<i>D</i> and <i>D*</i> Mesons in an Isospin Asymmetric Nuclear Medium

Abstract We investigate the properties of pseudoscalar D and vector $D^{*}$ mesons in an isospin asymmetric nuclear medium using a hybrid approach that integrates the light-front quark model with the chiral SU(3) quark mean-field model. The influence of the isospin asymmetric nuclear medium is examined by utilizing the in-medium quark masses derived from the chiral SU(3) quark mean-field model as an input in the light-front quark model to study the medium modification of D mesons. We examine the impact of isospin asymmetry and baryon density at zero and finite temperature on the effective masses, weak decay constants, and distribution amplitudes of the pseudoscalar mesons $D^0$, $D^+$, $D_s$, and the vector mesons $D^{0*}$, $D^{+*}$, and $D_s^{*}$. Our results indicate significant medium-induced changes for pseudoscalar D and vector $D^{*}$ mesons with $u/d$ as one of their constituent quarks, while a comparatively reduced effect is observed for mesons containing a strange quark. In contrast to temperature and isospin asymmetry, changes in the baryon density of the nuclear medium have a larger effect on different properties of D and $D^{*}$ mesons.