An improved random matrix model for the chiral phase transition in QCD at finite chemical potential

Abstract

We consider a lattice-inspired random matrix model for the QCD chiral phase transition at finite chemical potential. Useful features of the usual RMM for QCD at finite chemical potential are reobtained, some being brought closer to their lattice equivalent. The simple physical requirement of a vanishing quark number density in the broken phase is fulfilled in the limit of a large number of timeslices. It is argued that the suppression of the partition function at nonzero chemical potential in the broken phase, seen in the usual RMM, is possibly present in lattice simulations and is simply a result of the discretization in time.