Quantum chromodynamics is notoriously difficult to solve at nonzero baryon density, and most models or effective theories of dense quark or nuclear matter are restricted to a particular density regime and/or a particular form of matter. Here we study dense (and mostly cold) matter within the holographic Sakai-Sugimoto model, aiming at a strong-coupling framework in the wide density range between nuclear saturation density and ultrahigh quark matter densities. The model contains only three parameters, and we ask whether it fulfills two basic requirements of real-world cold and dense matter, a first-order onset of nuclear matter and a chiral phase transition at high density to quark matter. Such a model would be extremely useful for astrophysical applications because it would provide a single equation of state for all densities relevant in a compact star. Our calculations are based on two approximations for baryonic matter—first, an instanton gas and, second, a homogeneous ansatz for the non-Abelian gauge fields on the flavor branes of the model. While the instanton gas shows chiral restoration at high densities but an unrealistic second-order baryon onset, the homogeneous ansatz behaves exactly the other way around. Our study, thus, provides all ingredients that are necessary for a more realistic model and allows for systematic improvements of the applied approximations.

• Received 26 May 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.92.026006