattice gauge theory numerical simulations with unprecedentedcontrol over systematic errors. This is largely a consequence of the ability toperform continuum extrapolations with physical quark masses. Here we reviewrecent progress in lattice QCD thermodynamics, focussing mainly on results thatbenefit from the use of physical quark masses: the crossover temperature, theequation of state, and fluctuations of the quark number susceptibilities. Inaddition, we place a special emphasis on calculations that are directlyrelevant to the study of relativistic heavy ion collisions at RHIC and the LHC.