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Juergen Schaffner-Bielich

Publications and source records attributed to Juergen Schaffner-Bielich.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Dark Compact Planets

We investigate compact objects formed by dark matter admixed with ordinary matter made of neutron star matter and white dwarf material. We consider non-self annihilating dark matter with an equation-of-state given by an interacting Fermi gas. We find new stable solutions, dark compact planets, with Earth-like masses or lower and radii about one meter for weakly interacting dark matter. For the strongly interacting dark matter case, we obtain dark compact planets with Jupiter-like masses or lower and radii of a kilometer. These objects could be formed primordially and accrete white dwarf material subsequently. They could be detected by observing exoplanets with unusually small radii. Moreover, we find that the recently observed 2 ${\rm M}_{\odot}$ pulsars set limits on the amount of dark matter inside neutron stars which is, at most, $10^{-5}{\rm M}_\odot$.

astro-ph.HE↗

Implications of the fermion vacuum term in the extended SU(3) Quark Meson model on compact stars properties

We study the impact of the fermion vacuum term in the SU(3) quark meson model on the equation of state and determine the vacuum parameters for various sigma meson masses. We examine its influence on the equation of state and on the resulting mass radius relations for compact stars. The tidal deformability $Λ$ of the stars is studied and compared to the results of the mean field approximation. Parameter sets which fulfill the tidal deformability bounds of GW170817 together with the observed two solar mass limit turn out to be restricted to a quite small parameter range in the mean field approximation. The extended version of the model does not yield solutions fulfilling both constraints. Furthermore, no first order chiral phase transition is found in the extended version of the model, not allowing for the twin star solutions found in the mean field approximation.

nucl-th↗

D mesons in strongly magnetized asymmetric nuclear matter

The medium modifications of the open charm mesons ($D$ and $\bar D$) are studied in isospin asymmetric nuclear matter in the presence of strong magnetic fields, using a chiral effective model. The mass modifications of these mesons in the effective hadronic model, arise due to their interactions with the protons, neutrons and the scalar mesons (non-strange isoscalar $σ$, strange isoscalar, $ζ$ and non-strange isovector, $δ$), in the magnetized nuclear matter. In the presence of magnetic field, for the charged baryon, i.e., the proton, the number density as well as the scalar density have contributions due to the summation over the Landau energy levels. For a given value of the baryon density, $ρ_B$, and isospin asymmetry, the scalar fields are solved self consistently from their coupled equations of motion. The modifications of the masses of the $D$ and $\bar D$ mesons are calculated, from the medium modifications of the scalar fields and the nucleons. The effects of the anomalous magnetic moments of the nucleons on the masses of the open charm mesons are also investigated in the present work. The effects of isospin asymmetry as well as of the anomalous magnetic moments are observed to be prominent at high densities for large values of magnetic fields.

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The impact of quark masses on pQCD thermodynamics

We present results for several thermodynamic quantities within the next-to-leading order calculation of the thermodynamic potential in perturbative QCD at finite temperature and chemical potential including non-vanishing quark masses. These results are compared to lattice data and to higher-order optimized perturbative calculations to investigate the trend brought about by mass corrections.

hep-ph↗

Phase diagram and nucleation in the Polyakov-loop-extended Quark-Meson truncation of QCD with the unquenched Polyakov-loop potential

Unquenching of the Polyakov-loop potential showed to be an important improvement for the description of the phase structure and thermodynamics of strongly-interacting matter at zero quark chemical potentials with Polyakov-loop extended chiral models. This work constitutes the first application of the quark backreaction on the Polyakov-loop potential at nonzero density. The observation is that it links the chiral and deconfinement phase transition also at small temperatures and large quark chemical potentials. The build up of the surface tension in the Polyakov-loop extended Quark-Meson model is explored by investigating the two and 2+1-flavour Quark-Meson model and analysing the impact of the Polyakov-loop extension. In general, the order of magnitude of the surface tension is given by the chiral phase transition. The coupling of the chiral and deconfinement transition with the unquenched Polyakov-loop potential leads to the fact that the Polyakov-loop contributes at all temperatures.

hep-ph↗

Compact stars in a SU(3) Quark-Meson Model

The recent observations of the massive pulsars PSR J1614-2230 and of PSR J0348+0432 with about two solar masses implies strong constraints on the properties of dense matter in the core of compact stars. Effective models of QCD aiming to describe neutron star matter can thereby be considerably constrained. In this context, a chiral quark-meson model based on a SU(3) linear $σ$-model with a vacuum pressure and vector meson exchange is discussed in this work. The impact of its various terms and parameters on the equation of state and the maximum mass of compact stars are delineated to check whether pure quark stars with two solar masses are feasible within this approach. Large vector meson coupling constant and a small vacuum pressure allow for maximum masses of two or more solar masses. However, pure quark stars made of absolutely stable strange quark matter, so called strange stars, turn out to be restricted to a quite small parameter range.

astro-ph.HE↗

Supernova Equation of State with an extended SU(3) Quark-Meson Model

The quark-meson model is investigated for the two- and three-flavor case extended by contributions of vector mesons under conditions encountered in core-collapse supernova matter. Typical temperature ranges, densities and electron fractions, as found in core-collapse supernova simulations, are studied by implementing charge neutrality and local beta-equilibrium with respect to weak interactions. Within this framework, we analyze the resulting phase diagram and equation of state (EoS) and investigate the impact of undetermined parameters of the model. The EoS turns out to be relatively independent on the entropy per baryon but there are significant changes when going from the two-flavor to the three-flavor case due to the nontrivial contribution from the strange quarks which stay massive even at high densities. While an increasing vector meson coupling constant leads to a substantial stiffening of the EoS, we find that the impact of changing the scalar meson mass is equally strong and results in a softening of the EoS for increasing values.

nucl-th↗

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↗

Improved Polyakov-loop potential for effective models from functional calculations

We investigate the quark backreaction on the Polyakov loop and its impact on the thermodynamics of quantum chromodynamics. The dynamics of the gluons generating the Polyakov-loop potential is altered by the presence of dynamical quarks. However, this backreaction of the quarks has not yet been taken into account in Polyakov-loop extended model studies. In the present work, we show within a 2+1 flavour Polyakov-quark-meson model that a quark-improved Polyakov-loop potential leads to a smoother transition between the low-temperature hadronic phase and the high-temperature quark-gluon plasma phase. In particular, we discuss the dependence of our results on the remaining uncertainties that are the critical temperature and the parametrisation of the Polyakov-loop potential as well as the mass of the sigma-meson.

hep-ph↗

QCD thermodynamics of effective models with an improved Polyakov-loop potential

We analyse the role of the quark backreaction on the gauge-field dynamics and its impact on the Polyakov-loop potential. Based on our analysis we construct an improved Polyakov-loop potential that can be used in future model studies. In the present work, we employe this improved potential in a study of a 2+1 flavour Polyakov-quark-meson model and show that the temperature dependence of the order parameters and thermodynamics is closer to full QCD. We discuss the results for QCD thermodynamics and outline briefly the dependence of our results on the critical temperature and the parametrisation of the Polyakov-loop potential as well as the mass of the sigma-meson.

hep-ph↗

Phase diagram and surface tension in the three-flavor Polyakov-quark-meson model

We obtain the in-medium effective potential of the three-flavor Polyakov-Quark-Meson model as a real function of real variables in the Polyakov loop variable, to allow for the study of all possible minima of the model. At finite quark chemical potential, the real and imaginary parts of the effective potential, in terms of the Polyakov loop variables, are made apparent, showing explicitly the fermion sign problem of the theory. The phase diagram and other equilibrium observables, obtained from the real part of the effective potential, are calculated in the mean-field approximation. The obtained results are compared to those found with the so-called saddle-point approach. Our procedure also allows the calculation of the surface tension between the chirally broken and confined phase, and the chirally restored and deconfined phase. The values of surface tension we find for low temperatures are very close to the ones recently found for two-flavor chiral models. Some consequences of our results for the early Universe, for heavy-ion collisions, and for proto-neutron stars are briefly discussed.

hep-ph↗

Soft nuclear equation-of-state from heavy-ion data and implications for compact stars

Measurements of kaon production at subthreshold energies in heavy-ion collisions point to a soft nuclear equation-of-state for densities up to 2-3 times nuclear matter saturation density. We apply these results to study the implications on compact star properties, especially in the context of the recent measurement of the two solar mass pulsar PSR J1614-2230. The implications are two-fold: Firstly, the heavy-ion results constrain nuclear matter at densities relevant to light neutron stars. Hence, a radius measurement could provide information about the density dependence of the symmetry energy which is a crucial quantity in nuclear physics. Secondly, the information on the nucleon potential obtained from the analysis of the heavy-ion data can be combined with restrictions from causality on the nuclear equation-of-state. From this we can derive a limit for the highest allowed compact star mass of three solar masses.

astro-ph.SR↗

Hyperons and massive neutron stars: vector repulsion and SU(3) symmetry

With the discovery of massive neutron stars such as PSR J1614-2230, the question has arisen whether exotic matter such as hyperons can exist in the neutron star core. We examine the conditions under which hyperons can exist in massive neutron stars. We consistently investigate the vector meson-hyperon coupling, going from SU(6) quark model to a broader SU(3) symmetry. We propose that the maximum neutron star mass decreases linearly with the strangeness content f_s of the neutron star core as M_max(f_s) = M_max(0) - 0.6 M_solar (f_s/0.1), which seems to be independent of the underlying nuclear equation of state and the vector baryon-meson coupling scheme. Thus, pulsar mass measurements can be used to constrain the hyperon fraction in neutron stars.

astro-ph.HE↗

Hyperons and massive neutron stars: the role of hyperon potentials

The constituents of cold dense matter are still far from being understood. However, neutron star observations such as the recently observed pulsar PSR J1614-2230 with a mass of 1.97+/-0.04 M_solar help to considerably constrain the hadronic equation of state (EoS). We systematically investigate the influence of the hyperon potentials on the stiffness of the EoS. We find that they have but little influence on the maximum mass compared to the inclusion of an additional vector meson mediating repulsive interaction amongst hyperons. The new mass limit can only be reached with this additional meson regardless of the hyperon potentials. Further, we investigate the impact of the nuclear compression modulus and the effective mass of the nucleon at saturation density on the high density regime of the EoS. We show that the maximum mass of purely nucleonic stars is very sensitive to the effective nucleon mass but only very little to the compression modulus.

astro-ph.HE↗

Boson stars with repulsive selfinteractions

The properties of compact stars made of massive bosons with a repulsive selfinteraction mediated by vector mesons are studied within the mean-field approximation and general relativity. We demonstrate that there exists a scaling property for the mass-radius curve for arbitrary boson masses and interaction strengths which results in an universal mass-radius relation. The radius remains nearly constant for a wide range of compact star masses. The maximum stable mass and radius of boson stars are determined by the interaction strength and scale with the Landau mass and radius. Both, the maximum mass and the corresponding radius increase linearly with the interaction strength so that they can be radically different compared to the other families of boson stars where interactions are ignored.

astro-ph↗

Quark matter in compact stars?

Ozel, in a recent reanalysis of EXO 0748-676 observational data (astro-ph/0605106), concluded that quark matter probably does not exist in the center of compact stars. We show that the data is actually consistent with the presence of quark matter in compact stars.

astro-ph↗

Open-charm enhancement at FAIR?

We have calculated the D-meson spectral density at finite temperature within a self-consistent coupled-channel approach that generates dynamically the $Λ_c$ (2593) resonance. We find a small mass shift for the D-meson in this hot and dense medium while the spectral density develops a sizeable width. The reduced attraction felt by the D-meson in hot and dense matter together with the large width observed have important consequences for the D-meson production in the future CBM experiment at FAIR.

nucl-th↗