arXiv subjects

Chihiro Sasaki

Publications and source records attributed to Chihiro Sasaki.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Interplay of baryonic chiral partners in fluctuations of net-baryon number density

In this contribution, we use the parity doublet model to investigate the fluctuations of the net-baryon number density. We discuss the systematics of the susceptibilities and their ratios for nucleons of positive and negative parity, as well as their correlator. We demonstrate that the fluctuations of positive-parity nucleon do not reflect the fluctuations of the total net-baryon number at the chiral phase transition.

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arXiv2023

Curvature of the energy per particle in neutron stars

Neutron stars (NSs) serve as laboratories for probing strongly interacting matter at the most extreme densities. Their inner cores are expected to be dense enough to host deconfined quark matter. Utilizing state-of-the-art theoretical and multi-messenger constraints, we statistically determine the bulk properties of dense NS matter. We show that the speed of sound can be expressed in terms of the slope and curvature of the energy per particle. We demonstrate that the restoration of conformal symmetry requires changing the sign of the curvature of the bulk energy per particle as a function of energy density. Furthermore, we find that such a sign change is closely related to the peak in the speed of sound. We argue that the curvature of the energy per particle may serve as an approximate order parameter that signifies the onset of strongly coupled conformal matter in the NS core.

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arXiv2023

Influence of dynamical screening of four-quarks interaction on the chiral phase diagram

We investigate the effect of screening of the four-quarks contact interactions by the ring diagram at finite temperature and density in an effective chiral model inspired by QCD in the Coulomb gauge. As a consequence, a medium-dependent coupling naturally emerges which, in a class of chiral models, brings the chiral crossover temperature down to the value calculated in LQCD at low net-baryon density. Furthermore, it implies a stronger divergence of the chiral susceptibility at the critical point compared to the mean-field dynamics. At vanishing temperature, however, the transition sets in at unphysically small chemical potential, indicating a need for additional effects to compensate for the screening strength. We discuss the properties of an effective potential for a class of models described by momentum-independent gap equations. In particular, we introduce the method to construct an approximate effective potential from the gap equations to determine the location of the first-order phase transition.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Probing the QCD phase transition with chiral mixing in dilepton production

We perform a systematic study of dilepton emission in a hot QCD medium based on three different scenarios of chiral mixing, each of which yields a characteristic structure in the vector spectral function. The in-medium spectral functions are accommodated into the state-of-the-art hydrodynamic simulations for a relativistic viscous fluid to calculate the dilepton production rate, fully accounting for the space-time evolution of a created fireball in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We demonstrate that the low-temperature theorem of chiral mixing extrapolated toward a chiral crossover, often used in the literature, leads to critical shortcomings: the inadequacy of width broadening, and a substantial overestimate of the dilepton yield maximized around the invariant mass of $M = 1.2$ GeV. The proper prescription offers a milder yet sizable increase in the window of $1.1 < M < 1.4$ GeV as the direct signature of chiral symmetry restoration.

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arXiv2023

Phase Transitions in Particle Physics -- Results and Perspectives from Lattice Quantum Chromo-Dynamics

Phase transitions in a non-perturbative regime can be studied by ab initio Lattice Field Theory methods. The status and future research directions for LFT investigations of Quantum Chromo-Dynamics under extreme conditions are reviewed, including properties of hadrons and of the hypothesized QCD axion as inferred from QCD topology in different phases. We discuss phase transitions in strong interactions in an extended parameter space, and the possibility of model building for Dark Matter and Electro-Weak Symmetry Breaking. Methodological challenges are addressed as well, including new developments in Artificial Intelligence geared towards the identification of different phases and transitions.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2023

Fluctuations near the liquid-gas and chiral phase transitions in hadronic matter

We investigate the fluctuations of the net-baryon number density in dense hadronic matter. Chiral dynamics is modeled via the parity doublet Lagrangian, and the mean-field approximation is employed to account for chiral criticality. We focus on the qualitative properties and systematics of the second-order susceptibility of the net-baryon number density for individual positive- and negative-parity nucleons whose masses become degenerate at the chiral restoration. It is shown that the second-order susceptibility of the positive-parity state can become negative when the chiral symmetry is restored, as a natural consequence of the unique relationship of the mass to the order parameter. Moreover, we find that such negative fluctuations are indicative of approaching the critical point on the chiral phase boundary. Our results may have consequences for the interpretation of the experimental data on net-proton fluctuations in heavy-ion collisions.

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arXiv2023

Reaching percolation and conformal limits in neutron stars

Generating an ensemble of equations of state that fulfill multimessenger constraints, we statistically determine the properties of dense matter found inside neutron stars (NSs). We calculate the speed of sound and trace anomaly and demonstrate that they are driven towards their conformal values at the center of maximally massive NSs. The local peak of the speed of sound is shown to be located at values of the energy and particle densities which are consistent with deconfinement and percolation conditions in QCD matter. We also analyze fluctuations of the net-baryon number density in the context of possible remnants of critical behavior. We find that the global maxima of the variance of these fluctuations emerge at densities beyond those found in the interiors of NSs.

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arXiv2022

Conformality and percolation threshold in neutron stars

Speed of sound is given attention in multi-messenger astronomy as it encodes information of the dense matter equation of state. Recently the trace anomaly was proposed as a more informative quantity. In this work, we statistically determine the speed of sound and trace anomaly and show that they are driven to their conformal values at the centers of maximally massive neutron stars. We show that the local peak in the speed of sound can be associated with deconfinement along with percolation conditions in QCD matter.

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arXiv2022

Driving chiral phase transition with ring diagram

We study the dressing of four-quark interaction by the ring diagram, and its feeding back to the quark gap equation, in an effective chiral quark model. Implementing such an in-medium coupling naturally reduces the chiral transition temperature in a class of chiral models, and is capable of generating the inverse magnetic catalysis at finite temperatures. We also demonstrate the important role of confining forces, via the Polyakov loop, in a positive feedback mechanism which reinforces the inverse magnetic catalysis.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Anomaly-induced Chiral Mixing in Cold and Dense Matter

We construct the spectral functions for light vector mesons at finite density and temperature in the presence of a novel mixing between parity partners, induced by baryon density via the Wess-Zumino-Witten action. As the main origin of in-medium broadening, a set of baryon resonances that strongly couple to the vector mesons and the modifications of kaons and anti-kaons due to the Kaplan-Nelson term are included. It is shown that the vector spectra, even with the broadening effects, exhibit sizable signatures of chiral symmetry restoration thanks to the chiral mixing depending on three-momenta carried by the vector mesons. Those spectral functions are used to calculate the integrated production rates of lepton pairs, and a proper binning in momenta and potential decrease in the vector-meson masses due to chiral symmetry restoration are discussed in quantifying the signatures.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Reconciling Multi-messenger Constraints with Chiral Symmetry Restoration

We consider the parity doublet model for nucleonic and delta matter to investigate the structure of neutron stars. We show that it is possible to reconcile the multi-messenger astronomy constraints within a purely hadronic equation of state (EOS), which accounts for the self-consistent treatment of the chiral symmetry restoration in the baryonic sector. We demonstrate that the characteristics of the EOS required by the astrophysical constraints do not necessarily imply the existence of a hadron-quark phase transition in the stellar core.

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arXiv2022

Chiral symmetry restoration and the $Δ$ matter formation in neutron stars

We analyze the effects of chiral symmetry restoration in hadronic matter, including the lowest-lying baryonic resonance $Δ$ based on the parity doublet model. We study the role of $Δ$ and its chiral partner on the equation of state (EoS) of dense matter under neutron star (NS) conditions of $β$-equilibrium and charge neutrality. We find that the softening of the EoS driven by the early onset of $Δ$ matter due to partial restoration of chiral symmetry allows accommodating the modern multi-messenger astrophysical constraints on the mass, radius, and tidal deformability. The softening above the saturation density is accompanied by subsequent stiffening at high densities. We also find that the matter composition in the NS cores may be different upon variations of the repulsive interactions of $Δ$ baryons in hadronic matter.

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arXiv2022

Reconciling multi-messenger constraints with chiral symmetry restoration

We analyze the recent astrophysical constraints in the context of a hadronic equation of state (EoS), in which the baryonic matter is subject to chiral symmetry restoration. We show that with such EoS it is possible to reconcile the modern constraints on the neutron star (NS) mass, radius, and tidal deformability (TD). We find that the softening of the EoS, required by the TD constraint of a canonical $1.4~M_\odot$ NS, followed by a subsequent stiffening, required by the $2~M_\odot$ constraint, is driven by the appearance of $Δ$ matter due to partial restoration of chiral symmetry. Consequently, a purely hadronic EoS that accounts for the fundamental properties of quantum chromodynamics linked to the dynamical emergence of parity doubling with degenerate masses of nucleons and $Δ$ resonances can be fully consistent with multi-messenger data. Therefore, with the present constraints on the EoS, the conclusion about the existence of the quark matter in the stellar core may still be premature.

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arXiv2021

Chiral criticality and the role of repulsive interactions in hot hadronic matter

We explore fluctuations of the net-baryon number density in hadronic matter at vanishing chemical potential. We discuss the interplay between chiral dynamics and repulsive interactions and their influence on the properties of these fluctuations near the chiral crossover in the parity doublet model. We find that the characteristic properties of cumulants are entirely linked to the critical chiral dynamics and cannot be reproduced in phenomenological models, which account only for repulsive interactions. Consequently, a description of the higher-order cumulants of the net-baryon density requires a self-consistent treatment of the chiral in-medium effects and repulsive interactions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Polarization effects at finite temperature and magnetic field

We study the screening of four-quark interaction by the ring diagram in an effective chiral quark model. This entails a medium dependent coupling which naturally reduces the chiral transition temperature in a class of models, and is capable of generating an inverse magnetic catalysis at finite temperature. These results are the first coherent description of inverse magnetic catalysis, anchored to a reliable field-theoretical basis.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Fluctuations of order parameter in an $SU(N_c)$ effective model

We investigate features of the deconfinement phase transition in an $SU(N_c)$ gauge theory as revealed by fluctuations of the order parameter. The tool of choice is an effective model built from one-loop expressions of the field determinants of gluon and ghost, in the presence of a Polyakov loop background field. We show that the curvature masses associated with the Cartan angles, which serve as a proxy to study the $A_0$-gluon screening mass, show a characteristic dip in the vicinity of the transition temperature. The strength of the observables, which reflects a competition between the confining and the deconfining forces, is sensitive to assumptions of dynamics, thus provides an interesting link between the $Z(N_c)$ vacuum structure and the properties of gluon and ghost propagators.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Interplay between chiral dynamics and repulsive interactions

We investigate fluctuations of the net-baryon number density in hot hadronic matter. We discuss the interplay between chiral dynamics and repulsive interactions and their influence on the properties of these fluctuations near the chiral crossover. The chiral dynamics is modeled by the parity doublet Lagrangian that incorporates the attractive and repulsive interactions mediated via the exchange of scalar and vector mesons, respectively. The mean-field approximation is employed to account for chiral criticality. We focus on the properties and systematics of the cumulants of the net-baryon number density up to the sixth order. It is shown that the higher-order cumulants exhibit a substantial suppression in the vicinity of the chiral phase transition due to the presence of repulsive interactions. We find, however, that the characteristic properties of cumulants near the chiral crossover observed in lattice QCD results are entirely linked to the critical chiral dynamics and, in general, cannot be reproduced in phenomenological models, which account only for effective repulsive interactions via excluded-volume corrections or van-der-Waals type interactions. Consequently, a description of the higher-order cumulants of the net-baryon density in the chiral crossover requires a self-consistent treatment of the chiral in-medium effects and repulsive interactions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Impact of quark quasiparticles on transport coefficients in hot QCD

We study the bulk and shear viscosity and the electrical conductivity in a quasiparticle approach to Yang-Mills theory and QCD with light and strange quarks to assess the dynamical role of quarks in transport properties at finite temperature. The interactions with a hot medium are embodied in effective masses of the constituents through a temperature-dependent running coupling extracted from the lattice QCD thermodynamics. In Yang-Mills theory, the bulk viscosity to entropy density ratio exhibits a non-monotonous structure around the phase transition temperature. In QCD, this is totally dissolved because of a substantial contribution from quark quasiparticles. The bulk to shear viscosity ratio near the phase transition behaves consistently to the scaling with the speed of sound derived in the AdS/CFT approach, whereas at high temperature it obeys the same parametric dependence as in perturbation theory. Thus, the employed quasiparticle model is adequate to capture the transport properties in the weak and strong coupling regimes of the theory. This feature is not altered by including dynamical quarks which, however, retards the system from restoring conformal invariance. We also examine the individual flavor contributions to the electrical conductivity and show that the obtained behavior agrees qualitatively well with the recent results of lattice simulations and with a class of phenomenological approaches.

hep-ph↗