Related papers: QCD Thermodynamics: Confronting the Polyakov-Quark…
We review results for the phase diagram of QCD, the properties of quarks and gluons and the resulting properties of strongly interacting matter at finite temperature and chemical potential. The interplay of two different but related…
A unified chiral mean field approach is presented for QCD thermodynamics in a wide range of temperatures and densities. The model simultaneously gives a satisfactory description of lattice QCD thermodynamics and fulfills nuclear matter and…
Investigations of deconfined quark matter within NJL-type models are reviewed, focusing on the regime of low temperatures and ``moderate'' densities, which is not accessible by perturbative QCD. Central issue is the interplay between chiral…
After combined character and hopping expansions and integration over the spatial gauge links, lattice QCD reduces to a three-dimensional $SU(3)$ Polyakov loop model with complicated interactions. A simple truncation of the effective theory…
We study the phase structure of effective models of finite-density QCD using analytic and lattice simulation techniques developed for the study of non-Hermitian and $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric QFTs. Finite-density QCD is symmetric under the…
We present results on the equation of state in QCD with two light quark flavors and a heavier strange quark. Calculations with improved staggered fermions have been performed on lattices with temporal extent Nt =4 and 6 on a line of…
I review the status of lattice QCD calculations at non-zero temperature. After summarizing what is known about the equilibrium properties of strongly interacting matter, I discuss in more detail recent results concerning the quark-mass…
For a long time, investigation into the weak interactions of quarks has guided us toward understanding the Standard Model we know today. Now in the era of high precision, these studies are still one of the most promising avenues for peering…
Non-perturbative lattice studies of QCD in the chiral thermodynamic regime, where chiral symmetry is spontaneously broken, require to deal with almost quark zero modes in a theoretically clean and computationally efficient way. We discuss…
It was recently observed in a lattice QCD measurement that the chiral condensate in the quenched approximation shows dramatically different behavior in the three $Z_3$-equivalent de-confined phases. We argue that this phenomenon can be…
We propose a method to probe the nature of phase transitions in lattice QCD at finite temperature and density, which is based on the investigation of an effective potential as a function of the average plaquette. We analyze data obtained in…
The current understanding of finite temperature phase transitions in QCD is reviewed. A critical discussion of refined phase transition criteria in numerical lattice simulations and of analytical tools going beyond the mean-field level in…
We develop the heat kernel method in the context of finite temperature quantum field theory. We compute the heat kernel expansion in the presence of general gauge and scalar fields which may be non Abelian and non stationary. The Polyakov…
Heat kernel expansions at finite temperature of massless QCD and chiral quark models generate effective actions relevant for both low and high temperature QCD. The key relevance of the Polyakov Loop to maintain the large and…
We study the critical boundary on the quark-mass plane associated with the chiral phase transition in QCD at finite temperature. We point out that the critical boundaries obtained from the Lattice QCD simulation and the chiral effective…
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…
We summarize recent results for the phase structure of QCD at finite temperature and light-quark chemical potential for N_f=2+1 and N_f=2+1+1 dynamical quark flavors. We discuss order parameters for the chiral and deconfinement transitions…
The global center symmetry of quenched QCD at zero baryonic chemical potential is broken spontaneously at a critical temperature $T_c$ leading to a first-order phase transition. Including heavy dynamical quarks breaks the center symmetry…
We review recent developments in lattice siumulations of the equation of state, order of the thermal phase transition and the determination of the pseudo-critical temperature in (2+1)-flavor QCD. Owing to the increasing computer power, new…
We study the two-color QCD matter within two fundamental quark flavors via both chiral perturbation theory and Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model methods. The effective Lagrangian described by low lying meson and baryon, i.e., diquark, is derived,…