Search Results (42)

We investigate finite-size effects on the density-driven deconfinement phase transition in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) using a phase coexistence model of hadronic and quark–gluon plasma (QGP) phases in a finite size. The QGP is described via the MIT bag model, incorporating the color-singletness constraint to enforce exact color neutrality. In this study, we analyze the first- and second-order derivatives of the order parameter, defined as the mean hadronic volume fraction h , with respect to the quark chemical potential ( μ ) at fixed temperature ( T ) and for several system volumes V , to identify the effective transition point. Our results show that the effective quark chemical potential μ c ( V ) increases as the volume decreases, and the transition becomes progressively smoother, with a width δ μ ( V ) that broadens with decreasing volume. Full article

We study the effect of trapped neutrinos on the properties of the deconfinement phase transition from hot $\beta$-equilibrated, electrically neutral hadronic matter to quark matter. To describe the thermodynamic properties of hot hadronic matter, an extended relativistic mean field (RMF) theory is used, which also incorporates the isovector–Lorentz-scalar $\delta$-meson effective field. The three-flavor quark phase is described within the framework of the local Nambu–Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model. It was assumed that the surface tension at the quark-hadron interface is so strong that the phase transition occurs according to Maxwell’s construction. The thermodynamic properties of the quark and hadronic phases were calculated for both neutrino-trapped and neutrino-transparent regimes at various temperatures ranging from 0 to 100 MeV and baryon number densities from 0 to 1.8 ${\mathrm{fm}}^{-3}$. The impact of trapped neutrinos on the thermodynamic properties of the coexistence state has been investigated. It has been demonstrated that the baryon chemical potential in the coexistence state decreases as temperature increases. The critical endpoint parameters in the $T-n_B$ plane of the phase diagram were obtained for the case of trapped neutrinos (74 MeV; 0.269 ${\mathrm{fm}}^{-3}$) and for the case of the absence of neutrinos (75.6 MeV; 0.255 ${\mathrm{fm}}^{-3}$). Full article

Binary neutron star mergers and proto-neutron stars provide unique environments where dense matter is hot, lepton-rich, and potentially undergoes a transition from hadronic to deconfined quark matter. We investigate the thermodynamics and stellar properties of hybrid matter under such conditions. The hadronic phase is described within a covariant density functional framework, while the quark phase is modeled using a Nambu–Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model that includes repulsive vector interactions, the axial $U_A\left(1\right)$-breaking ’t Hooft determinant interaction, and two-flavor color-superconducting (2SC) pairing. The phase transition between hadronic and quark matter is constructed using a mixed-phase prescription that enforces baryon and lepton number conservation, allowing us to follow thermodynamic trajectories at fixed entropy per baryon and a fixed lepton fraction. We analyze the phase structure of dense matter at a finite temperature and study the composition of the hadronic, mixed, and quark phases in both neutrino-trapped and neutrino-free regimes. Our results show that neutrino trapping significantly modifies the particle composition and shifts the onset of deconfinement to higher densities. The mixed phase exhibits a density-dependent pressure due to the presence of multiple conserved charges. Using the resulting equations of state, we compute static stellar configurations and examine the influence of the temperature and lepton content on the mass–radius relation in hybrid stars. Hot, neutrino-rich configurations are found to have larger radii and slightly higher maximum masses than their cold counterparts. As the star cools and deleptonizes, its radius contracts at an approximately constant baryonic mass, potentially triggering changes in the internal phase structure. These results highlight the roles of color superconductivity, lepton trapping, and thermal effects in shaping the structure and evolution of hybrid stars in transient astrophysical environments. Full article

We investigate finite-size effects in the T–$\mu$ phase diagram of magnetized quark matter within the framework of a nonlocal extension of the Polyakov–Nambu–Jona-Lasinio (PNJL) model. Finite-size corrections are incorporated through the multiple reflection expansion (MRE) formalism, which describes a spherical quark droplet of radius R and modifies the density of states by including surface and curvature contributions. We consider two-flavor quark matter at finite temperature and chemical potential in the presence of a uniform magnetic field with strengths ranging from $eB=0$ to 1 ${\mathrm{GeV}}^2$, and droplet radii from $R=3$ fm to the bulk limit. The nonlocal PNJL (nlPNJL) model naturally reproduces both magnetic catalysis at low temperatures and inverse magnetic catalysis near the chiral transition, in agreement with lattice QCD results. We analyze the chiral condensate, the traced Polyakov loop, the normalized quark condensate, and the corresponding susceptibilities. We find that finite-size effects do not modify the overall structure of the phase diagram, and that the coincidence of the chiral restoration and deconfinement transitions persists for all magnetic field strengths and system sizes explored, within the present implementation in which finite-size corrections are restricted to the fermionic sector. However, the critical end point (CEP) is notably shifted as a function of both magnetic field strength and system size: It moves toward higher chemical potentials and lower temperatures as system size decreases, an effect that is significantly amplified by strong magnetic fields. Our results have potential implications for the physics of phase conversion in compact stars and for the interpretation of relativistic heavy-ion collision experiments. Full article

Relativistic heavy-ion collisions generate ultra-strong magnetic fields that interact with the quark–gluon plasma (QGP), a key focus of high-energy physics research. This study investigates QGP energy density evolution under time-dependent magnetic fields within a (1 + 1)D relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (RMHD) framework integrated with Bjorken flow. Three magnetic field temporal evolution models (Type-1, Type-2, Type-3) are analyzed for two different equations of state: (1) $p={c_s}^{2}e$ (simplified ultra-relativistic), and (2) $p={c_s}^{2}e-2MB$ (magnetized conformal), incorporating a temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility derived from lattice QCD. Results show that stronger magnetic fields consistently suppress QGP energy density decay, with suppression magnitude dependent on the magnetic field’s temporal profile. Ultra-relativistic fluids exhibit slowed energy decay due to magnetic pressure counteracting hydrodynamic expansion. In contrast, magnetized conformal fluids display faster energy dissipation under identical conditions, arising from the synergistic effect of enhanced magnetic fluid coupling, increased energy dissipation during interaction, and QGP’s perfect fluid expansion at elevated temperatures. Temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility reveals a transition from diamagnetic (confined phase) to paramagnetic (deconfined QGP phase) behavior, introducing a feedback mechanism that strengthens energy retention at higher temperatures. This work clarifies the interplay between magnetic field dynamics, QCD phase structure, and hydrodynamic expansion, providing key observational signatures for distinguishing fluid types in heavy-ion collisions and advancing realistic modeling of magnetized QGP. Full article

This editorial consists of a synopsis of the research in the Special Issue on “Superconductors and Magnetic Materials”, specifying the studies and highlighting main results and conclusions. This collection of research (1) demonstrates the possibility of notably decreasing AC losses by replacing the copper encapsulation of rare Earth barium copper oxide tapes with strong magnetic encapsulation; (2) predicts typical gains expected from soft-magnet and superconductor flux concentrators for low magnetic field sensing; (3) reveals that the n-value surfaces of high-Tc tapes can be estimated with a high accuracy using feed-forward deep neural network learning; (4) predicts the detection of a monopole plasma phase in high-Tc iron-based superconductors with a Tc above 70 K; and (5) proposes an analytical model to accurately predict the gap-to-Tc ratio for yttrium hydrides at high pressures. Full article

In this study, we investigate temperature fluctuations in hot QCD matter using a three-flavor Polyakov loop-extended Nambu–Jona-Lasinio (PNJL) model. The high-order cumulant ratios $R_{n2}$ ($n>2$) exhibit non-monotonic variations across the chiral phase transition, characterized by slight fluctuations in the chiral crossover region and significant oscillations around the critical point. In contrast, distinct peak and dip structures are observed in the cumulant ratios at low-baryon chemical potential. These structures gradually weaken and eventually vanish at high chemical potential as they compete with the sharpening of the chiral phase transition, particularly near the critical point and the first-order phase transition. Our results indicate that these non-monotonic peak and dip structures in high-order cumulant ratios are associated with the deconfinement phase transition. This study quantitatively analyzes temperature fluctuation behavior across different phase transition regions, and the findings are expected to be observed and validated in heavy-ion collision experiments through measurements of event-by-event mean transverse momentum fluctuations. Full article

A general relativistic model of an astrophysical hypermassive extremely magnetized ultra-compact self-bound quark–gluon plasma (QGP: ALICE/LHC) object that is supported against its ultimate gravitational implosion by the simultaneous action of the vacuum polarization driven by nonlinear electrodynamics (NLED: ATLAS/LHC: light-by-light scattering)—the vacuum “awakening”—and the asymptotic freedom, a key feature of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), is presented. These QCD stars can be the final figures of the equilibrium of collapsing stellar cores permeated by magnetic fields with strengths well beyond the Schwinger threshold due to being self-bound, and for which post-supernova fallback material pushes the nascent remnant beyond its stability, forcing it to collapse into a hybrid hypermassive neutron star (HHMNS). Hypercritical accretion can drive its innermost core to spontaneously break away color confinement, powering a first-order hadron-to-quark phase transition to a sea of ever-freer quarks and gluons. This core is hydro-stabilized by the steady, endlessly compression-admitting asymptotic freedom state, possibly via gluon-mediated enduring exchange of color charge among bound states, e.g., the odderon: a glueball state of three gluons, or either quark-pairing (color superconductivity) or tetraquark/pentaquark states (LHCb Coll.). This fast—at the QGP speed of sound—but incremental quark–gluon deconfinement unbinds the HHMNS’s baryons so catastrophically that transforms it, turning it inside-out, into a neat self-bound QGP star. A solution to the nonlinear Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff (TOV) equation is obtained—that clarifies the nonlinear effects of both NLED and QCD on the compact object’s structure—which clearly indicates the occurrence of hypermassive QGP/QCD stars with a wide mass spectrum ($0\lesssim {\mathrm{M}}_{\mathrm{Star}}^{\mathrm{QGP}}\lesssim$ 7 M_⊙ and beyond), for star radii ($0\lesssim R_{\mathrm{Star}}^{\mathrm{QGP}}\lesssim 24$ km and beyond) with B-fields (${10}^{14}\le {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{Star}}^{\mathrm{QGP}}\le {10}^{16}$ G and beyond). This unexpected feature is described by a novel mass vs. radius relation derived within this scenario. Hence, endowed with these physical and astrophysical characteristics, such QCD stars can definitively emulate what the true (theoretical) black holes are supposed to gravitationally do in most astrophysical settings. This color quark star could be found through a search for its eternal “yo-yo” state gravitational-wave emission, or via lensing phenomena like a gravitational rainbow (quantum mechanics and gravity interaction), as in this scenario, it is expected that the light deflection angle—directly influenced by the larger effective mass/radius (${\mathrm{M}}_{\mathrm{Star}}^{\mathrm{QGP}}\left(B\right)$, ${\mathrm{R}}_{\mathrm{Star}}^{\mathrm{QGP}}\left(B\right)$) and magnetic field of the deflecting object—increases as the incidence angle decreases, in view of the lower values of the impact parameter. The gigantic—but not infinite—surface gravitational redshift, due to NLED photon acceleration, makes the object appear dark. Full article

We present a study of hybrid neutron stars with color superconducting quark matter cores at a finite temperature that results in sequences of stars with constant entropy per baryon, $s/n_B=\mathrm{const}$. For the quark matter equation of state, we employ a recently developed nonlocal chiral quark model, while nuclear matter is described with a relativistic density functional model of the DD2 class. The phase transition is obtained through a Maxwell construction under isothermal conditions. We find that traversing the mixed phase on a trajectory at low $s/n_B\lesssim 2$ in the phase diagram shows a heating effect, while at larger $s/n_B$ the temperature drops. This behavior may be attributed to the presence of a color superconducting quark matter phase at low temperatures and the melting of the diquark condensate which restores the normal quark matter phase at higher temperatures. While the isentropic hybrid star branch at low $s/n_B\lesssim 2$ is connected to the neutron star branch, it becomes disconnected at higher entropy per baryon so that the “thermal twin” phenomenon is observed. We find that the transition from connected to disconnected hybrid star sequences may be estimated with the Seidov criterion for the difference in energy densities. The radii and masses at the onset of deconfinement exhibit a linear relationship and thus define a critical compactness of the isentropic star configuration for which the transition occurs and which, for large enough $s/n_B\gtrsim 2$ values, is accompanied by instability. The results of this study may be of relevance for uncovering the conditions for the supernova explodability of massive blue supergiant stars using the quark deconfinement mechanism. The accretion-induced deconfinement transition with thermal twin formation may contribute to explaining the origin of eccentric orbits in some binary systems and the origin of isolated millisecond pulsars. Full article

The holographic Einstein–Maxwell-dilaton model is employed to map state-of-the-art lattice QCD thermodynamics data from the temperature (T) axis towards the baryon–chemical potential (${\mu }_B$) axis and aims to gain a warm equation of state (EoS) of deconfined QCD matter which can be supplemented with a cool and confined part suitable for subsequent compact (neutron) star (merger) investigations. The model exhibits a critical end point (CEP) at $T_{\mathrm{CEP}}=\mathcal{O}\left(100\right)$ MeV and ${\mu }_{B\mathrm{CEP}}=500\dots 700$ MeV with an emerging first-order phase transition (FOPT) curve which extends to large values of ${\mu }_B$ without approaching the ${\mu }_B$ axis. We consider the impact and peculiarities of the related phase structure on the EoS for the employed dilaton potential and dynamical coupling parameterizations. These seem to prevent the design of an overall trustable EoS without recourse to hybrid constructions. Full article

In the framework of the Polyakov quark-meson model with two flavors, the bubble dynamics of a first-order phase transition in the region of high density and low temperature are investigated by using the homogeneous thermal nucleation theory. In mean-field approximation, after obtaining the effective potential with the inclusion of the fermionic vacuum term, we build a geometric method to search two existing minima, which can be actually connected by a bounce interpolated between a local minimum to an adjacent global one. For both weak and strong first-order hadron quark phase transitions, as fixing the chemical potentials at $\mu =306\mathrm{MeV}$ and $\mu =310\mathrm{MeV}$, the bubble profiles, the surface tension, the typical radius of the bounce, and the saddle-point action as a function of temperature are numerically calculated in the presence of a nucleation bubble. It is found that the surface tension remains at a very small value even when the density is high. It is also noticed that the deconfinement phase transition does not change the chiral phase transition dramatically for light quarks and phase boundaries for hadron and quark matter should be resized properly according to the saddle-point action evaluated on the bounce solution. Full article

Inspired by the fact that both the dilaton potential encoding the trace anomalies of QCD and the Polyakov loop potential measuring the deconfinement phase transition can be expressed in the logarithmic forms, as well as the fact that the scale symmetry is expected to be restoring and colors are deconfined in extreme conditions such as high temperatures and/or densities, we conjecture a relation between the dilaton potential and the Polyakov loop potential. Explicitly, we start from the Coleman–Weinberg type potential of a real scalar field—a dilaton or conformal compensator—and make an ansatz of the relation between this scalar field and the Polyakov loop to obtain the Polyakov loop potential, which can be parameterized in Lattice QCD (LQCD) in the pure glue sector. We find that the coefficients of Polyakov potential fitted from Lattice data are automatically satisfied in this ansatz, the locations of deconfinement and scale restoration are locked to each other, and the first-order phase transition can be realized. Extensions to the low-energy effective quark models are also discussed. The conjectured relation may deepen our understanding of the evolution of the universe, the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking, the phase diagram of QCD matter, and the properties of neutron stars. Full article

In this paper, we study the gravitational waves of holographic QCD phase transition with hyperscaling violation. We consider an Einstein–Maxwell Dilaton background and discuss the confinement–deconfinement phase transition between thermally charged AdS and AdS black holes. We find that hyperscaling violation reduces the phase transition temperature. In a further study, we discuss the effect of hyperscaling violation on the GW spectrum. We found that the hyperscaling violation exponent suppresses the peak frequency of the total GW spectrum. Moreover, the results of the GW spectrum may be detected by IPTA, SKA, BBO, and NANOGrav. We also find that the hyperscaling violation exponent suppresses the peak frequency of the bubble-collision spectrum $h^2{\Omega }_{env}$. Hyperscaling violation enhances the energy densities of the sound wave spectrum $h^2{\Omega }_{sw}$ and the MHD turbulence spectrum $h^2{\Omega }_{turb}$. The total GW spectrum is dominated by the contribution of the bubble collision in runaway bubbles case. Full article

The condensed matter Bose system may contain effective monopole quasiparticles in its excitation spectrum. In this paper, we first accomplish the mapping of the two-band Ginzburg–Landau theory to the extended CP¹ model, and then perform the Monte Carlo simulations on the $50\times 50\times 50$ cubic lattice with periodic boundary conditions. With the numerical data of monopole density and magnetic susceptibility, we indicate that there exists a monopole–antimonopole deconfinement transition for the two-band superconducting system with the critical temperature above 70 K. We also suggest the possible detection of this new monopole plasma phase in high-$T_c$ iron-based superconductors. Full article

This review is devoted to the modern understanding of the two-color QCD phase diagram at finite baryon density and low temperatures. First, we consider the theoretical picture of this phase diagram. It is believed that at low baryon density, two-color QCD can be described by chiral perturbation theory (ChPT), which predicts a second-order phase transition with Bose-Einstein condensation of diquarks at $\mu =m_{\pi }/2$. At larger baryon chemical potentials, the interactions between baryons become important, and ChPT is not applicable anymore. At sufficiently large baryon chemical potential, the Fermi sphere composed of quarks is formed, and diquarks are condensed on the surface of this sphere. In this region, two-color baryon matter reveals properties similar to those of the Quarkyonic phase. Particular attention in this review is paid to lattice studies of dense two-color QCD phase diagram. In the low-density region, the results of lattice studies are in agreement with ChPT predictions. At sufficiently large baryon densities, lattice studies observe a Fermi sphere composed of quarks and condensation of diquarks on its surface. Thus, available lattice studies support most of the theoretical predictions. Finally, we discuss the status of the deconfinement in cold dense two-color matter, which was observed in lattice simulation with staggered fermions. Full article