Isospin chemical potential and the QCD phase diagram at nonzero temperature and baryon chemical potential

We use the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model to study the effects of the isospin chemical potential on the QCD phase diagram at nonzero temperature and baryon chemical potential. We find that the phase diagram is qualitatively altered by a small isospin chemical potential. There are two first order phase transitions that end in two critical endpoints, and there are two crossovers at low baryon chemical potential. These results have important consequences for systems where both baryon and isospin chemical potentials are nonzero, such as heavy ion collision experiments. Our results are in complete agreement with those recently obtained in a random matrix model. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.