Phase transitions and behavior of kaons in hot and dense matter

Abstract

We study phase transitions and the behavior of kaons in hot and dense matter, giving special attention to the role of strange quarks. At T=0, it is found that the fraction of the strange valence quarks affects the energy per particle of the system, without changing the nature of the phase transition, and, on the other side, it has meaningful effects on the behavior of kaons and antikaons masses. The phase behavior of kaons in the $T-ρ$ plane is analyzed in connection with the chiral phase transition.

3 pages, 1 figure. Talk given at 6th Conference on Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum, Villasimius, Sardinia, Italy, 21-25 Sep 2004