In-medium spectral change of omega mesons as a probe of QCD four-quark condensate

Abstract

Within QCD sum rules at finite baryon density we show the crucial role of four-quark condensates for the in-medium modification of the omega meson spectral function. In particular, such a global property as the sign of the in-medium omega meson mass shift is found to be governed by a parameter which describes the strength of the density dependence of the four-quark condensate beyond mean-field approximation. To study self-consistently the broadening of the omega meson resonance we employ a hadron spectral function based on the omega meson propagator delivered by an effective chiral Lagrangian. Measurements of the omega meson spectral change in heavy-ion collisions with the HADES detector can reveal the yet unknown density dependence of the four-quark condensate.