SU($4$) Polyakov linear-sigma model at finite temperature and density

TL;DR

This paper develops an SU(4) Polyakov linear-sigma model to study the quark-hadron phase transition across various temperatures and densities, analyzing chiral condensates and deconfinement parameters.

Contribution

It introduces an SU(4) PLSM framework to explore the influence of charm quarks on QCD phase structure at finite temperature and density.

Findings

Charm condensates have higher critical temperatures than light and strange condensates.

Charm condensates are not significantly affected by the QCD phase transition.

Increasing chemical potential lowers the critical temperatures for phase transition.

Abstract

In mean-field approximation, the SU($4$) Polyakov linear - sigma model (PLSM) is constructed in order to characterize the quark-hadron phase structure in a wide range of temperatures and densities. The chiral condensates $\sigma_l$, $\sigma_s$ and $\sigma_c$ for light, strange and charm quarks, respectively, and the deconfinement order-parameters $\phi$ and $\phi^*$ shall be analyzed at finite temperatures and densities. We conclude that the critical temperatures corresponding to charm condensates are greater than that to strange and light ones, respectively. Thus, the charm condensates are likely not affected by the QCD phase transition. Furthermore, increasing the chemical potentials decreases the corresponding critical temperatures.