Thermodynamics of quark quasi-particles ensemble

TL;DR

This paper investigates the thermodynamics of a hot, dense quark gas modeled as quasi-particles, revealing phase transitions and the potential for quark droplets, using an adapted Nambu-Jona-Lasinio framework.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model to study phase transitions and inhomogeneous phases in quark matter.

Findings

Identification of a phase transition similar to nuclear liquid-gas transition.

Estimation of surface tension coefficient at the phase boundary.

Proposal of the existence of quark droplets in the mixed phase.

Abstract

The features of hot and dense gas of quarks which are considered as the quasi-particles of the model Hamiltonian with four-fermion interaction are studied. Being adapted to the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model this approach allows us to accommodate a phase transition similar to the nuclear liquid-gas one at the proper scale and to argue an existence of the mixed (inhomogeneous) phase of vacuum and normal baryonic matter as a plausible scenario of chiral symmetry (partial) restoration. Analyzing the transition layer between two phases we estimate the surface tension coefficient and speculate on the possible existence of quark droplet.