Ginzburg-Landau phase diagram for dense matter with axial anomaly, strange quark mass, and meson condensation
Oct, 2010
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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
References(56)
Figures(22)