Studying the QCD phase diagram using pressure derivatives from lattice QCD

We summarize the application of derivatives of the QCD pressure, calculated within the framework of lattice QCD, in constructing observables that probe aspects of the QCD phase diagram at physical quark masses. We outline how the behavior of energy-like and magnetization-like observables at physical quark masses is influenced by the ( 2 + 1 ) -flavor chiral phase transition. We describe features of the chiral crossover at vanishing and non-vanishing chemical potentials and discuss deconfinement at zero chemical potential. We address the relevance of the convergence properties of the Taylor expansion of the QCD pressure in the search for the QCD critical endpoint.