The surface tension of cold and dense QCD phase transitions has appeared recently as a key ingredient in different astrophysical scenarios , ranging from core-colapse supernovae explosions to compact star structure .
If the surface tension is low enough , observable consequences are possible .
Its value is however not known from first-principle methods in QCD , calling for effective approaches .
Working within the framework of homogeneous nucleation by Langer , we discuss the steps that are needed to obtain the nucleation parameters from a given effective potential .
As a model for deriving the effective potential for the chiral transition , we adopt the linear sigma model with constituent quarks at very low temperatures , which provides an effective description for the thermodynamics of the strong interaction in cold and dense matter , and predict a surface tension of \Sigma \sim 5 – 15 ~ { } MeV/fm ^ { 2 } , well below previous estimates .
Including temperature effects and vacuum logarithmic corrections , we find a clear competition between these features in characterizing the dynamics of the chiral phase conversion .