The equation of state for quark matter is derived for a nonlocal, chiral quark model within the mean field approximation. We investigate the effects of a variation of the formfactors of the interaction on the phase diagram of quark matter under the condition of βequilibrium and charge neutrality. Special emphasis is on the occurrence of a diquark condensate which signals a phase transition to c...

We study the quark confining vacuum structure, with the objective to liberate quarks and gluons at high temperature. The present day experimental effort involves colliding heavy nuclei and this limits the domain of deconfinement to the size of the atomic nucleus. The ‘free’ quarks and gluons form a thermal gas comprising color charges, the quark–gluon plasma — a hot soup of elementary matter, l...