The quark condensate at finite temperature

The temperature evolution of the quark condensate is studied using three different methods. In the spirit of a many-body approach we make an expansion in the scalar density up to second order. Our result is consistent chiral perturbation theory to two-loop order.Comment: Latex 14 pages + 1 figure (postscript

Rho Meson Propagation and Dilepton Enhancement in Hot Hadronic Matter

A realistic model for the free rho meson with coupling to two-pion states is employed to calculate the rho propagator in a hot and dense hadron gas. The medium modifications are based on hadronic rescattering processes: intermediate two-pion states are renormalized through interactions with surrounding nucleons and deltas, and rho meson scattering is considered off nucleons, deltas, pions and kaons. Constraints from gauge invariance as well as the full off-shell dynamics of the interactions are accounted for. Within the vector dominance model we apply the resulting in-medium rho spectral function to compute $e^+e^-$ production rates from $\pi^+\pi^-$ annihilation. The calculation of corresponding $e^+e^-$ spectra as recently measured in central collisions of heavy-ions at CERN/SpS energies gives reasonable agreement with the experimental data.Comment: 27 pages RevTeX, 9 eps-figures, submitted to Nucl. Phys.

Medium Dependence of the Vector-Meson Mass: Dynamical and/or Brown-Rho Scaling?

We discuss the similarities and differences for the theories of Rapp, Wambach and collaborators (called R/W in short) and those based on Brown-Rho scaling (called B/R), as applied to reproduce the dileptons measured by the CERES collaboration in the CERN experiments. In both theories the large number of dileptons at invariant masses $\sim$~$m_\rho/2$ are shown to be chiefly produced by a density-dependent $\rho$-meson mass. In R/W the medium dependence is dynamically calculated using hadronic variables defined in the matter-free vacuum. In B/R scaling it follows from movement towards chiral symmetry restoration due to medium-induced vacuum change, and is described in terms of constituent (or quasiparticle) quarks. We argue that the R/W description should be reliable up to densities somewhat beyond nuclear density, where hadrons are the effective variables. At higher density there should be a crossover to constituent quarks as effective variables scaling according to B/R. In the crossover region, the two descriptions must be ``dual''.Comment: 13 pages LaTeX, incl. 5 eps-figures and appb.sty; Talk given at the Workshop on 'The Structure of Mesons, Baryons and Nuclei', Cracow, May 1998, in honor of J. Speth's 60th birthday, to be published in Acta Physica Polonica

In-medium Pion-Pion Interaction and Chiral Symmetry Restoration

We discuss medium modifications of the unitarized pion-pion interaction in the nuclear medium. We incorporate both the effects of chiral symmetry restoration and the influence of collective nuclear pionic modes, originating from the p-wave coupling of the pion to delta-hole configurations. We show how the resulting strong enhancement of the sigma-meson spectral function is related to large fluctuations of the condensate associated with the partial restoration of chiral symmetry.Comment: 8 pages, 3 Postscript figures, contribution to the `International Workshop XXVIII on Gross Properties of Nuclei and Nuclear Excitations', Hirschegg, Austria, January 16-22 200

Thermal QRPA with Skyrme interactions and supernova neutral-current neutrino-nucleus reactions

The Thermal Quasiparticle Random-Phase Approximation is combined with the Skyrme energy density functional method (Skyrme-TQRPA) to study the response of a hot nucleus to an external perturbation. For the sample nuclei, $^{56}$Fe and $^{82}$Ge, the Skyrme-TQRPA is applied to analyze thermal effects on the strength function of charge-neutral Gamow-Teller transitions which dominate neutrino-nucleus reactions at $E_\nu \lesssim 20$~MeV. For the relevant supernova temperatures we calculate the cross sections for inelastic neutrino scattering. We also apply the method to examine the rate of neutrino-antineutrino pair emission by hot nuclei. The cross sections and rates are compared with those obtained earlier from the TQRPA calculations based on the phenomenological Quasiparticle-Phonon Model Hamiltonian. For inelastic neutrino scattering on $^{56}$Fe we also compare the Skyrme-TQRPA results to those obtained earlier from a hybrid approach that combines shell-model and RPA calculations.Comment: Minor revisions according to referee's recomendation

Low-Mass e+e−e^+e^- Pairs from in-Medium ρ\rho Meson Propagation

Based on a realistic model for the rho meson in free space we investigate it's medium modifications in a hot hadron gas generated by hadronic rescattering processes, i.e. renormalization of intermediate two-pion states as well as direct rho meson scattering off hadrons. Within the vector dominance model the resulting in-medium rho spectral function is applied to calculate $e^+e^-$ spectra as recently measured in heavy-ion collisions at CERN-SpS energies in the CERES experiment.Comment: 9 pages LaTeX, postscript figures included using epsf.sty, epsfig.sty; Proc. of the Int. Workshop XXV, Hirschegg '97, on 'QCD Phase Transitions

Gamow-Teller strength distributions at finite temperatures and electron capture in stellar environments

We propose a new method to calculate stellar weak-interaction rates. It is based on the Thermo-Field-Dynamics formalism and allows the calculation of the weak-interaction response of nuclei at finite temperatures. The thermal evolution of the GT$_+$ distributions is presented for the sample nuclei $^{54, 56}$Fe and ~$^{76,78,80}$Ge. For Ge we also calculate the strength distribution of first-forbidden transitions. We show that thermal effects shift the GT$_+$ centroid to lower excitation energies and make possible negative- and low-energy transitions. In our model we demonstrate that the unblocking effect for GT$_+$ transitions in neutron-rich nuclei is sensitive to increasing temperature. The results are used to calculate electron capture rates and are compared to those obtained from the shell model.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figure