Lattice study on finite density QC$_2$D towards zero temperature

TL;DR

This study explores the phase structure and equation of state of dense two-color QCD at near-zero temperature using large-volume lattice simulations, revealing key properties of the BCS phase and topological susceptibility independence.

Contribution

It extends previous finite-temperature studies to zero temperature, providing detailed insights into the phase structure, diquark condensate scaling, and topological susceptibility in dense QC2D.

Findings

Hadronic-matter phase shrinks with decreasing temperature.

Diquark condensate scales as μ^2 in the BCS phase.

Topological susceptibility is independent of μ.

Abstract

We investigate the phase structure and the equation of state (EoS) for dense two-color QCD (QC$_2$D) at low temperature ($T = 40$ MeV, $32^4$ lattice) for the purpose of extending our previous works~\cite{Iida:2019rah, Iida:2022hyy} at $T=80$ MeV ($16^4$ lattice). Indeed, a rich phase structure below the pseudo-critical temperature $T_c$ as a function of quark chemical potential $\mu$ has been revealed, but finite volume effects in a high-density regime sometimes cause a wrong understanding. Therefore, it is important to investigate the temperature dependence down to zero temperature with large-volume simulations. By performing $32^4$ simulations, we obtain essentially similar results to the previous ones, but we are now allowed to get a fine understanding of the phase structure via the temperature dependence. Most importantly, we find that the hadronic-matter phase, which is composed of thermally excited hadrons, shrinks with decreasing temperature and that the diquark condensate scales as $\langle qq \rangle \propto \mu^2$ in the BCS phase, a property missing at $T=80$ MeV. From careful analyses, furthermore, we confirm a tentative conclusion that the topological susceptibility is independent of $\mu$. We also show the temperature dependence of the pressure, internal energy, and sound velocity as a function of $\mu$. The pressure increases around the hadronic-superfluid phase transition more rapidly at the lower temperature, while the temperature dependence of the sound velocity is invisible. Breaking of the conformal bound is also confirmed thanks to the smaller statistical error.