Towards a new quark-nuclear matter EoS for applications in astrophysics and heavy-ion collisions

TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive equation of state for nuclear and quark matter applicable to both heavy-ion collisions and astrophysical phenomena, aiming for a unified description across diverse conditions.

Contribution

It introduces an improved EoS for hadronic and quark matter phases and discusses steps towards a unified quark-nuclear matter EoS beyond the traditional 2-phase approach.

Findings

Successful joining of hadronic and quark matter EoS via Maxwell construction

Identification of limitations in the 2-phase description

Proposal of a cluster virial expansion for a more fundamental EoS

Abstract

The aim of our work is to develop a unified equation of state (EoS) for nuclear and quark matter for a wide range in temperature, density and isospin so that it becomes applicable for heavy-ion collisions as well as for the astrophysics of neutron stars, their mergers and supernova explosions. As a first step, we use improved EoS for the hadronic and quark matter phases and join them via Maxwell construction. We discuss the limitations of a 2-phase description and outline steps beyond it, towards the formulation of a unified quark-nuclear matter EoS on a more fundamental level by a cluster virial expansion.