Short-range correlations in quark matter

Abstract

We investigate the role of short-range correlations in quark matter within the framework of the SU(2) NJL model. Employing a next-to-leading order expansion in 1/N_c for the quark self energy we construct a fully self-consistent model that is based on the relations between spectral functions and self energies. In contrast to the usual quasiparticle approximations we take the collisional broadening of the quark spectral function consequently into account. Mesons are dynamically generated in the fashion of a random phase approximation, using full in-medium propagators in the quark loops. The results are self-consistently fed back into the quark self energy. Calculations have been performed for finite chemical potentials at zero temperature. The short-range correlations do not only generate finite widths in the spectral functions but also have influence on the chiral phase transition.