Is the U$_A$(1) symmetry restored at finite temperature or density?

Abstract

We investigate the full U(3)$\otimes$U(3) chiral symmetry restoration, at finite temperature and density, on the basis of the three flavor Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with the anomaly term given by the 't Hooft interaction. We implement a temperature (density) dependence of the anomaly coefficient motivated by lattice results for the topological susceptibility. The results suggest that the axial part of the symmetry is restored before the possible restoration of the full U(3)$\otimes$U(3) chiral symmetry can occur.