Phase Diagram Of Two-color QCD Research Articles

Baryonic matter onset in two-color QCD with heavy quarks

We study the cold and dense regime in the phase diagram of two-color QCD with heavy quarks within a three-dimensional effective theory for Polyakov loops. This theory is derived from two-color QCD in a combined strong-coupling and hopping expansion. In particular, we study the onset of diquark density as the finite-density transition of the bosonic baryons in the two-color world. In contrast to previous studies of heavy dense QCD, our zero-temperature extrapolations are consistent with a continuous transition without binding energy. They thus provide evidence that the effective theory for heavy quarks is capable of describing the characteristic differences between diquark condensation in two-color QCD and the liquid-gas transition of nuclear matter in QCD.

Two-color QCD with non-zero chiral chemical potential

The phase diagram of two-color QCD with non-zero chiral chemical potential is studied by means of lattice simulation. We focus on the influence of a chiral chemical potential on the confinement/deconfinement phase transition and the breaking/restoration of chiral symmetry. The simulation is carried out with dynamical staggered fermions without rooting. The dependences of the Polyakov loop, the chiral condensate and the corresponding susceptibilities on the chiral chemical potential and the temperature are presented. The critical temperature is observed to increase with increasing chiral chemical potential.

Polyakov-quark–meson–diquark model for two-color QCD

We present an update on the phase diagram of two-color QCD from a chiral effective model approach based on a quark–meson–diquark model using the Functional Renormalization Group (FRG). We discuss the impact of perturbative UV contributions, the inclusion of gauge field dynamics via a phenomenological Polyakov loop potential, and the impact of matter backcoupling on the gauge sector. The corresponding phase diagram including these effects is found to be in qualitative agreement with recent lattice investigations.

Universal Aspects of QCD-like Theories

In these lectures I review some basic examples of how the concepts of universality and scaling can be used to study aspects of the chiral and the deconfinement transition, if not in QCD directly but in QCD-like theories. As an example for flavor dynamics I discuss a quark-hadron model to describe the phase diagram of two-color QCD with the functional renormalization group. Universal aspects of deconfinement are illustrated mainly in the 2+1 dimensional SU(N) gauge theories with second order transition where many exact results from spin models can be exploited.

Two-color QCD via dimensional reduction

We study the thermodynamics of two-color QCD at high temperature and/or density using a dimensionally reduced superrenormalizable effective theory, formulated in terms of a coarse grained Wilson line. In the absence of quarks, the theory is required to respect the Z(2) center symmetry, while the effects of quarks of arbitrary masses and chemical potentials are introduced via soft Z(2) breaking operators. Perturbative matching of the effective theory parameters to the full theory is carried out explicitly, and it is argued how the new theory can be used to explore the phase diagram of two-color QCD.

Confining properties of QCD at finite temperature and density

A disorder parameter detecting dual superconductivity of the vacuum is used as a probe to characterize the confining properties of the phase diagram of two-color QCD at finite temperature and density. We obtain evidence for the disappearing of dual superconductivity (deconfinement) induced by a finite density of baryonic matter, as well as for a coincidence of this phenomenon with the restoration of chiral symmetry both at zero and finite density. The saturation transition induced by Pauli blocking is studied as well, and a general warning is given about the possible effects that this unphysical transition could have on the study of the QCD phase diagram at strong values of the gauge coupling.

Thermodynamics of chiral symmetry at low densities

The phase diagram of two-color QCD as a function of temperature and baryon chemical potential is considered. Using a low-energy chiral Lagrangian based on the symmetries of the microscopic theory, we determine, at the one-loop level, the temperature dependence of the critical chemical potential for diquark condensation and the temperature dependence of the diquark condensate and baryon density. The prediction for the temperature dependence of the critical chemical potential is consistent with the one obtained for a dilute Bose gas. The associated phase transition is shown to be of second order for low temperatures and first order at higher temperatures. The tricritical point at which the second order phase transition ends is determined. The results are carried over to QCD with quarks in the adjoint representation and to ordinary QCD at a non-zero chemical potential for isospin.