Aspects of the phase diagram in (P)NJL-like models

We discuss three applications of NJL- and PNJL-like models to assess aspects of the QCD phase diagram: First, we study the effect of mesonic correlations on the pressure below and above the finite temperature phase transition within a nonlocal PNJL model beyond the mean-field approximation. Second, we reconstruct the phase boundary of an NJL model from a Taylor expansion of the chiral susceptibility about $mu = 0$ and compare the result with the exact phase boundary. Finally, we demonstrate the realization of the non-standard scenario for the critical surface in a three-flavor PNJL model with a $mu$-dependent determinant interaction.

Equation of state for hybrid compact stars with a nonlocal chiral quark model

We study the thermodynamics of two flavor color superconducting (2SC) quark matter within a nonlocal chiral quark model, using both instantaneous and covariant nonlocal interactions. For applications to compact stars, we impose conditions of electric and color charge neutrality as well as beta equilibrium and construct a phase transition to the hadronic matter phase described within the Dirac-Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (DBHF) approach. We obtain mass-radius relations for hybrid star configurations which fulfill modern observational constraints, including compact star masses above 2 M_sun.