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Gauge-invariant screening masses and static quark free energies in Nf=2+1 QCD at nonzero baryon density

Abstract

We discuss the extension of gauge-invariant electric and magnetic screening masses in the quark-gluon plasma to the case of a finite baryon density, defining them in terms of a matrix of Polyakov loop correlators. We present lattice results for Nf=2+1 QCD with physical quark masses, obtained using the imaginary chemical potential approach, which indicate that the screening masses increase as a function of μB. A separate analysis is carried out for the theoretically interesting case μB/T=3iπ, where charge conjugation is not explicitly broken and the usual definition of the screening masses can be used for temperatures below the Roberge-Weiss transition. Finally, we investigate the dependence of the static quark free energy on the baryon chemical potential, showing that it is a decreasing function of μB, which displays a peculiar behavior as the pseudocritical transition temperature at μB=0 is approached

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