Approaching Stable Quark Matter

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Bai, Yang, Chen, Ting-Kuo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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_version_ 1866918334854856704
author Bai, Yang
Chen, Ting-Kuo
author_facet Bai, Yang
Chen, Ting-Kuo
contents The determination of whether the ground state of baryon matter in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is the ordinary nucleus or a quark matter state remains a long-standing question in physics. A critical parameter in this investigation is the bag parameter $B$, which quantifies the QCD vacuum energy and can be computed using nonperturbative methods such as Lattice QCD (LQCD). By combining the equation of state derived from perturbative QCD (pQCD) with the bag parameter to fit the LQCD-simulated data for isospin-dense matter, we address the stability of quark matter within the LQCD+pQCD framework. Our findings suggest that the current data imposes an upper bound on $B^{1/4} \lesssim 160$ MeV, approaching a conclusive statement on quark matter stability. Given the lower bound on $B$ from the quark condensate contribution to the vacuum energy, the stable 2-flavor quark matter remains possible, whereas the stable 2+1-flavor quark matter is excluded, assuming complete deconfinement and chiral-symmetry restoration and the reliability of pQCD at baryon chemical potentials around the proton mass. Additionally, we derive more general thermodynamic bounds on the quark matter energy-per-baryon and $B$, which, while weaker, provide complementary insights.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_19678
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Approaching Stable Quark Matter
Bai, Yang
Chen, Ting-Kuo
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
High Energy Physics - Lattice
Nuclear Theory
The determination of whether the ground state of baryon matter in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is the ordinary nucleus or a quark matter state remains a long-standing question in physics. A critical parameter in this investigation is the bag parameter $B$, which quantifies the QCD vacuum energy and can be computed using nonperturbative methods such as Lattice QCD (LQCD). By combining the equation of state derived from perturbative QCD (pQCD) with the bag parameter to fit the LQCD-simulated data for isospin-dense matter, we address the stability of quark matter within the LQCD+pQCD framework. Our findings suggest that the current data imposes an upper bound on $B^{1/4} \lesssim 160$ MeV, approaching a conclusive statement on quark matter stability. Given the lower bound on $B$ from the quark condensate contribution to the vacuum energy, the stable 2-flavor quark matter remains possible, whereas the stable 2+1-flavor quark matter is excluded, assuming complete deconfinement and chiral-symmetry restoration and the reliability of pQCD at baryon chemical potentials around the proton mass. Additionally, we derive more general thermodynamic bounds on the quark matter energy-per-baryon and $B$, which, while weaker, provide complementary insights.
title Approaching Stable Quark Matter
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
High Energy Physics - Lattice
Nuclear Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.19678