arXiv subjects

Eduardo S. Fraga

Publications and source records attributed to Eduardo S. Fraga.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

CP Violation in the Linear Sigma Model

Motivated by the possibility of the formation of CP-odd domains in heavy ion collisions, we investigate the effects of CP violation on the chiral transition within the linear sigma model with two flavors of quarks. We also study how the CP-odd system is affected by the presence of a strong magnetic field, that is presumably generated in a non-central heavy ion collision. We find that both ingredients play an important role, influencing drastically the nature of the phase transition and the critical temperature.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Can a strong magnetic background modify the nature of the chiral transition in QCD?

The presence of a strong magnetic background can modify the nature and the dynamics of the chiral phase transition at finite temperature: for high enough magnetic fields, comparable to the ones expected to be created in noncentral high-energy heavy ion collisions at RHIC and the LHC, the original crossover is turned into a first-order transition. We illustrate this effect within the linear sigma model with quarks to one loop in the ${\rm MS}$ scheme for $N_{f}=2$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Perturbative Yukawa theory at finite density: the role of masses and renormalization group flow at two loops

Yukawa theory at vanishing temperature provides (one of the ingredients for) an effective description of the thermodynamics of a variety of cold and dense fermionic systems. We study the role of masses and the renormalization group flow in the calculation of the equation of state up to two loops within the MSbar scheme. Two-loop integrals are computed analytically for arbitrary fermion and scalar masses, and expressed in terms of well-known special functions. The dependence of the renormalization group flow on the number of fermion flavors is also discussed.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Chiral transition in a strong magnetic background

The presence of a strong magnetic background can modify the nature and the dynamics of the chiral phase transition at finite temperature. We compute the modified effective potential in the linear sigma model with quarks to one loop in the $\bar{MS}$ scheme for $N_{f}=2$. For fields $eB\sim 5 m_π^{2}$ and larger a crossover is turned into a weak first-order transition. We discuss possible implications for non-central heavy ion collisions at RHIC and LHC, and for the primordial QCD transition.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2007

Fermion mass and the pressure of dense matter

We consider a simple toy model to study the effects of finite fermion masses on the pressure of cold and dense matter, with possible applications in the physics of condensates in the core of neutron stars and color superconductivity.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

Effects from inhomogeneities in the chiral transition

We consider an approximation procedure to evaluate the finite-temperature one-loop fermionic density in the presence of a chiral background field which systematically incorporates effects from inhomogeneities in the chiral field through a derivative expansion. We apply the method to the case of a simple low-energy effective chiral model which is commonly used in the study of the chiral phase transition, the linear sigma-model coupled to quarks. The modifications in the effective potential and their consequences for the bubble nucleation process are discussed.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

Nucleation in the chiral transition with an inhomogeneous background

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

Non-local effects at the onset of the chiral transition

Inspired by analytic results obtained for a systematic expansion of the memory kernel in dissipative quantum mechanics, we propose a phenomenological procedure to incorporate non-markovian corrections to the Langevin dynamics of an order parameter in field theory systematically. In this note, we restrict our analysis to the onset of the evolution. As an example, we consider the process of phase conversion in the chiral transition.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

Langevin dynamics of the deconfinement transition for pure gauge theory

We investigate the effects of dissipation in the deconfinement transition for pure SU(2) and SU(3) gauge theories. Using an effective theory for the order parameter, we study its Langevin evolution numerically. Noise effects are included for the case of SU(2). We find that both dissipation and noise have dramatic effects on the spinodal decomposition of the order parameter and delay considerably its thermalization. For SU(3) the effects of dissipation are even larger than for SU(2).

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

The role of noise and dissipation in the hadronization of the quark-gluon plasma

We discuss the role of noise and dissipation in the explosive spinodal decomposition scenario of hadron production during the chiral transition after a high-energy heavy ion collision. We use a Langevin description inspired by nonequilibrium field theory to perform real-time lattice simulations of the behavior of the chiral fields. Preliminary results for the interplay between additive and multiplicative noise terms, as well as for non-Markovian corrections, are also presented.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

The role of quark mass in cold and dense pQCD and quark stars

For almost twenty years the effects of a nonzero strange quark mass on the equation of state of cold and dense QCD were considered to be negligible, thereby yielding only minor corrections to the mass-radius diagram of compact stars. By computing the thermodynamic potential to first order in α_s, and including the effects of the renormalization group running of the coupling and strange quark mass, we show that corrections can be of the order of 25%, and dramatically affect the structure of compact stars.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

The role of quark mass in cold and dense perturbative QCD

We consider the equation of state of QCD at high density and zero temperature in perturbation theory to first order in the coupling constant $α_s$. We compute the thermodynamic potential including the effect of a non-vanishing mass for the strange quark and show that corrections are sizable. Renormalization group running of the coupling and the strange quark mass plays a crucial role. The structure of quark stars is dramatically modified.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

Can dissipation prevent explosive decomposition in high-energy heavy ion collisions?

We discuss the role of dissipation in the explosive spinodal decomposition scenario of hadron production during the chiral transition after a high-energy heavy ion collision. We use a Langevin description inspired by microscopic nonequilibrium field theory results to perform real-time lattice simulations of the behavior of the chiral fields. We show that the effect of dissipation can be dramatic. Analytic results for the short-time dynamics are also presented.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

Phase Conversion After a Chiral Transition: Effects from Inhomogeneities and Finite Size

We discuss the kinetics of phase conversion, through the nucleation of bubbles and spinodal decomposition, after a chiral transition within an effective field theory approach to low-energy QCD. We study possible effects resulting from the finite size of the expanding system for both the initial and the late-stage growth of domains, as well as those effects due to inhomogeneities in the chiral field which act as a background for the fermionic motion.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

Transient photon production in a QGP

We discuss the shortcomings of a formula that has been used in the literature to compute the number of photons emitted by a hot or dense system during a finite time, and show that the transient effects it predicts for the photon rate are unphysical.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2003

Finite-Size Effects on Nucleation in a First-Order Phase Transition

We discuss finite-size effects on homogeneous nucleation in first-order phase transitions. We study their implications for cosmological phase transitions and to the hadronization of a quark-gluon plasma generated in high-energy heavy ion collisions. Very general arguments allow us to show that the finite size of the early universe has virtually no relevance in the process of nucleation and in the growth of cosmological bubbles during the primordial quark-hadron and the electroweak phase transitions. In the case of high-energy heavy ion collisions, finite-size effects play an important role in the late-stage growth of hadronic bubbles.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2002

Equilibration Time Scales in Homogeneous Bose-Einstein Condensate Dynamics

We study the nonequilibrium growth of a weakly interacting homogeneous Bose gas after a quench from a high-temperature state to a temperature below the Bose-Einstein critical condensation temperature. We quantitatively characterize the departure from thermal equilibrium and observe the presence of two equilibration time scales. The equilibration times are shown to be inversely proportional to the density.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2001

New Class of Compact Stars at High Density

We discuss the equation of state for cold, dense quark matter in perturbation theory, and how it might match onto that of hadronic matter. Certain choices of the renormalization scale correspond to a strongly first order chiral transition, and may generate a new class of small and very dense quark stars. The results for the mass-radius relation are compatible with the recent determination of the mass and the radius of an isolated neutron star by Pons et al.

nucl-th↗