Quark mean-field model for nuclear matter with or without bag

TL;DR

This paper introduces the QMFB model that incorporates the bag confinement mechanism into the quark mean-field model, significantly affecting nuclear matter and neutron star properties, especially the star radius and symmetry energy effects.

Contribution

The paper develops the QMFB model with the bag confinement mechanism and demonstrates its impact on nuclear matter and neutron star characteristics, providing new insights into quark confinement effects.

Findings

Bag decreases nuclear matter binding energy

Bag increases symmetry energy

Bag significantly affects neutron star radius R

Abstract

We propose the new quark mean-field bag (QMFB) model by incorporating the bag confinement mechanism in the original quark mean-field model. Nuclear matter and neutron star properties are studied with the QMFB model. For the study of the bag effect, we newly fit 12 parameter sets by reproducing the empirical saturation properties of nuclear matter. Quark confinement is found to be mainly demonstrated by the bag after it is included in the model, instead of the confining potential. For nuclear matter, the bag decreases the binding energy and increases the symmetry energy. For neutron star, the bag affects significantly the radius $R$ of a $1.4M_\odot$ star, with the maximum mass only slightly modified. The bag also has a large suppression effect on the well-accepted $R$ vs $L$ dependence, with $L$ the symmetry energy slope at the saturation density.