The Phase Diagram of Strong Coupling QCD including Gauge Corrections

Abstract: The strong coupling limit of lattice QCD with staggered fermions has been studied for decades, both via Monte Carlo and via mean field theory. In this model, the finite density sign problem can be made mild and the full phase diagram can be obtained, even in the chiral limit. It is however desirable to understand the effect of a finite lattice gauge coupling $\beta$ on the phase diagram in the $\mu-T$ plane in order to understand how it evolves into the phase diagram of continuum QCD. Here we discuss how to construct a partition function for non-zero lattice coupling, exact to $\mathcal{O}(\beta)$, and present corresponding Monte Carlo results, in particular for corrections to the chiral susceptibility and to the phase diagram.