arXiv subjects

F. Karsch

Publications and source records attributed to F. Karsch.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2005

The isentropic equation of state of 2-flavor QCD

Using Taylor expansions of the pressure obtained previously in studies of 2-flavor QCD at non-zero chemical potential we calculate expansion coefficients for the energy and entropy densities up to ${\cal O}(μ_q^6)$ in the quark chemical potential. We use these series in $μ_q/T$ to determine lines of constant entropy per baryon number ($S/N_B$) that characterize the expansion of dense matter created in heavy ion collisions. In the high temperature regime these lines are found to be well approximated by lines of constant $μ_q/T$. In the low temperature phase, however, the quark chemical potential is found to increase with decreasing temperature. This is in accordance with resonance gas model calculations. Along the lines of constant $S/N_B$ we calculate the energy density and pressure. Within the accuracy of our present analysis we find that the ratio $p/ε$ for $T>T_0$ as well as the softest point of the equation of state, $(p/ε)_{min}\simeq 0.075$, show no significant dependence on $S/N_B$.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2005

Hadronic fluctuations in the QGP

We analyze fluctuations of quark number and electric charge, in 2-flavour QCD at finite temperature and vanishing net baryon number density. In the hadronic phase we find that an enhancement of charge fluctuations arises from contributions of doubly charged hadrons to the thermodynamics. The rapid suppression of fluctuations seen in the high temperature phase suggests that in the QGP quark number and electric charge are predominantly carried by quasi-particles with the quantum numbers of quarks.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

The QCD equation of state for two flavours at non-zero chemical potential

We present results of a simulation of 2 flavour QCD on a $16^3\times4$ lattice using p4-improved staggered fermions with bare quark mass $m/T=0.4$. Derivatives of the thermodynamic grand canonical partition function $Z(V,T,μ_u,μ_d)$ with respect to chemical potentials $μ_{u,d}$ for different quark flavours are calculated up to sixth order, enabling estimates of the pressure and the quark number density as well as the chiral condensate and various susceptibilities as functions of $μ_{u,d}$ via Taylor series expansion. Results are compared to high temperature perturbation theory as well as a hadron resonance gas model. We also analyze baryon as well as isospin fluctuations and discuss the relation to the chiral critical point in the QCD phase diagram. We moreover discuss the dependence of the heavy quark free energy on the chemical potential.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

Heavy quark free energies and screening at finite temperature and density

We study the free energies of heavy quarks calculated from Polyakov loop correlation functions in full 2-flavour QCD using the p4-improved staggered fermion action. A small but finite Baryon number density is included via Taylor expansion of the fermion determinant in the Baryo-chemical potential mu. For temperatures above Tc we extract Debye screening masses from the large distance behaviour of the free energies and compare their mu-dependence to perturbative results.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2005

Hadronic fluctuations at the QCD phase transition

We discuss the properties of hadronic fluctuations, i.e. fluctuations of net quark and isospin numbers as well as electric charge, in the vicinity of the QCD transition in isospin-symmetric matter at vanishing quark chemical potential. We analyse second- and fourth-order cumulants of these fluctuations and argue that the ratio of quartic and quadratic cumulants reflects the relevant degrees of freedom that carry the quark number, isospin or charge, respectively. In the hadronic phase we find that an enhancement of charge fluctuations arises from contributions of doubly charged hadrons to the thermodynamics. The rapid suppression of fluctuations seen in the high-temperature phase suggests that in the QGP, net quark number and electric charge are predominantly carried by quasi-particles, with the quantum numbers of quarks.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

Screening of heavy quark free energies at finite temperature and non-zero baryon chemical potential

We analyze the dependence of heavy quark free energies on the baryon chemical potential (mu_b) in 2-flavour QCD using improved (p4) staggered fermions with a bare quark mass of m/T = 0.4. By performing a 6th order Taylor expansion in the chemical potential which circumvents the sign problem. The Taylor expansion coefficients of colour singlet and colour averaged free energies are calculated and from this the expansion coefficients for the corresponding screening masses are determined. We find that for small mu_b the free energies of a static quark anti-quark pair decrease in a medium with a net excess of quarks and that screening is well described by a screening mass which increases with increasing mu_b. The mu_b-dependent corrections to the screening masses are well described by perturbation theory for T > 2 T_c. In particular, we find for all temperatures above T_c that the expansion coefficients for singlet and colour averaged screening masses differ by a factor 2.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2005

Heavy Quarkonium Physics

This report is the result of the collaboration and research effort of the Quarkonium Working Group over the last three years. It provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the art in heavy-quarkonium theory and experiment, covering quarkonium spectroscopy, decay, and production, the determination of QCD parameters from quarkonium observables, quarkonia in media, and the effects on quarkonia of physics beyond the Standard Model. An introduction to common theoretical and experimental tools is included. Future opportunities for research in quarkonium physics are also discussed.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

Heavy Quark Interactions in Finite Temperature QCD

We study the free energy of a heavy quark-antiquark pair in a thermal medium. We constuct a simple ansatz for the free energy for two quark flavors motivated by the Debye-Hückel theory of screening.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

QCD at non-zero temperature and density from the lattice

The study of systems as diverse as the cores of neutron stars and heavy-ion collision experiments requires the understanding of the phase structure of QCD at non-zero temperature, T, and chemical potential, mu_q. We review some of the difficulties of performing lattice simulations of QCD with non-zero mu_q, and outline the re-weighting method used to overcome this problem. This method is used to determine the critical endpoint of QCD in the (mu_q,T) plane. We study the pressure and quark number susceptibility at small mu_q.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2005

Thermodynamics of Two Flavor QCD to Sixth Order in Quark Chemical Potential

We present results of a simulation of 2-flavor QCD on a 4x16^3 lattice using p4-improved staggered fermions with bare quark mass m/T=0.4. Derivatives of the thermodynamic grand canonical partition function Z(V,T,mu_u,mu_d) with respect to chemical potentials mu_(u,d) for different quark flavors are calculated up to sixth order, enabling estimates of the pressure and the quark number density as well as the chiral condensate and various susceptibilities as functions of mu_q = (mu_u + mu_d)/2 via Taylor series expansion. Furthermore, we analyze baryon as well as isospin fluctuations and discuss the relation between the radius of convergence of the Taylor series and the chiral critical point in the QCD phase diagram. We argue that bulk thermodynamic observables do not, at present, provide direct evidence for the existence of a chiral critical point in the QCD phase diagram. Results are compared to high temperature perturbation theory as well as a hadron resonance gas model.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2004

Meson correlators above deconfinement

We review recent progress in studying spectral functions for mesonic observables at finite temperatures, by analysis of imaginary time correlators directly calculated on isotropic lattices. Special attention is paid to the lattice artifacts present in such calculations.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2004

Fluctuations in the vicinity of the phase transition line for two flavor QCD

We study the susceptibilities of quark number, isospin number and electric charge in numerical simulations of lattice QCD at high temperature and density. We discuss the equation of state for 2 flavor QCD at non-zero temperature and density. Derivatives of $\ln Z$ with respect to quark chemical potential $(μ_q)$ are calculated up to sixth order. From this Taylor series, the susceptibilities are estimated as functions of temperature and $μ_q$. Moreover, we comment on the hadron resonance gas model, which explains well our simulation results below $T_c$.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2004

Numerical study of the equation of state for two flavor QCD at non-zero baryon density

We discuss the equation of state (EoS) for two flavor QCD at non-zero temperature and density. Derivatives of $\ln Z$ with respect to quark chemical potential $μ_q$ are calculated up to sixth order. From this Taylor series, the pressure, quark number density and associated susceptibilities are estimated as functions of temperature and $μ_q$. It is found that the fluctuations in the quark number density increase in the vicinity of the phase transition temperature and the susceptibilities start to develop a pronounced peak as $μ_q$ is increased. This suggests the presence of a critical endpoint in the $(μ_q, T)$ plane. Moreover, we comment on the hadron resonance gas model, which explains well our simulation results below $T_c$.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2004

Free energies of static three quark systems

We study the behaviour of free energies of baryonic systems composed of three heavy quarks on the lattice in SU(3) pure gauge theory at finite temperature. For all temperatures above $T_c$ we find that the connected part of the singlet (decuplet) free energy of the three quark system is given by the sum of the connected parts of the free energies of $qq$-triplets (-sextets). Using renormalized free energies we can compare free energies in different colour channels as well as those of $qq$- and $qqq$-systems on an unique energy scale.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2004

Heavy ion collisions and lattice QCD at finite baryon density

We discuss a relation between the QCD thermodynamics obtained from a statistical analysis of particle production in heavy ion collisions at SPS and RHIC energies and recent LGT results at finite chemical potential. We show that basic thermodynamic properties obtained from the phenomenological statistical operator of a hadron resonance gas that describes particle yields in heavy ion collisions are consistent with recent LGT results. We argue that for $T\leq T_c$ the equation of state derived from Monte--Carlo simulations of two quark--flavor QCD at finite chemical potential can be well described by a hadron resonance gas when using the same set of approximations as used in LGT calculations. We examine the influence of a finite quark mass on the position of the deconfinement transition in temperature and chemical potential plane.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2004

Static quark anti-quark free energy and the running coupling at finite temperature

We analyze the free energy of a static quark anti-quark pair in quenched QCD at short and large distances. From this we deduce running couplings, g^2(r,T), and determine the length scale that separates at high temperature the short distance perturbative regime from the large distance non-perturbative regime in the QCD plasma phase. Ambiguities in the definition of a coupling beyond the perturbative regime are discussed in their relation to phenomenological considerations on heavy quark bound states in the quark gluon plasma. Our analysis suggests that it is more appropriate to characterize the non-perturbative properties of the QCD plasma phase close to T_c in terms remnants of the confinement part of the QCD force rather than a strong Coulombic force.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2003

Numerical study of the equation of state for two flavor QCD at finite density

We discuss the equation of state for 2 flavor QCD at non-zero temperature and density. Derivatives of $\ln Z$ with respect to quark chemical potential $μ_q$ up to fourth order are calculated, enabling estimates of the pressure, quark number density and associated susceptibilities as functions of $μ_q$ via a Taylor series expansion. It is found that the fluctuations in the quark number density increase in the vicinity of the phase transition temperature and the susceptibilities start to develop a pronounced peak as $μ_q$ is increased. This suggests the presence of a critical endpoint in the $(T, μ_q)$ plane.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2003

Free Meson Spectral Functions on the Lattice

We present results from an analytic calculation of thermal meson spectral functions in the infinite temperature (free field) limit. We compare spectral functions for various lattice fermion formulations used at present in studies of in-medium properties of hadrons based on the maximum entropy method (MEM). In particular, we will present a new calculation of spectral functions performed with extended quark sources.

hep-lat↗