MUSES workflows for pQCD constraints on dense matter with finite quark masses
Abstract
We present a modular implementation of next-to-leading order (NLO) perturbative QCD (pQCD) thermodynamics with finite strange quark mass in the MUSES Calculation Engine, enabling reproducible connections between high-density QCD calculations and neutron star observables. Using this implementation, we investigate the interplay between flavor symmetry and physically motivated renormalization-scale prescriptions in cold, β-equilibrated quark matter. We compare prescriptions associated with the conserved-charge BQS, isospin BI3S, and SU(3) Cartan BI3Y bases, and show that their different symmetry properties at finite perturbative order can significantly affect the predicted flavor composition. In particular, while the BQS and BI3Y prescriptions yield the same reduced β-equilibrated \eos{} for μS=0, they can predict different flavor compositions, whereas the BI3S prescription generates additional contributions to the charge-neutrality condition and develops strong scale dependence at low chemical potentials. We then apply stability and causality constraints to investigate the effect of the strange quark mass on the neutron star \eos{}. In an exploratory benchmark at μB=2.4~GeV and fixed fiducial renormalization scale, increasing the fixed strange quark mass from ms=0 to ms=300~MeV reduces the fraction of \eos{} in our prior that is incompatible with the pQCD constraint from 51\% to 36\% and qualitatively changes the region of \eos{} space that is selected, retaining greater support for stiffer behavior. These results motivate systematic studies of strange quark mass and renormalization-scale uncertainties in pQCD constraints. The MUSES implementation provides a modular framework for such extensions and for future higher-order calculations.
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BibTeX
@misc{danhoni2026muses,
title = {{MUSES workflows for pQCD constraints on dense matter with finite quark masses}},
author = {Isabella Danhoni and Mateus Reinke Pelicer and Débora Mroczek and Yumu Yang and Mauricio Hippert and Jacquelyn Noronha-Hostler},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.09530},
eprint = {2609.09530},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09530},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - MUSES workflows for pQCD constraints on dense matter with finite quark masses
AU - Isabella Danhoni
AU - Mateus Reinke Pelicer
AU - Débora Mroczek
AU - Yumu Yang
AU - Mauricio Hippert
AU - Jacquelyn Noronha-Hostler
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/08
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.09530
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09530
AB - We present a modular implementation of next-to-leading order (NLO) perturbative QCD (pQCD) thermodynamics with finite strange quark mass in the MUSES Calculation Engine, enabling reproducible connections between high-density QCD calculations and neutron star observables. Using this implementation, we investigate the interplay between flavor symmetry and physically motivated renormalization-scale prescriptions in cold, β-equilibrated quark matter. We compare prescriptions associated with the conserved-charge BQS, isospin BI_3S, and SU(3) Cartan BI_3Y bases, and show that their different symmetry properties at finite perturbative order can significantly affect the predicted flavor composition. In particular, while the BQS and BI_3Y prescriptions yield the same reduced β-equilibrated \eos{} for μ_S=0, they can predict different flavor compositions, whereas the BI_3S prescription generates additional contributions to the charge-neutrality condition and develops strong scale dependence at low chemical potentials. We then apply stability and causality constraints to investigate the effect of the strange quark mass on the neutron star \eos{}. In an exploratory benchmark at μ_B=2.4~GeV and fixed fiducial renormalization scale, increasing the fixed strange quark mass from m_s=0 to m_s=300~MeV reduces the fraction of \eos{} in our prior that is incompatible with the pQCD constraint from 51\% to 36\% and qualitatively changes the region of \eos{} space that is selected, retaining greater support for stiffer behavior. These results motivate systematic studies of strange quark mass and renormalization-scale uncertainties in pQCD constraints. The MUSES implementation provides a modular framework for such extensions and for future higher-order calculations.
ER -