First-order phase transition for a field theory at finite chemical potential in a toroidal topology

¹ Instituto de Física, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro - Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, 20559-900 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
² Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, MCT - 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

^a adolfo@cbpf.br

Received: 21 March 2012
Accepted: 17 April 2012

Abstract

We study the critical behaviour of the − λϕ⁴+ηϕ⁶ theory at finite chemical potential defined in a toroidal topology, with compactification of imaginary time (finite temperature) and compactification of a spatial coordinate. This is performed as an application of recently published methods for dealing with field theories defined on toroidal spaces. We study finite-size (described by the spatial compactification length L) and finite-chemical-potential (μ) effects, by carrying out an investigation of the critical temperature as a function of both L and μ. We find that there is a minimal size for the system that sustains the transition, and that this size is the same for all values of the chemical potential.