Dense $\mathrm{QC_2D_2}$ with uniform matrix product states
Abstract
We study cold dense single-flavor gauge theory in dimensions in the thermodynamic limit using a gauge-invariant variational uniform matrix product state ansatz. This formulation provides a sign-problem-free, first-principles approach to dense QCD. We show that, at finite baryon density, the infrared behavior is consistent with a Tomonaga--Luttinger liquid: the central charge is determined to be , and the two-point function of the baryon-number density exhibits spatial modulation with the wavenumber predicted by Tomonaga--Luttinger liquid theory. The Luttinger parameter varies smoothly from in the dilute-baryon regime to at higher densities, suggesting a quarkyonic crossover. Furthermore, the quark distribution reveals the coexistence of a quark Fermi sea with a baryonic infrared description, thereby realizing the quarkyonic picture from first principles.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2605.17183,
title = {Dense $\mathrm{QC_2D_2}$ with uniform matrix product states},
author = {Kohei Fujikura and Yoshimasa Hidaka},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.17183},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
27 pages, 21 figures