Nuclear Liquid-Gas Transition in the Strong Coupling Regime of Lattice QCD

TL;DR

This paper investigates the nuclear liquid-gas phase transition in lattice QCD at strong coupling, overcoming the sign problem using a dual formulation to explore phase boundaries, baryon masses, and nuclear interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a dual formulation approach to study the nuclear liquid-gas transition in lattice QCD at strong coupling, providing new insights into phase structure and interactions.

Findings

Identified the first order liquid-gas transition at low temperatures.

Determined baryon masses as a function of quark mass and coupling.

Compared nuclear interactions with mean field results.

Abstract

The nuclear liquid-gas transition from a gas of hadrons to a nuclear phase cannot be determined numerically from conventional lattice QCD due to the severe sign problem at large values of the baryon chemical potential. In the strong coupling regime of lattice QCD with staggered quarks, the dual formulation is suitable to address the nuclear liquid gas transition. We determine this first order transition at low temperatures and as a function of the quark mass and the inverse gauge coupling $\beta$. We also determine the baryon mass and discuss the nuclear interactions as a function of the quark mass, and compare to mean field results.