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Eduardo S. Fraga

Publications and source records attributed to Eduardo S. Fraga.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
arXiv2014

Nucleating quark droplets in the core of magnetars

To assess the possibility of homogeneous nucleation of quark matter in magnetars, we investigate the formation of chirally symmetric droplets in a cold and dense environment in the presence of an external magnetic field. As a framework, we use the one-loop effective potential of the two-flavor quark-meson model. Within the thin-wall approximation, we extract all relevant nucleation parameters and provide an estimate for the typical time scales for the chiral phase conversion in magnetized compact star matter. We show how the critical chemical potential, critical radius, correlation length and surface tension are affected, and how their combination to define the nucleation time seems to allow for nucleation of quark droplets in magnetar matter even for not so small values of the surface tension.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2014

Constraining neutron star matter with QCD

In recent years, there have been several successful attempts to constrain the equation of state of neutron star matter using input from low-energy nuclear physics and observational data. We demonstrate that significant further restrictions can be placed by additionally requiring the pressure to approach that of deconfined quark matter at high densities. Remarkably, the new constraints turn out to be highly insensitive to the amount --- or even presence --- of quark matter inside the stars.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2014

Interacting quark matter equation of state for compact stars

Lattice QCD studies of the thermodynamics of the hot quark-gluon plasma (QGP) demonstrate the importance of accounting for the interactions of quarks and gluons, if one wants to investigate the phase structure of strongly interacting matter. Motivated by this observation and using state-of-the-art results from perturbative QCD, we construct a simple effective equation of state for cold quark matter that consistently incorporates the effects of interactions and furthermore includes a built-in estimate of the inherent systematic uncertainties. This goes beyond the MIT bag model description in a crucial way, yet leads to an equation of state that is equally straightforward to use.

nucl-th↗
arXiv2014

Thermodynamics of (2+1)-flavor strongly interacting matter at nonzero isospin

We investigate the phase structure of strongly interacting matter at non-vanishing isospin before the onset of pion condensation in the framework of the unquenched Polyakov-Quark-Meson model with 2+1 quark flavors. We show results for the order parameters and all relevant thermodynamic quantities. In particular, we obtain a moderate change of the pressure with isospin at vanishing baryon chemical potential, whereas the chiral condensate decreases more appreciably. We compare the effective model to recent lattice data for the decrease of the pseudo-critical temperature with the isospin chemical potential. We also demonstrate the major role played by the value of the pion mass in the curvature of the transition line, and the need for lattice results with a physical pion mass. Limitations of the model at nonzero chemical potential are also discussed.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2013

Chiral pions in a magnetic background

We investigate the modification of the pion self-energy at finite temperature due to its interaction with a low-density, isospin-symmetric nuclear medium embedded in a constant magnetic background. To one loop, for fixed temperature and density, we find that the pion effective mass increases with the magnetic field. For the $π^{-}$, interestingly, this happens solely due to the trivial Landau quantization shift $\sim |eB|$, since the real part of the self-energy is negative in this case. In a scenario in which other charged particle species are present and undergo an analogous trivial shift, the relevant behavior of the effective mass might be determined essentially by the real part of the self-energy. In this case, we find that the pion mass decreases by $\sim 10%$ for a magnetic field $|eB|\sim m_π^2$, which favors pion condensation at high density and low temperatures.

nucl-th↗
arXiv2013

Large Nc Deconfinement Transition in the Presence of a Magnetic Field

We investigate the effect of a homogeneous magnetic field on the thermal deconfinement transition of QCD in the large $N_c$ limit. First we discuss how the critical temperature decreases due to the inclusion of $N_f \ll N_c$ flavors of massless quarks. Then we study the equivalent correction in the presence of an external Abelian magnetic field. To leading order in $N_{f}/N_{c}$, the fact that the deconfinement critical temperature decreases with the magnetic field depends solely on quarks behaving paramagnetically. Finally, we discuss the effects from a finite quark mass and its competition with magnetic effects.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2012

Thermal chiral and deconfining transitions in the presence of a magnetic background

We review the influence of a magnetic background on the phase diagram of strong interactions and how the chiral and deconfining transitions can be affected. First we summarize results for both transitions obtained in the framework of the linear sigma model coupled to quarks and to the Polyakov loop, and how they compare to other effective model approaches and to lattice QCD. Then we discuss the outcome of the magnetic MIT bag model that yields a behavior for the critical deconfining temperature which is compatible with recent lattice results and magnetic catalysis. The qualitative success of the magnetic MIT bag model hints to $T_{c}$ being a confinement-driven quantity, and leads us to the discussion of its behavior as predicted within the large-$N_{c}$ limit of QCD, which is also in line with the most recent lattice QCD results provided that quarks behave paramagnetically.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2012

Deconfinement in the presence of a strong magnetic background: an exercise within the MIT bag model

We study the effect of a very strong homogeneous magnetic field B on the thermal deconfinement transition within the simplest phenomenological approach: the MIT bag pressure for the quark- gluon plasma and a gas of pions for the hadronic sector. Even though the model is known to be crude in numerical precision and misses the correct nature of the (crossover) transition, it provides a simple setup for the discussion of some subtleties of vacuum and thermal contributions in each phase, and should provide a reasonable qualitative description of the critical temperature in the presence of B. We find that the critical temperature decreases, saturating for very large fields.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

Finite-size effects and the search for the critical endpoint of QCD

Taking into account the finiteness of the system created in heavy ion collisions, we show sizable results for the modifications of the chiral phase diagram at volume scales typically encountered in current experiments and demonstrate the applicability of finite-size scaling as a tool in the experimental search for the critical endpoint. Using data from RHIC and SPS and assuming finite-size scaling, we find that RHIC data from 200 GeV down to 19.6 GeV is only consistent with a critical point at μ\gtrsim 510 MeV. We also present predictions for the fluctuations at lower energies currently being investigated in the Beam Energy Scan program.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

Finite-size scaling as a tool in the search for the QCD critical point in heavy ion data

Given the short lifetime and the reduced volume of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) formed in high-energy heavy ion collisions, a possible critical endpoint (CEP) will be blurred in a region and the effects from criticality severely smoothened. Nevertheless, the non-monotonic behavior of correlation functions near criticality for systems of different sizes, given by different centralities in heavy ion collisions, must obey finite-size scaling. We apply the predicting power of scaling plots to the search for the CEP of strong interactions in heavy ion collisions using data from RHIC and SPS. The results of our data analysis exclude a critical point below chemical potentials $μ\sim 450 $MeV. Extrapolating the analysis, we speculate that criticality could appear slightly above $μ\sim 500 $MeV. Using available data we extrapolate our scaling curves to predict the behavior of new data at lower center-of-mass energy, currently being investigated in the Beam Energy Scan program at RHIC. If it turns out that the QGP phase is no longer achievable in heavy ion experiments before the CEP is reached, FSS might be the only way to experimentally estimate its position in the phase diagram.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

Phase diagram of strong interactions in an external magnetic field

We obtain the phase diagram of strong interactions in the presence of a magnetic field within the linear sigma model coupled to quarks and to the Polyakov loop, and show that the chiral and deconfinement lines can split. We also study the behavior of the chiral condensate in this magnetic environment and find an approximately linear dependence on the external field, in accordance with lattice data.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2010

Droplets in the cold and dense linear sigma model with quarks

The linear sigma model with quarks at very low temperatures provides an effective description for the thermodynamics of the strong interaction in cold and dense matter, being especially useful at densities found in compact stars and protoneutron star matter. Using the MSbar one-loop effective potential, we compute quantities that are relevant in the process of nucleation of droplets of quark matter in this scenario. In particular, we show that the model predicts a surface tension of Σ~ 5-15 MeV/fm^2, rendering nucleation of quark matter possible during the early post-bounce stage of core collapse supernovae. Including temperature effects and vacuum logarithmic corrections, we find a clear competition between these features in characterizing the dynamics of the chiral phase conversion, so that if the temperature is low enough the consistent inclusion of vacuum corrections could help preventing the nucleation of quark matter during the collapse process. We also discuss the first interaction corrections that come about at two-loop order.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2009

Chiral symmetry restoration and strong CP violation in a strong magnetic background

Motivated by the phenomenological scenario of the chiral magnetic effect that can be possibly found in high-energy heavy ion collisions, we study the role of very intense magnetic fields and strong CP violation in the phase structure of strong interactions and, more specifically, their influence on the nature of the chiral transition. Direct implications for the dynamics of phase conversion and its time scales are briefly discussed. Our results can also be relevant in the case of the early universe.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2009

Finite-size effects and the search for the critical endpoint in heavy ion collisions

We discuss how the finiteness of the system created in a heavy-ion collision affects possible signatures of the QCD critical endpoint. We show sizable results for the modifications of the chiral phase diagram at volume scales typically encountered in current heavy-ion collisions and address the applicability of finite-size scaling as a tool in the experimental search for the critical endpoint.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2009

Nonperturbative Yukawa theory at finite density and temperature

In-medium Yukawa theory is part of the thermodynamics of the Standard Model of particle physics and is one of the main building blocks of most effective field theories of fermionic systems. By computing its pressure we investigate the nonperturbative thermodynamics at finite temperature and density using the optimized perturbation theory (OPT) framework. Our calculations are valid for arbitrary fermion and scalar masses, temperature, chemical potential, and not restricted to weak coupling. The model is considered in the presence as well as in the absence of condensates. Comparison with nonperturbative results shows that second order perturbation theory (PT) fails in the first case but performs rather well when condensates are absent, even at high-temperature regimes.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2008

CP violation and chiral symmetry restoration in the hot linear sigma model in a strong magnetic background

We study the effects of CP violation on the nature of the chiral transition within the linear sigma model with two flavors of quarks. The finite-temperature effective potential containing contributions from nontrivial values for the parameter $θ$ is computed to one loop order and their minima structure is analyzed. Motivated by the possibility of observing the formation of CP-odd domains in high-energy heavy ion collisions, we also investigate the behavior of the effective potential in the presence of a strong magnetic background. We find that the nature of the chiral transition is influenced by both $θ$ and the magnetic field.

hep-ph↗