Eur. Phys. J. C (2016) 76: 443
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-016-4291-6

Regular Article - Theoretical Physics

Comments on the compatibility of thermodynamic equilibrium conditions with lattice propagators

¹ Centro de Estudios Científicos (CECs), Casilla 1469, Valdivia, Chile
² Instituto de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile
³ Physique Théorique et Mathématique, Université Libre de Bruxelles and International Solvay Institutes, Campus Plaine C.P. 231, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
⁴ Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, Via Cintia Edificio 6, 80126, Naples, Italy
⁵ INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, Via Cintia Edificio 6, 80126, Naples, Italy
⁶ Departamento de Física and Centro Científico-Tecnológico de Valparaíso, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Casilla 110-V, Valparaiso, Chile

^* e-mail: pais@cecs.cl

Received: 20 June 2016
Accepted: 23 July 2016
Published online: 8 August 2016

Abstract

In this paper the compatibility is analyzed of the non-perturbative equations of state of quarks and gluons arising from the lattice with some natural requirements for self-gravitating objects at equilibrium: the existence of an equation of state (namely, the possibility to define the pressure as a function of the energy density), the absence of superluminal propagation and Le Chatelier’s principle. It is discussed under which conditions it is possible to extract an equation of state (in the above sense) from the non-perturbative propagators arising from the fits of the latest lattice data. In the quark case, there is a small but non-vanishing range of temperatures in which it is not possible to define a single-valued functional relation between density and pressure. Interestingly enough, a small change of the parameters appearing in the fit of the lattice quark propagator (of around 10 %) could guarantee the fulfillment of all the three conditions (keeping alive, at the same time, the violation of positivity of the spectral representation, which is the expected signal of confinement). As far as gluons are concerned, the analysis shows very similar results. Whether or not the non-perturbative quark and gluon propagators satisfy these conditions can have a strong impact on the estimate of the maximal mass of quark stars.