NANOGrav hints for first-order confinement-deconfinement phase transition in different QCD-matter scenarios

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Chen, Zu-Cheng, Li, Shou-Long, Wu, Puxun, Yu, Hongwei
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Chen, Zu-Cheng
Li, Shou-Long
Wu, Puxun
Yu, Hongwei
author_facet Chen, Zu-Cheng
Li, Shou-Long
Wu, Puxun
Yu, Hongwei
contents Recent observations from several pulsar timing array (PTA) collaborations have unveiled compelling evidence for a stochastic signal in the nanohertz band. This signal aligns remarkably with a gravitational wave (GW) background, potentially originating from the first-order color charge confinement phase transition. Distinct quantum chromodynamics (QCD) matters, such as quarks or gluons, and diverse phase transition processes thereof can yield disparate GW energy density spectra. In this paper, employing the Bayesian analysis on the NANOGrav 15-year data set, we explore the compatibility with the observed PTA signal of the GW from phase transitions of various QCD matter scenarios in the framework of the holographic QCD. We find that the PTA signal can be effectively explained by the GW from the confinement-deconfinement phase transition of pure quark systems in a hard wall model of the holographic QCD where the bubble dynamics, one important source of the GWs, is of the Jouguet detonations. Notably, our analysis decisively rules out the plausibility of the pure gluon QCD-matter scenario and the non-runaway bubble dynamics model for the phase transition in explaining the observed PTA signal.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2312_01824
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle NANOGrav hints for first-order confinement-deconfinement phase transition in different QCD-matter scenarios
Chen, Zu-Cheng
Li, Shou-Long
Wu, Puxun
Yu, Hongwei
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Recent observations from several pulsar timing array (PTA) collaborations have unveiled compelling evidence for a stochastic signal in the nanohertz band. This signal aligns remarkably with a gravitational wave (GW) background, potentially originating from the first-order color charge confinement phase transition. Distinct quantum chromodynamics (QCD) matters, such as quarks or gluons, and diverse phase transition processes thereof can yield disparate GW energy density spectra. In this paper, employing the Bayesian analysis on the NANOGrav 15-year data set, we explore the compatibility with the observed PTA signal of the GW from phase transitions of various QCD matter scenarios in the framework of the holographic QCD. We find that the PTA signal can be effectively explained by the GW from the confinement-deconfinement phase transition of pure quark systems in a hard wall model of the holographic QCD where the bubble dynamics, one important source of the GWs, is of the Jouguet detonations. Notably, our analysis decisively rules out the plausibility of the pure gluon QCD-matter scenario and the non-runaway bubble dynamics model for the phase transition in explaining the observed PTA signal.
title NANOGrav hints for first-order confinement-deconfinement phase transition in different QCD-matter scenarios
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.01824