Baryon inhomogeneity generation in the quark-gluon plasma phase

Abstract

We discuss the possibility of generation of baryon inhomogeneities in a quark-gluon plasma phase due to moving $Z(3)$ interfaces. By modeling the dependence of effective mass of the quarks on the Polyakov loop order parameter, we study the reflection of quarks from collapsing $Z(3)$ interfaces and estimate resulting baryon inhomogeneities in the context of the early universe. We argue that in the context of certain low energy scale inflationary models, it is possible that large $Z(3)$ walls arise at the end of the reheating stage. Collapse of such walls could lead to baryon inhomogeneities which may be separated by large distances near the QCD scale. Importantly, the generation of these inhomogeneities is insensitive to the order, or even the existence, of the quark-hadron phase transition. We also briefly discuss the possibility of formation of quark nuggets in this model, as well as baryon inhomogeneity generation in relativistic heavy-ion collisions.