Ginzburg-Landau phase diagram for dense matter with axial anomaly, strange quark mass, and meson condensation

Oct, 2010
25 pages
Published in:
  • Phys.Rev.D 83 (2011) 045008
e-Print:

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Abstract: (arXiv)
We discuss the phase structure of dense matter, in particular the nature of the transition between hadronic and quark matter. Calculations within a Ginzburg-Landau approach show that the axial anomaly can induce a critical point in this transition region. This is possible because in three-flavor quark matter with instanton effects a chiral condensate can be added to the color-flavor locked (CFL) phase without changing the symmetries of the ground state. In (massless) two-flavor quark matter such a critical point is not possible since the corresponding color superconductor (2SC) does not break chiral symmetry. We study the effects of a nonzero but finite strange quark mass which interpolates between these two cases. Since at ultra-high density the first reaction of CFL to a nonzero strange quark mass is to develop a kaon condensate, we extend previous Ginzburg-Landau studies by including such a condensate. We discuss the fate of the critical point systematically and show that the continuity between hadronic and quark matter can be disrupted by the onset of a kaon condensate. Moreover, we identify the mass terms in the Ginzburg-Landau potential which are needed for the 2SC phase to occur in the phase diagram.
Note:
  • 25 pages, 10 figures, v2: small modifications; references added; version to appear in Phys.Rev.D
  • 24.85.+p
  • 12.38.Mh
  • quark: matter
  • hadron: matter
  • strangeness: mass
  • K: condensation
  • anomaly: axial
  • meson: condensation
  • color: superconductivity
  • instanton: effect