Gravitating bubbles of gluon plasma above deconfinement temperature

TL;DR

This paper models gluonic matter above the deconfinement temperature using effective potentials, discovering stable localized configurations called Q-balls and boson stars, which resemble bubbles of deconfined gluons with sizes under 10 fm.

Contribution

It introduces the existence of spherically symmetric Q-balls and boson stars in SU(3) Yang-Mills theory above deconfinement temperature, linking them to gluonic bubbles.

Findings

Q-balls exist between 1 and 1.21 times T_c

Boson stars are found in the same temperature range

Solutions have radii smaller than 10 fm

Abstract

The equation of state of SU(3) Yang-Mills theory can be modelled by an effective $Z_3-$symmetric potential $V(\vert\phi\vert,\phi^3+\phi^{3*}, T)$ depending on the temperature $T$ and on a scalar field $\phi$ -- the averaged Polyakov loop. Allowing $\phi$ to be dynamical opens the way to the study of spatially localized classical configurations of the Polyakov loop. We first show that spherically symmetric static Q-balls exist in the range $(1-1.21)\times T_c$, $T_c$ being the deconfinement temperature. Then we argue that Q-holes solutions, if any are unphysical within our framework. Finally we couple the Polyakov-loop Lagrangian to Einstein gravity and show that spherically symmetric static boson stars exist in the same range of temperature. The Q-ball and boson star solutions we find can be interpreted as "bubbles" of deconfined gluonic matter; their mean radius is always smaller than 10 fm.