The Equation of State of Deconfined Matter at Finite Chemical Potential in a Quasiparticle Description

TL;DR

This paper develops a quasiparticle model to describe the thermodynamics of deconfined matter at finite chemical potential, matching lattice QCD data and exploring implications for compact star matter.

Contribution

It generalizes a quasiparticle approach to include finite chemical potential, extending the equation of state from zero to non-zero densities.

Findings

Reproduces lattice QCD data at finite temperature

Extends the equation of state to finite chemical potential

Analyzes impact of strange quark mass on deconfined matter

Abstract

A quasiparticle description of the thermodynamics of deconfined matter, reproducing both the perturbative limit and nonperturbative lattice QCD data at finite temperature, is generalized to finite chemical potential. By a flow equation resulting from Maxwell's relation, the equation of state is extended from zero to non-zero quark densities. The impact of the massive strange flavor is considered and implications for cold, charge-neutral deconfined matter in $\beta$-equilibrium in compact stars are given.