Flavor-Mixing Effects on the QCD Phase Diagram at non-vanishing Isospin Chemical Potential: One or Two Phase Transitions?

Abstract

We investigate effects of a fixed nonzero isospin chemical potential on the mu_B-T phase diagram of strongly interacting matter using a Nambu--Jona-Lasinio-type four fermion interaction. We focus on the influence of a flavor-mixing interaction induced by instantons. We find that already for rather moderate values of the coupling strength in the flavor-mixing channel the recent findings of two seperate phase transitions do not persist.

7 pages, 2 ps figures