Baryonic matter in the lattice Gross-Neveu model

Abstract

We investigate the Gross-Neveu model on the lattice at finite temperature and chemical potential in the limit of an infinite number of fermion flavours. We check the universality of the continuum limit of staggered and overlap fermions at finite temperature and chemical potential. We show that at finite density a recently discovered phase of cold baryonic matter emerges as a baryon crystal from a spatially inhomogeneous fermion condensate. However, we also demonstrate that on the lattice, this new phase disappears at large coupling or in small volumes. Furthermore, we investigate unusual finite size effects that appear at finite chemical potential. Finally, we speculate on the implications of our findings for QCD.