Cosmic separation of phases
A first-order QCD phase transition that occurred reversibly in the early universe would lead to a surprisingly rich cosmological scenario. Although observable consequences would not necessarily survive, it is at least conceivable that the phase transition would concentrate most of the quark excess in dense, invisible quark nuggets, providing an explanation for the dark matter in terms of QCD effects only. This possibility is viable only if quark matter has energy per baryon less than 938 MeV. Two related issues are considered in appendices: the possibility that neutron stars generate a quark-matter component of cosmic rays, and the possibility that the QCD phase transition may have produced a detectable gravitational signal.
- Research Organization:
- Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76ER02220
- OSTI ID:
- 6658823
- Journal Information:
- Phys. Rev. D; (United States), Vol. 30:2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
COSMOLOGY
QUARK MATTER
QUANTUM CHROMODYNAMICS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
BARYONS
CHIRAL SYMMETRY
COSMIC RADIATION
GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS
NEUTRON STARS
SYMMETRY BREAKING
UNIVERSE
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
FIELD THEORIES
HADRONS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
MATTER
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
RADIATIONS
STARS
SYMMETRY
645400* - High Energy Physics- Field Theory
640102 - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
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640106 - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Cosmology