The NJL model and strange quark matter

The stability of strange quark matter is studied within the Nambu Jona-Lasinio model with three different parameter sets. The model Lagrangian contains 4-fermion (with and without vector interaction) and 6-fermion terms; the minimum energy per baryon number as a function of the strangeness fraction of the system is compared to the masses of hyperons having the same strangeness fraction, and coherently calculated in the same version of the model, and for the same parameter set. The results show that in none of the different parameter sets strangelets are stable, and in some cases a minimum in the energy per baryon does not even exist.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, reference added, typos corrected, version to appear in Europhys. Let

Baryonic masses based on the NJL model

We employ the Nambu Jona--Lasinio model to determine the vacuum pressure on the quarks in a baryon and hence their density inside. Then we estimate the baryonic masses by implementing the local density approximation for the mean field quark energies obtained in a uniform and isotropic system. We obtain a fair agreement with the experimental masses.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures. to be published on EPJ

Lattice QCD-based equations of state at vanishing net-baryon density

We present realistic equations of state for QCD matter at vanishing net-baryon density which embed recent lattice QCD results at high temperatures combined with a hadron resonance gas model in the low-temperature, confined phase. In the latter, we allow an implementation of partial chemical equilibrium, in which particle ratios are fixed at the chemical freeze-out, so that a description closer to the experimental situation is possible. Given the present uncertainty in the determination of the chemical freeze-out temperature from first-principle lattice QCD calculations, we consider different values within the expected range. The corresponding equations of state can be applied in the hydrodynamic modeling of relativistic heavy-ion collisions at the LHC and at the highest RHIC beam energies. Suitable parametrizations of our results as functions of the energy density are also provided.Comment: Updated journal version with refined EoS-parametrization. July 2014. 8 pp. 4 figs. 3 parametrization-tables and weblink Ref. [45

Quark number susceptibilities: lattice QCD versus PNJL model

Quark number susceptibilities at finite quark chemical potential are investigated in the framework of the Polyakov-loop-extended Nambu Jona-Lasinio (PNJL) model. A detailed comparison is performed between the available lattice data, extrapolated using a Taylor expansion around vanishing chemical potential, and PNJL results consistently obtained from a Taylor series truncated at the same order. The validity of the Taylor expansion is then examined through a comparison between the full and truncated PNJL model calculations.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Mesonic correlation functions at finite temperature and density in the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with a Polyakov loop

We investigate the properties of scalar and pseudo-scalar mesons at finite temperature and quark chemical potential in the framework of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model coupled to the Polyakov loop (PNJL model) with the aim of taking into account features of both chiral symmetry breaking and deconfinement. The mesonic correlators are obtained by solving the Schwinger-Dyson equation in the RPA approximation with the Hartree (mean field) quark propagator at finite temperature and density. In the phase of broken chiral symmetry a narrower width for the sigma meson is obtained with respect to the NJL case; on the other hand, the pion still behaves as a Goldstone boson. When chiral symmetry is restored, the pion and sigma spectral functions tend to merge. The Mott temperature for the pion is also computed.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, version to appear in Phys. Rev.

A PNJL model in 0+1 Dimensions

We formulate the Polyakov-Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (PNJL) model in 0+1 dimensions. The thermodynamics captured by the partition function yields a bulk pressure, as well as quark susceptibilities versus temperature that are similar to the ones in 3+1 dimensions. Around the transition temperature the behavior in the pressure and quark susceptibilities follows from the interplay between the lowest Matsubara frequency and the Polyakov line. The reduction to the lowest Matsubara frequency yields a matrix Model. In the presence of the Polyakov line the UV part of the Dirac spectrum features oscillations when close to the transition temperature.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figure