Hosted by: Jia Jiangyong

Upcoming beam energy scan (BES) phase II will explore the QCD phase diagram with an unprecedented precision and would potentially discover the QCD critical point. I will discuss recent theoretical developments aim at maximizing the discovery potential of BESII from both phenomenological and formal perspectives. First, I will discuss new observables which are very sensitive to the presence of the QCD critical point and are possible due to the iTPC upgrade. In the second part, I will report recent progress on understanding and describing hydrodynamic fluctuations. Remarkably, effects of hydrodynamic fluctuations can be potentially important for precise determination of shear viscosity at top RHIC energy and would play a crucial role near the QCD critical point.