Lattice effective theory and the phase transition at finite densities

TL;DR

This paper investigates the phase transition from hadronic matter to color-superconductivity at high densities using an effective lattice theory that includes Yang-Mills and di-quark dynamics, revealing a first-order transition and simultaneous quark-gluon liberation.

Contribution

It introduces a lattice effective theory combining Yang-Mills and di-quark fields to study the phase transition at finite densities, providing new insights into the transition's nature.

Findings

First-order phase transition identified between flux tube and superconducting phases

Quark and gluon liberation occur at the same critical chemical potential

Lattice simulations of a toy model support the theoretical predictions

Abstract

The transition from the hadronic phase to the phase of color-superconductivity at large densities is addressed by an effective theory which incorporates the Yang-Mills dynamics in addition to the di-quark degree of freedom. A toy version of this theory is studied by lattice simulations. A first order phase transition separates the regime of broken color-electric flux tubes from the color superconducting phase. My findings suggest that the quark and gluon liberation occurs at the same critical chemical potential.