Generalized Ginzburg-Landau approach to inhomogeneous phases in nonlocal chiral quark models

TL;DR

This paper investigates inhomogeneous phases in the QCD phase diagram using nonlocal chiral quark models and a generalized Ginzburg-Landau approach, focusing on the positions of tricritical and Lifshitz points.

Contribution

It provides a general analysis of the locations of TCP and LP in nonlocal chiral quark models, revealing their typical positions and implications for phase transition scenarios.

Findings

TCP is at higher temperature and lower chemical potential than LP

Models favor a first-order transition not covered by inhomogeneous phases

Inhomogeneous phases are less likely to cover the first-order transition region

Abstract

We analyze the presence of inhomogeneous phases in the QCD phase diagram within the framework of nonlocal chiral quark models. We concentrate in particular in the positions of the tricritical (TCP) and Lifshitz (LP) points, which are studied in a general context using a generalized Ginzburg-Landau approach. We find that for all the phenomenologically acceptable model parametrizations considered the TCP is located at a higher temperature and a lower chemical potential in comparison with the LP. Consequently, these models seem to favor a scenario in which the onset of the first order transition between homogeneous phases is not covered by an inhomogeneous, energetically favored phase.