Symmetry restoring phase transitions at high density in a 4D Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with a single order parameter

Abstract

High density phase transitions in a 4 dimensional Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model containing a single symmetry breaking order parameter coming from the fermion-antifermion condensates are researched and expounded by means of both the gap equation and the effective potential approach. The phase transitions are proven to be second order at a high temperature $T$; however at T=0, they are first- or second- order, depending on whether $\Lambda/m(0)$, the ratio of the momentum cutoff $\Lambda$ in the fermion loop integrals to the dynamical fermion mass $m(0)$ at zero temperature, is less than 3.387 or not. The former condition can not be satisfied in some models. The discussions further show complete effectiveness of the critical analysis based on the gap equation for second order phase transitions including determination of the condition of their occurrence.