Spectral Continuity in Dense QCD

TL;DR

This paper investigates how vector mesons behave in dense three-flavor quark matter, revealing mass splitting effects and the disappearance of singlet mesons at high density, with implications for understanding QCD phases.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of vector meson spectral properties in dense quark matter using in-medium QCD sum rules, highlighting the fate of mesons at high density.

Findings

Flavor-octet vector mesons remain light at high density.

Singlet vector mesons disappear from low-energy spectrum at high density.

Diquark condensates cause mass splitting between flavor channels.

Abstract

The vector mesons in three-flavor quark matter with chiral and diquark condensates are studied using the in-medium QCD sum rules. The diquark condensate leads to a mass splitting between the flavor-octet and flavor-singlet channels. At high density, the singlet vector meson disappears from the low-energy spectrum, while the octet vector mesons survive as light excitations with a mass comparable to the fermion gap. A possible connection between the light gluonic modes and the flavor-octet vector mesons at high density is also discussed.