2021/10/14 by Moses A. Schindler, Schindler, Moses A., Stella T. Schindler +3
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Physics - Lattice (hep-lat) #High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Nuclear Theory (nucl-th) #Quantum Mechanics and Non-Hermitian Physics #Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2110.07761
openalex publication_date 2021/10/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
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 PT-symmetric QFTs. Finite-density QCD is symmetric under the combined operation of the charge and complex conjugation operators CK, which falls into the class of so-called generalized PT symmetries. We show that PT-symmetric quantum field theories can support patterned ground-state field configurations in the vicinity of a critical endpoint. We apply our methods to a lattice heavy quark model at nonzero chemical potential that displays patterning behavior for a range of parameters. We derive a simple approximate criterion for the formation of these patterns, which can be used with lattice results.