Speaker
Description
In the intermediate density region of the QCD phase diagram, there have been conjectures about inhomogeneous, chiral phases, i.e., phases with translational symmetry breaking through the chiral condensate. A precursor phenomenon, the so-called Moat regime, where mesonic dispersion relations favor non-vanishing momenta, was found in a recent FRG study of the QCD phase diagram in the vicinity of the critical point.
In his talk, we use a QCD-inspired model describing the scalar mesonic modes with focus on the investigation of inhomogeneous phases, moat regimes and alternative scenarios. The stability of these different phases with respect to bosonic fluctuations are investigated comparing analytical findings and lattice field theory simulations. We demonstrate how bosonic quantum fluctuations disorder inhomogeneous condensates. The mesonic correlation functions are described by an oscillatory function times the usual exponential decay, a regime termed `quantum pion liquid', in certain parameter regions. First results regarding an infinite-volume phase diagram are presented.
