Equation of State of Cold Quark Matter to $O(\alpha_s^3 \ln \alpha_s)$

TL;DR

This paper advances the theoretical understanding of cold quark matter's equation of state by calculating high-order corrections in the strong coupling expansion, crucial for modeling neutron star cores.

Contribution

It derives the complete gauge-invariant N3LO contributions to the cold quark matter EOS, elevating the precision of theoretical predictions to the $O(\alpha_s^3 \ln \alpha_s)$ level.

Findings

Achieved gauge-invariant N3LO corrections to the EOS.

Reduced unknown constants at high order.

Placed cold quark matter EOS on par with high-temperature results.

Abstract

Accurately understanding the equation of state (EOS) of high-density, zero-temperature quark matter plays an essential role in constraining the behavior of dense strongly interacting matter inside the cores of neutron stars. In this Letter, we study the weak-coupling expansion of the EOS of cold quark matter and derive the complete, gauge-invariant contributions from the long-wavelength, dynamically screened gluonic sector at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N3LO) in the strong coupling constant $\alpha_s$. This elevates the EOS result to the $O(\alpha_s^3 \ln \alpha_s)$ level, leaving only one unknown constant from the unscreened sector at N3LO, and places it on par with its high-temperature counterpart from 2003.