dr Thomas Klaehn

Exploring QCD in dense matter

The identification of a neutron star with a quark matter core depends upon a realistic equation of state for cold quark matter. An almost complete absence of experimental constraints at densities above nuclear saturation illustrates that little is truly known about the equation of state of any form of extremely dense matter. In attempting to predict the properties and astrophysical signals of cold quark matter, two classes of effective models are widely used: bag and Nambu-Jona-Lasinio models. Dyson-Schwinger equations in principle provide a continuum approach which directly addresses QCD and it's key features, confinement and dynamical chiral symmetry breaking. Calculating an actual equation of state within this approach turned out to be markedly difficult if relying on numerical methods only. In this seminar I present a recently obtained semi-algebraic quark matter equation of state which gives a perspective on what future QCD studies might reveal about cold quark matter in medium.