Case for quarkyoniclike matter from a constituent quark model

TL;DR

This paper investigates the emergence of quarkyonic-like matter in dense baryonic systems using a constituent quark model that aligns with lattice QCD results, highlighting the transition from baryonic to quark-dominated phases.

Contribution

It demonstrates how quarkyonic modes can appear in dense baryonic matter prior to deconfinement, based on a constituent quark model consistent with lattice data.

Findings

Quarkyonic modes emerge at high baryon densities.

Initial quark modes involve $d(u)$-quarks from neutrons or protons.

The most attractive ($ud$) diquark remains intact during the transition.

Abstract

Based on the fact that the constituent quark model reproduces the recent lattice result on baryon-baryon repulsion at short distance and that it includes the quark dynamics with confinement, we analyze to what extent the quarkyonic modes appear in the phase space of baryons as one increases the density before only quark dynamics and hence deconfinement occurs. We find that as one increases the baryon density, the initial quark mode that appears will involve the $d(u)$-quark from a neutron (proton), which will leave the most attractive ($ud$) diquark intact.