Phase diagram of helically imbalanced QCD matter

Understand

We discuss the influence of a helicity imbalance on the phase diagram of dense QCD at finite temperature.

• We argue that the helical chemical potential is a thermodynamically relevant quantity in theories with the mass gap generation.
• Using the linear sigma model coupled to quarks, we show that the presence of the helical density substantially affects the phase diagram of dense quark matter.
• A moderate helical density makes the chiral phase transition softer while shifting the critical endpoint towards lower temperatures and higher baryon chemical potentials.