Discussion of thermodynamic features within the PNJL model

We discuss some thermodynamical features of a QCD system within the two-flavor Polyakov loop extended Nambu–Jona-Lasinio(PNJL) model. Several thermodynamical quantities of interest(pressure, energy density,specific heat, speed of sound, etc.) are investigated and discussed in detail with two different forms of Polyakov loop potential. The effective coupling strength G incorporating a quark feedback(quark condensate) through operator product expansion is also discussed, as well as the relationship between color deconfinement and chiral phase crossover.We find that some thermodynamical quantities have quite different behavior for different Polyakov loop potentials.By changing the characteristic temperature T_0 of the pure Yang-Mills field, we find that when T_0 becomes small,color deconfinement might happen earlier than chiral phase crossover, while their relationship can be determined via some thermodynamical quantities. Furthermore, the behavior of the thermodynamical quantities is quite different in the two different forms of Polyakov loop potential studied. Especially, one of the potentials, specific heat, has two peaks, which correspond to color deconfinement and chiral phase crossover respectively. This interesting phenomenon may shed some light on whether the inflection points of the chiral condensate and deconfinement transitions happen at the same temperature or not for lattice QCD and experimental studies.     

Chiral and deconfinement transition from correlation functions: SU(2) vs. SU(3)

We study a gauge-invariant order parameter for deconfinement and the chiral condensate in SU(2) and SU(3) Yang–Mills theory in the vicinity of the deconfinement phase transition using the Landau gauge quark and gluon propagators. We determine the gluon propagator from lattice calculations and the quark propagator from its Dyson–Schwinger equation, using the gluon propagator as input. The critical temperature and a deconfinement order parameter are extracted from the gluon propagator and from the dependency of the quark propagator on the temporal boundary conditions. The chiral transition is determined using the quark condensate as order parameter. We investigate whether and how a difference in the chiral and deconfinement transition between SU(2) and SU(3) is manifest.     

Monopoles, instantons and chiral condensate in lattice QCD

We analyze the interplay of topological objects in four-dimensional QCD at finite temperature on the lattice. The distributions of color magnetic monopoles in the maximum abelian gauge are computed around instantons. Studies are performed in both pure and full QCD and in both the confinement and deconfinement phase. We find an enhanced probability for monopoles inside the core of an instanton on gauge field average. This is independent of the topological charge definition used. For specific gauge field configurations we visualize the situation graphically. Moreover the correlation of monopole loops and instantons with the chiral condensate is investigated. Strong evidence is found that clusters of the quark condensate and topological objects coexist locally on individual configurations.     

q-deformed supersymmetric Newton oscillators

We propose that in QCD with dynamical quarks, colour deconfinement occurs when an external field induced by the chiral condensate strongly aligns the Polyakov loop. This effect sets in at the chiral symmetry restoration temperature and thus makes deconfinement and chiral symmetry restoration coincide. The predicted singular behaviour of Polyakov loop susceptibilities at is shown to be supported by finite temperature lattice calculations. Received: 27 September 2000 / Published online: 8 December 2000     

Pion decay constant at finite temperature

The values of the pion decay constant, and of the bilinear fermionic condensate, for temperatures from zero up to the critical temperature for chiral phase transition, are calculated using our composite operator approach to finite temperature QCD. For small temperatures our results agree with those found with other approaches. Near the critical temperature we recover the universal behaviour typical of second order phase transition. We have assumed that effects responsible for deconfinement do not strongly perturb our chiral approach for two and possibly three flavours.     

New critical point induced by the axial anomaly in dense QCD

We study the interplay between chiral and diquark condensates within the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau free energy, and classify possible phase structures of two and three-flavor massless QCD. The QCD axial anomaly acts as an external field applied to the chiral condensate in a color superconductor and leads to a crossover between the broken chiral symmetry and the color superconducting phase, and, in particular, to a new critical point in the QCD phase diagram.     

The QCD phase structure at high baryon density

We consider the possibility that color deconfinement and chiral symmetry restoration do not coincide in dense baryonic matter at low temperature. As a consequence, a state of massive “constituent” quarks would exist as an intermediate phase between confined nuclear matter and the plasma of deconfined massless quarks and gluons. We discuss the properties of this state and its relation to the recently proposed quarkyonic matter.     

Chiral and deconfinement phase transitions of two-flavour QCD at finite temperature and chemical potential

We present results for the chiral and deconfinement transition of two flavor QCD at finite temperature and chemical potential. To this end we study the quark condensate and its dual, the dressed Polyakov loop, with functional methods using a set of Dyson-Schwinger equations. The quark propagator is determined self-consistently within a truncation scheme including temperature and in-medium effects of the gluon propagator. For the chiral transition we find a crossover turning into a first order transition at a critical endpoint at large quark chemical potential, μEP/TEP≈3. For the deconfinement transition we find a pseudo-critical temperature above the chiral transition in the crossover region but coinciding transition temperatures close to the critical endpoint.     

The future of hard and electromagnetic probes at RHIC

Potential near- and long-term physics opportunities with jets, heavy flavors and electromagnetic probes at RHIC are presented. Much new physics remains to be unveiled using these probes, due to their sensitivity to the initial high density stage of RHIC collisions, when quark-gluon plasma (QGP) formation is expected. Additional physics will include addressing deconfinement, chiral symmetry restoration, properties of the strongly-coupled QGP and a possible weakly-interacting QGP, color glass condensate in the initial state, and hadronization. To fully realize the physics prospects of the RHIC energy regime, new detector components must be added to existing experiments, the RHIC machine luminosity upgraded, and a possible new detector with significantly extended coverage and capabilities added.Arrival of the final proofs: 26 July 2005PACS: 25.75Nq     

Thermo-field dynamics and quark–hadron phase transition in QCD

Based on the topological structure of gauge theory, an effective dual version of QCD has been reviewed and analyzed for the phase structure and color confining properties of QCD by invoking the dynamical magnetic symmetry breaking. The multi-flux-tube configuration of condensed QCD vacuum has been explored and associated glueball masses and inter-quark potential have been derived. Thermal response of QCD vacuum has been analyzed using path-integral formalism alongwith the mean-field approach and associated thermodynamical potential is used to derive thermal form of glueball masses, monopole condensate, inter-quark potential and monopole density which then lead to an estimate of the critical temperature of QCD phase transition. During its thermal evolution, a smooth transition of hadronic system via a weakly bound QGP phase to the fully deconfined phase is established and the thermal evolution profiles of various parameters are shown to indicate a second-order deconfinement phase transition and the restoration of magnetic symmetry. Monopole density calculations have been shown to lead to gradual evaporation of magnetic condensate into thermal monopoles during QCD phase transition.     

改进的PNJL模型下QCD的相图

Polyakov-Nambu-Jona-Lasinio（PNJL）模型是研究强相互作用物质性质的使用最为广泛的有效模型之一。在PNJL模型的基础上考虑了手征凝聚和Polyakov圈之间的纠缠作用,并且引入了化学势修正的Polyakov有效势,由此得到了化学势依赖的entangled PNJL（μEPNJL）模型。在平均场框架下的计算结果表明:相较于原始的PNJL模型,由μEPNJL模型计算得到的临界点（CEP）朝着温度更高、化学势更小处移动,并且手征对称性恢复相变和退禁闭相变在较大的化学势范围内都重合得很好。通过与STAR合作组在相对论重离子对撞机（RHIC）上进行的净质子数分布的测量结果相比,可以发现,通过适当的参数调节,由μEPNJL模型计算得到的CEP更加靠近实验预言的CEP可能存在的区域。Polyakov-Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (PNJL) model is one of the most popular effective quark models to investigate the properties of strongly interacting matter. Based on the PNJL model, we consider the entanglement interactions between the chiral condensate and Polyakov-loop, as well as the chemical potential modification of Polyakov-loop potential simultaneously, which is named μEPNJL model. Compared with the original PNJL model, the calculations in the mean field approximation show that the critical end point (CEP) given in the μEPNJL model moves towards higher temperature and smaller chemical potential in the T-μ phase diagram. Besides, the chiral symmetry restoration and deconfinement phase transition coincide well in a wide range of chemical potential. Comparing our calculations with the measurement of the moments of net-proton multiplicity distributions at Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) by STAR Collaboration, we find that the CEP given by μEPNJL model can be closer to the range predicted by the experiment through appropriate parameter adjustment.     

Disappearance of Chiral Soliton Solutions and Chiral Phase Transition at High Temperature

The behavior of the chiral soliton model at high temperature is investigated.as well as the influence of thermal effects on the chiral soliton solutions and the fermion condensation is analysed.One possible physical mechanism is established,which is responsible for why there exists a difference between the critical temperature in deconfinement phase transition and that in chiral restoration phase transition.     

Quark matter and meson properties in a Nonlocal SU(3) chiral quark model at finite temperature

We study the finite temperature behavior of light scalar and pseudoscalar meson properties in the context of a three-flavor nonlocal chiral quark model. The model includes mixing with active strangeness degrees of freedom, and takes care of the effect of gauge interactions by coupling the quarks with a background color field. We analyze the chiral restoration and deconfinement transitions, as well as the temperature dependence of meson masses, mixing angles, and decay constants.     

Recent developments on the UrQMD hybrid model

We present recent results from the UrQMD hybrid approach investigating the influence of a deconfinement phase transition on the dynamics of hot and dense nuclear matter. In the hydrodynamic stage an equation of state that incorporates a critical end-point (CEP) in line with lattice data is used. The equation of state describes chiral restoration as well as the deconfinement phase transition. We compare the results from this new equation of state to results obtained by applying a hadron resonance gas equation of state, focusing on bulk observables. Furthermore we will discuss future improvements of the hydrodynamic model. This includes the formulation of chiral fluid dynamics to be able to study the effects of a chiral critical point as well as considerable improvements in terms of computational time which would open up possibilities for observables that require high statistics.     

Confinement versus chiral symmetry

We construct an effective Lagrangian which illustrates why color deconfines when chiral symmetry is restored in hot gauge theories with quarks in the fundamental representation. For quarks in the adjoint representation we show that, while deconfinement and the chiral transition do not need to coincide, entanglement between them is still present. Extension to the chemical potential driven transition is discussed.     

High statistics study of the chiral condensate in quenched lattice QCD

We present the results of a high statistics study of the chiral condensate in quenched lattice QCD on an 8⁴ lattice at β = 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8 and 6.0. We see clear evidence for deviation from asymptotic scaling in the range of β considered. Our results are in agreement with the behaviour anticipated from recent Monte Carlo renormalisation group studies of the β-function. We find indications of a common scaling behaviour for the condensate, the string tension and the deconfinement temperature.     

On the QCD phase structure from effective models

Some recent theoretical developments of the QCD phase diagram are summarized. Chiral symmetry restoration and the confinement/deconfinement transition at nonzero temperature and quark densities are analyzed in the framework of an effective linear sigma model with three light quark flavors. The sensitivity of the chiral transition as well as the existence of a critical end point in the phase diagram on the value of the sigma mass is explored. The influence of the axial anomaly on the chiral critical surface is addressed. Finally, the modifications by the inclusion of the Polyakov loop on the phase structure are investigated.     

Possible pseudogap phase in QCD

Thermal pion fluctuations, in principle, can completely disorder the phase of quark condensate and thus restore chiral symmetry. If this happens before the quark condensate melts, strongly interacting matter will be in the pseudogap state just above the chiral phase transition. The quark condensate does not vanish locally, and quarks acquire constituent masses in the pseudogap phase, despite the fact that chiral symmetry is restored.     

Mixed quark–gluon condensate at finite temperature and density in the global color symmetry model

We study the properties of mixed quark–gluon condensate at finite temperature and chemical potential in the framework of global color symmetry model. In comparing with the quark condensate, we confirm that both of these condensates give the same information about chiral phase transition. We also find that the ratio of these two condensates is insensitive to the temperature T and the chemical potential μ, which supports the conclusion obtained recently by the authors using quenched lattice QCD.     

Fluctuations and the QCD phase diagram

In this contribution the role of quantum fluctuations for the QCD phase diagram is discussed. This concerns in particular the importance of the matter back-reaction to the gluonic sector. The impact of these fluctuations on the location of the confinement/deconfinement and the chiral transition lines as well as their interrelation are investigated. Consequences of our findings for the size of a possible quarkyonic phase and location of a critical endpoint in the phase diagram are drawn.