Quark-hadron Phase Transition Research Articles

Phase diagrams in the hadron–Polyakov–Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model

The two-Equation of State (Two-EoS) model is used to describe the hadron-quark phase transition in dense-hot matter formed in heavy-ion collisions. The non-linear Walecka model is used to describe the hadronic phase. For the quark phase, the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model coupled to Polyakov-Loop fields (PNJL) is used to include both the chiral and (de)confinement dynamics. The phase diagrams are derived from the Gibbs conditions and compared with the results obtained in the Hadron-NJL model without confinement. As in the Hadron-NJL case a first order transition is observed, but with a Critical-End-Point at much higher temperature, consequence of the confinement mechanism that reduces the degrees of freedom of the quark matter in proximity of the phase transition. Particular attention is devoted to the phase transition in isospin asymmetric matter. Interesting isospin effects are found at high baryon density and reduced temperatures, in fact common also to other quark models, like MIT-Bag and NJL model. Some possible observation signals are suggested to probe in Heavy-Ion Collision (HIC) experiments at intermediate energies.

Effect of finite chemical potential on QGP-Hadron phase transition in a statistical model of fireball formation

We study the effect of finite chemical potential for the QGP constituents in the Ramanathan et al. statistical model (Phys.Rev.C70, 027903,2004). While the earlier computations using this model with vanishing chemical potentials indicated a weakly first order phase transition for the system in the vicinity of 170 MeV (Pramana, 68, 757, 2007), the introduction of finite values for the chemical potentials of the constituents makes the transition a smooth roll over of the phases, while allowing fireball formation with radius of a few "fermi" to take place. This seems to be in conformity with the latest consensus on the nature of the QGP-Hadron phase transition. Keywords: Quark Gluon Plasma, Quark Hadron Phase Transition

Influences of the bag constant on properties of hybrid stars

Influences of the bag constant on the properties of hybrid stars are investigated by using relativistic mean field theory and the MIT bag model to describe the hadron phase and quark phase in the interior of neutron stars, respectively. Our results indicate that the onset of hadron-quark phase transition is put off and the appearance of hyperon species is increased with the increase in bag constant. As a result, the hybrid star equation of state for a mixed phase range stiffens whereas that of the quark phase range softens, and the gravitational mass as well as the corresponding radius of hybrid stars are increased obviously. The gravitational mass of a hybrid star is increased from 1.42 M⊙ (M⊙ is solar mass) to 1.63M⊙ and the corresponding radius is changed from 9.1 km to 12.2 km when the bag constant (B1/4) is increased from 170 MeV to 200 MeV. It is interesting to find that hybrid star equations of state become non-smooth when the TM2 parameter sets in the framework of relativistic mean field theory used to describe the hadronic matter, and consequently, the third family of compact stars appear in the mass-radius relations of hybrid stars in the narrow scope of the bag constant from 175 MeV to 180 MeV. These show that the choice of the bag constant in the MIT bag model has significant influence on the properties of hybrid stars.

Hadron-quark phase transition in asymmetric matter with dynamical quark masses

The two-Equation of State (EoS) model is used to describe the hadron-quark phase transition in asymmetric matter formed at high density in heavy-ion collisions. For the quark phase, the three-flavor Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (NJL) effective theory is used to investigate the influence of dynamical quark mass effects on the phase transition. At variance to the MIT-Bag results, with fixed current quark masses, the main important effect of the chiral dynamics is the appearance of an End-Point for the coexistence zone. We show that a first order hadron-quark phase transition may take place in the region T=(50-80)MeV and \rho_B=(2-4)\rho_0, which is possible to be probed in the new planned facilities, such as FAIR at GSI-Darmstadt and NICA at JINR-Dubna. From isospin properties of the mixed phase somepossible signals are suggested. The importance of chiral symmetry and dynamical quark mass on the hadron-quark phase transition is stressed. The difficulty of an exact location of Critical-End-Point comes from its appearance in a region of competition between chiral symmetry breaking and confinement, where our knowledge of effective QCD theories is still rather uncertain.

CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVA EXPLOSIONS TRIGGERED BY A QUARK-HADRON PHASE TRANSITION DURING THE EARLY POST-BOUNCE PHASE

We explore explosions of massive stars, which are triggered via the quark-hadron phase transition during the early post bounce phase of core-collapse supernovae. We construct a quark equation of state, based on the bag model for strange quark matter. The transition between the hadronic and the quark phases is constructed applying Gibbs conditions. The resulting quark-hadron hybrid equations of state are used in core-collapse supernova simulations, based on general relativistic radiation hydrodynamics and three flavor Boltzmann neutrino transport in spherical symmetry. The formation of a mixed phase reduces the adiabatic index, which induces the gravitational collapse of the central protoneutron star. The collapse halts in the pure quark phase, where the adiabatic index increases. A strong accretion shock forms, which propagates towards the protoneutron star surface. Due to the density decrease of several orders of magnitude, the accretion shock turns into a dynamic shock with matter outflow. This moment defines the onset of the explosion in supernova models that allow for a quark-hadron phase transition, where otherwise no explosions could be obtained. The shock propagation across the neutrinospheres releases a burst of neutrinos. This serves as a strong observable identification for the structural reconfiguration of the stellar core. The ejected matter expands on a short timescale and remains neutron-rich. These conditions might be suitable for the production of heavy elements via the r-process. The neutron-rich material is followed by proton-rich neutrino-driven ejecta in the later cooling phase of the protoneutron star where the vp-process might occur.

Energy release from hadron-quark phase transition in neutron stars and the axialwmode of gravitational waves

Describing the hyperonic and quark phases of neutron stars with an isospin- and momentum-dependent effective interaction for the baryon octet and the MIT bag model, respectively, and using the Gibbs conditions to construct the mixed phase, we study the energy release from a neutron star owing to the hadron-quark phase transition. Moreover, the frequency and damping time of the first axial $w$ mode of gravitational waves are studied for both hyperonic and hybrid stars. We find that the energy release is much more sensitive to the bag constant than the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy. Also, the frequency of the $w$ mode is found to be significantly different with or without the hadron-quark phase transition and depends strongly on the value of the bag constant. Effects of the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy become, however, important for large values of the bag constant that lead to higher hadron-quark transition densities.

Hadron-quark phase transition in asymmetric matter with boson condensation

In the present work we study the hadron-quark phase transition with boson condensation in asymmetric matter by investigating the binodal surface and extending it to finite temperature to mimic the QCD phase diagram. We consider a system with two conserved charges (isospin and baryon densities) using the Gibbs' criteria for phase equilibrium. To obtain these conditions we use two different models for the two possible phases, namely, the nonlinear Walecka model (NLWM) for the hadron matter (also including hyperons) and the MIT bag model for the quark phase. It is shown that the phase transition is very sensitive to the density dependence of the equation of state and the symmetry energy. For an isospin asymmetry of 0.2 and a mixed phase with a fraction of $20%$ of quarks, a transition density in the interval $2{\ensuremath{\rho}}_{0}<{\ensuremath{\rho}}_{t}<4{\ensuremath{\rho}}_{0}$ was obtained for temperatures $30<T<65$ MeV.

QCD phase transition in Brans–Dicke cosmology

In the standard picture of cosmology, when the universe was about 10 μsec old it underwent a transition from quark phase to hadron one, being associated with a chiral symmetry breaking after the electro weak transition. We assume that this transition was of crossover and study the evolution of the Universe in the context of Brans–Dicke theory. The evolution of physical quantities relevant to the physical description of the early Universe, namely, the energy density, temperature and the scale factor, are studied within an effective model of lattice QCD for high temperature and also we consider in the context of hadronic resonance gas model those parameters at low temperature. We show that for different values of Brans–Dicke coupling, ω, a phase transition occurs and results in decreasing of the effective temperature of the quark–gluon plasma during the process of quark–hadron phase transition.

Quark–hadron phase transition in Brans–Dicke brane gravity

A standard picture in cosmology has been emerging over the past decade in which a phase transition, associated with chiral symmetry breaking after the electroweak transition, has occurred at approximately 10−6 s after the Big Bang to convert a plasma of free quarks and gluons into hadrons. In this paper, we consider the quark–hadron phase transition in a Brans–Dicke brane world scenario within an effective model of QCD. We study the evolution of the physical quantities relevant to a quantitative description of the early universe, namely, the energy density, temperature and the scale factor before, during, and after the phase transition. We show that for different values of the Brans–Dicke coupling, ω, phase transition occurs and results in decreasing the effective temperature of the quark–gluon plasma and of the hadronic fluid. We then move on to consider the quark–hadron transition in the smooth crossover regime at high and low temperatures and show that such a transition occurs and results in decreasing the effective temperature of the quark–gluon plasma during the process of quark–hadron phase transition.

Equation of State of Structured Matter at Finite Temperature

We investigate the properties of nuclear matter at the first-order phase transitions such as liquid-gas phase transition and hadron-quark phase transition. As a general feature of the first-order phase transitions of matter consisting of many species of charged particles, there appears a mixed phases with geometrical structures called ``pasta'' due to the balance of the Coulomb repulsion and the surface tension between two phases. The equation of state (EOS) of mixed phase is different from the one obtained by a bulk application of the Gibbs conditions or by the Maxwell construction due to the effects of the non-uniform structure. We show that the charge screening and strong surface tension make the EOS close to that of the Maxwell construction. The thermal effects are elucidated as well as the above finite-size effects.

IMPACT OF QUARKS AND PIONS ON DYNAMICS AND NEUTRINO SIGNAL OF BLACK HOLE FORMATION IN NON-ROTATING STELLAR CORE COLLAPSE

In the formation process of black holes, the density and temperature of matter become sufficiently high for quarks and pions to appear. In this study we numerically investigate stellar core collapse and black hole formation taking into account the equations of state involving quarks and/or pions. In our simulations, we utilize a code that solves the general relativistic hydrodynamics and neutrino transfer equations simultaneously, treating neutrino reactions in detail under spherical symmetry. Initial models with three different masses, namely, 40, 100 and 375Msolar, are adopted. Our results show that quarks and pions shorten the duration of neutrino emission if the collapse bounces before black hole formation. In addition, pions increase the luminosity and average energy of neutrinos before black hole formation. We also find that the hadron-quark phase transition leads to an interesting evolution of temperature. Moreover, the neutrino event number is evaluated for the currently operating neutrino detector, SuperKamiokande, to confirm that it is not only detectable but also affected by the emergence of quarks and pions for Galactic events. While there are some issues, such as hyperons, beyond the scope of this study, this is the first serious attempt to assess the impact of quarks and pions in dynamical simulations of black hole formation and will serve as an important foundation for future studies.

On thermal nucleation of quark matter in compact stars

The possibility of a hadron–quark phase transition in extreme astrophysical phenomena such as the collapse of a supernova is motivated from our present knowledge of the high-energy nuclear and quark-matter equations of state. Both the density and the temperature attainable in such extreme processes are possibly high enough to trigger a chiral phase transition. However, the time scales involved are an important issue. Even if the physical conditions for the phase transition are favorable (for a system in equilibrium), there may not be enough time for the dynamical process of phase conversion to be completed. We analyze the relevant time scales for the phase conversion via thermal nucleation of bubbles of quark matter and compare them to the typical astrophysical time scale, in order to verify the feasibility of the scenario of hadron–quark phase conversion during, for example, the core-collapse of a supernova.

INVESTIGATION OF THE EXISTENCE OF HYBRID STARS USING NAMBU–JONA–LASINIO MODELS

We investigate the hadron-quark phase transition inside neutron stars and obtain mass–radius relations for hybrid stars. The equation of state for the quark phase using the standard NJL model is too soft, leading to an unstable star and suggesting a modification of the NJL model by introducing a momentum cutoff dependent on the chemical potential. However, even in this approach, the instability remains. In order to remedy the instability we suggest the introduction of a vector coupling in the NJL model, which makes the EoS stiffer, reducing the instability. We conclude that the possible existence of quark matter inside the stars require high densities, leading to very compact stars.

Magnetic moments of octet baryons at finite density and temperature

We investigate the change of magnetic moments of octet baryons in nuclear matter at a finite density and temperature. Quark–meson coupling (QMC) models are employed in describing the properties of octet baryons and their interactions. Magnetic moments of octet baryons are found to increase non-negligibly as density and temperature increase, and we find that the temperature dependence can be strongly correlated with the quark–hadron phase transition. The model dependence is also examined by comparing the results from the QMC model to those from the modified QMC (MQMC) model where the bag constant is assumed to depend on density. Both models predict sizable dependence on density and temperature, but the MQMC model shows a more drastic change of magnetic moments. Feasible changes of the nucleon mass by strong magnetic fields are also reported for the given models.

Low-scale leptogenesis and the domain wall problem in models with discrete flavor symmetries

We propose a new mechanism for leptogenesis, which is naturally realized in models with a flavor symmetry based on the discrete group A4, where the symmetry breaking parameter also controls the Majorana masses for the heavy right-handed (RH) neutrinos. During the early universe, for T≳TeV, part of the symmetry is restored, due to finite temperature contributions, and the RH neutrinos remain massless and can be produced in thermal equilibrium even at temperatures well below the most conservative gravitino bounds. Below this temperature the phase transition occurs and they become massive, decaying out of equilibrium and producing the necessary lepton asymmetry. Unless the symmetry is broken explicitly by Planck-suppressed terms, the domain walls generated by the symmetry breaking survive till the quark–hadron phase transition, where they disappear due to a small energy splitting between the A4 vacua caused by the QCD anomaly.

Horava–Lifshitz cosmology and quark–hadron phase transition

Recently, Horava proposed a non-relativistic renormalisable theory of gravitation which reduces to Einstein general relativity at large distances but violate Lorentz invariance at small distances. In this paper, we consider the quark–hadron phase transition in Horava–Lifshitz cosmology within an effective model of quantum chromodynamics. We study the evolution of the physical quantities relevant to the physical description of the early universe, namely, the energy density, temperature and the scale factor before, during, and after the phase transition and investigate the effects of the dynamical coupling constant λ and the 1/a4 term on the cosmological phase transition.

Statistics of event by event fluctuations

Following Hwa and Wu [R.C. Hwa, Y. Wu, Phys. Rev. C 60 (1999) 0544904], we characterize the fluctuation behavior of the hadron density produced during quark-hadron phase transition, as modeled by a 2D Ising model. Using a recently developed discrete wavelet based approach, the scaling behavior is studied at temperatures below, at and above T c . At T c , we find the Hurst exponent H ≃ 1 , as observed in a recent experimental finding [L. Qin, M. Ta-chung, Phys. Rev. D 72 (2005) 014011]. However, as compared to the R / S analysis, which yields only the Hurst exponent, our local approach finds a correlation behavior and multifractal properties at temperatures below, at and above T c . We find evidence for a transition from Brownian to fractional Browian motion near T c . The correlation behavior compares well with the results obtained from a continuous wavelet based average wavelet co-efficient method, as well as with Fourier power spectral analysis.

First-Order Quark-Hadron Phase-Transition in a NJL-Type Model for Nuclear and Quark Matter: -- The Case of Symmetric Nuclear Matter --

The quark-hadron phase transition at finite baryon chemical potential is investigated in the extended Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model in which the scalar-vector eight-point interaction is included holding the chiral symmetry. By comparing a pressure of the symmetric nuclear matter with that of the quark matter, the realized phase at given baryon density is determined. As a result, the first order quark-hadron phase transition is derived where the deconfinement transition occurs after the chiral symmetry restoration in this model.

Interplay of shear and bulk viscosity in generating flow in heavy-ion collisions

We perform viscous hydrodynamic calculations in 2+1 dimensions to investigate the influence of bulk viscosity on the viscous suppression of elliptic flow in non-central heavy-ion collisions at RHIC energies. Bulk and shear viscous effects on the evolution of radial and elliptic flow are studied with different model assumptions for the transport coefficients. We find that the temperature dependence of the relaxation time for the bulk viscous pressure, especially its critical slowing down near the quark-hadron phase transition at T_c, partially offsets effects from the strong growth of the bulk viscosity itself near T_c, and that even small values of the specific shear viscosity eta/s of the fireball matter can be extracted without large uncertainties from poorly controlled bulk viscous effects.

Erratum: Interference of thermal photons from quark and hadronic phases in relativistic collisions of heavy nuclei [Phys. Rev. C80, 054914 (2009)

We explore the intensity correlations for thermal photons having $K_T\leq$ 2 GeV/$c$, for central collisions of heavy nuclei at RHIC and LHC energies. These photons get competing contributions from the quark and the hadronic phases. This competition gives rise to a unique structure, especially in the outward correlation function, due to the interference between the photons from the two sources. The temporal separation of the two sources provides the life time of the system and their strengths provide the relative contribution of the two phases. The results are found to be quite sensitive to the quark-hadron phase transition temperature and the formation time of the plasma.