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arXiv · 0910.3927

Nucleation of quark matter in protoneutron star matter

B. W. Mintz·E. S. Fraga·G. Pagliara·J. Schaffner-Bielich
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Abstract

The phase transition from hadronic to quark matter may take place already during the early post-bounce stage of core collapse supernovae when matter is still hot and lepton rich. If the phase transition is of first order and exhibits a barrier, the formation of the new phase occurs via the nucleation of droplets. We investigate the thermal nucleation of a quark phase in supernova matter and calculate its rate for a wide range of physical parameters. We show that the formation of the first droplet of a quark phase might be very fast and therefore the phase transition to quark matter could play an important role in the mechanism and dynamics of supernova explosions.

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B. W. Mintz, E. S. Fraga, G. Pagliara, J. Schaffner-Bielich. 2010-06-21. Nucleation of quark matter in protoneutron star matter. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.81.123012

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