Supercooled Goldstone Bosons at the QCD Chiral Phase Transition
We discuss a universal nonequilibrium enhancement of long-wavelength Goldstone bosons induced by quenches to the broken phase in Model G-the dynamical universality class of an O(4) antiferromagnet and the chiral phase transition in QCD. Scaling arguments for the coarsening dynamics describing the formation of the chiral condensate predict a parametric enhancement in the infrared spectra of Goldstone bosons, a prediction confirmed by stochastic simulations of the transition. The details of the enhancement are determined by the nonlinear dynamics of a superfluid effective theory, which is a limit of Model G reflecting the broken O(4) symmetry. Our results translate to a parametric enhancement of low-momentum pions in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC, which are underpredicted in current hydrodynamic models without critical dynamics.
Authors
- Karl J. Friston
Institutions
- University of Ljubljana (SI)
- Brookhaven National Laboratory (US)
- Bielefeld University (DE)
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- University of Florence (IT)
- Stony Brook University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Letters
- Published
- 2025-11-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/wyn4-ncdc
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- High-Energy Particle Collisions Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.74
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Javna Agencija za Raziskovalno Dejavnost RS
- Office of Science
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
- Nuclear Physics