Confining density functional approach to the QCD phase diagram at low temperatures and thermal twin stars

Abstract

We present a density functional-based equation of state for warm, dense nuclear matter with a transition to deconfined quark matter for applications to simulations of supernova explosions and neutron star mergers, but also for the cosmological evolution of Q-balls. For the quark matter equation of state, we employ a recently developed confining density functional approach while nuclear matter is described within a relativistic density functional model of the DD2 class. The phase transition is obtained by a Maxwell construction at constant entropy per baryon. We discuss the solutions of TOV equations for isentropic hybrid stars for the hybrid equation of state model DDf-SFM (DD2-$χ$CDF) without (with) color superconductivity and find that at finite temperatures above a critical value of entropy per baryon sequences of disconnected third family branches ("thermal twin stars") may appear for the DDf-SFM model, while they are absent for the color superconducting model and at $T=0$. We discuss the relation of this critical entropy per baryon to the Seidov criterion of gravitational instability for $T=0$