Hadron structure in a simple model of quark/nuclear matter

We study a simple model for one-dimensional hadron matter with many of the essential features needed for examining the transition from nuclear to quark matter and the limitations of models based upon hadron rather than quark degrees of freedom. The dynamics are generated entirely by the quark confining force and exchange symmetry. Using Monte Carlo techniques, the ground-state energy, single-quark momentum distribution, and quark correlation function are calculated for uniform matter as a function of density. The quark confinement scale in the medium increases substantially with increasing density. This change is evident in the correlation function and momentum distribution, in qualitative agreement with the changes observed in deep-inelastic lepton scattering. Nevertheless, the ground-state energy is smooth throughout the transition to quark matter and is described remarkably well by an effective hadron theory based on a phenomenological hadron-hadron potential.