We investigate QCD at large mu/T by using Z_3-symmetric SU(3) gauge theory, where mu is the quark-number chemical potential and T is temperature. We impose the flavor-dependent twist boundary condition on quarks in QCD. This QCD-like theory has the twist angle theta as a parameter, and agrees with QCD when theta=0 and becomes symmetric when theta=2pi/3. For both QCD and the Z_3-symmetric SU(3) gauge theory, the phase diagram is drawn in mu--T plane with the Polyakov-loop extended Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. In the Z_3-symmetric SU(3) gauge theory, the Polyakov loop varphi is zero in the confined phase appearing at T lsim 200 MeV. The perfectly confined phase never coexists with the color superconducting (CSC) phase, since finite diquark condensate in the CSC phase breaks Z_3 symmetry and then makes varphi finite. When mu gsim 300 MeV, the CSC phase is more stable than the perfectly confined phase at T lsim 100 MeV. Meanwhile, the chiral symmetry can be broken in the perfectly confined phase, since the chiral condensate is Z_3 invariant. Consequently, the perfectly confined phase is divided into the perfectly confined phase without chiral symmetry restoration in a region of mu lsim 300 MeV and T lsim 200 MeV and the perfectly confined phase with chiral symmetry restoration in a region of mu gsim 300 MeV and 100 lsim T lsim 200 MeV. The basic phase structure of Z_3-symmetric QCD-like theory remains in QCD. We show that in the perfectly confined phase the sign problem becomes less serious because of varphi=0, using the heavy quark theory. We discuss a lattice QCD framework to evaluate observables at theta=0 from those at theta=2pi/3.
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