Physics Letters B (Aug 2025)

The nucleon properties in finite temperature and density with Gaussian fluctuations

  • Peixin Weng,
  • Bingtao Li,
  • Yiming Lyu,
  • Song Shu,
  • Hui Zhang

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 867
p. 139587

Abstract

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We investigate the properties of nucleons at finite temperature and density using a two-flavor quark meson model with Gaussian fluctuations that extend beyond the mean-field approximation. Our findings suggest that Gaussian fluctuations lead to a non-monotonic behavior of the nucleon mass as a function of temperature and density, which may play an important role in the study of the hadronization process of relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Moreover, we observe an increase in the nucleon radius due to Gaussian fluctuations, suggesting an effective repulsive force akin to the Casimir effect, as observed in the gold-bromobenzene-silica system. This study offers new insights into how temperature, density, and quantum fluctuations affect the structure and properties of nucleons under extreme conditions.

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