26 research outputs found
Illuminating interfaces between phases of a U(1) x U(1) gauge theory
We study reflection and transmission of light at the interface between
different phases of a U(1) x U(1) gauge theory. On each side of the interface,
one can choose a basis so that one generator is free (allowing propagation of
light), and the orthogonal one may be free, Higgsed, or confined. However, the
basis on one side will in general be rotated relative to the basis on the other
by some angle alpha. We calculate reflection and transmission coefficients for
both polarizations of light and all 8 types of boundary, for arbitrary alpha.
We find that an observer measuring the behavior of light beams at the boundary
would be able to distinguish 4 different types of boundary, and we show how the
remaining ambiguity arises from the principle of complementarity
(indistinguishability of confined and Higgs phases) which leaves observables
invariant under a global electric/magnetic duality transformation. We also
explain the seemingly paradoxical behavior of Higgs/Higgs and confined/confined
boundaries, and clarify some previous arguments that confinement must involve
magnetic monopole condensation.Comment: RevTeX, 12 page
Superfluid phase transition and strong-coupling effects in an ultracold Fermi gas with mass imbalance
We investigate the superfluid phase transition and effects of mass imbalance
in the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)-BEC (Bose-Einstein condensation)
crossover regime of an cold Fermi gas. We point out that the Gaussian
fluctuation theory developed by Nozi\`eres and Schmitt-Rink and the -matrix
theory, that are now widely used to study strong-coupling physics of cold Fermi
gases, give unphysical results in the presence of mass imbalance. To overcome
this problem, we extend the -matrix theory to include higher-order pairing
fluctuations. Using this, we examine how the mass imbalance affects the
superfluid phase transition. Since the mass imbalance is an important key in
various Fermi superfluids, such as K-Li Fermi gas mixture, exciton
condensate, and color superconductivity in a dense quark matter, our results
would be useful for the study of these recently developing superfluid systems.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings of QFS-201
The pseudo-Goldstone spectrum of 2-colour QCD at finite density
We examine the spectrum of 2-colour lattice QCD with 4 continuum flavours at
a finite chemical potential () for quark-number, on a
lattice. First we present evidence that the system undergoes a transition to a
state with a diquark condensate, which spontaneously breaks quark number at
, and that this transition is mean field in nature. We then
examine the 3 states that would be Goldstone bosons at for zero Dirac
and Majorana quark masses. The predictions of chiral effective Lagrangians give
a good description of the behaviour of these masses for . Except
for the heaviest of these states, these predictions diverge from our
measurements, once is significantly greater than . However, the
qualitative behaviour of these masses, indicates that the physics is very
similar to that predicted by these effective Lagrangians, and there is some
indication that at least part of these discrepancies is due to saturation, a
lattice artifact.Comment: 32 pages LaTeX/Revtex, 8 Postscript figure
Scalar-isoscalar excitation in dense quark matter
We study the spectrum of scalar-isoscalar excitations in the color-flavor
locked phase of dense quark matter. The sigma meson in this phase appears as a
four-quark state (of diquark and anti-diquark) with a well-defined mass and
extremely small width, as a consequence of it's small coupling to two pions.
The quark particle/hole degrees of freedom also contribute significantly to the
correlator just above the threshold 2\Delta where \Delta is the superconducting
gap.Comment: RevTeX, 11 pages, 4 fig
Meson Screening Mass in a Strongly Coupled Pion Superfluid
We calculate the meson screening mass in a pion superfluid in the framework
of Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. The minimum of the attractive quark potential is
always located at the phase boundary of pion superfluid. Different from the
temperature and baryon density effect, the potential at finite isospin density
can not be efficiently suppressed and the matter is always in a strongly
coupled phase due to the Goldstone mode in the pion superfluid.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures(Accepted by European Physical Journal C
Global Strings in High Density QCD
We show that several types of global strings occur in colour superconducting
quark matter due to the spontaneous violation of relevant U(1) symmetries.
These include the baryon U(1)_B, and approximate axial U(1)_A symmetries as
well as an approximate U(1)_S arising from kaon condensation. We discuss some
general properties of these strings and their interactions. In particular, we
demonstrate that the U(1)_A strings behave as superconducting strings. We draw
some parallels between these strings and global cosmological strings and
discuss some possible implications of these strings to the physics in neutron
star cores.Comment: LaTeX JHEP-format (26 pages) Option in source for REVTeX4 forma
The Superfluid and Conformal Phase Transitions of Two-Color QCD
The phase structure of two-color QCD is examined as a function of the
chemical potential and the number of light quark flavors. We consider effective
Lagrangians for two-color QCD containing the Goldstone excitations, spin-one
particles and negative intrinsic parity terms. We discuss the possibility of a
conformal phase transition and the enhancement of the global symmetries as the
number of flavors is increased. The effects of a quark chemical potential on
the spin-one particles and on the negative intrinsic parity terms are analyzed.
It is shown that the phase diagram that is predicted by the linearly realized
effective Lagrangian at tree-level matches exactly that predicted by chiral
perturbation theory.Comment: ReVTeX, 23 pages, 3 figures. Discussion of vector condensation
extended, two figures added, references adde
Numerical Portrait of a Relativistic Thin Film BCS Superfluid
We present results of numerical simulations of the 2+1d Nambu - Jona-Lasinio
model with a non-zero baryon chemical potential mu including the effects of a
diquark source term. Diquark condensates, susceptibilities and masses are
measured as functions of source strength j. The results suggest that diquark
condensation does not take place in the high density phase mu>mu_c, but rather
that the condensate scales non-analytically with j implying a line of critical
points and long range phase coherence. Analogies are drawn with the low
temperature phase of the 2d XY model. The spectrum of the spin-1/2 sector is
also studied yielding the quasiparticle dispersion relation. There is no
evidence for a non-zero gap; rather the results are characteristic of a normal
Fermi liquid with Fermi velocity less than that of light. We conclude that the
high density phase of the model describes a relativistic gapless thin film BCS
superfluid.Comment: 37 pages, 16 figure
Neutrino Emission from Goldstone Modes in Dense Quark Matter
We calculate neutrino emissivities from the decay and scattering of Goldstone
bosons in the color-flavor-locked (CFL) phase of quarks at high baryon density.
Interactions in the CFL phase are described by an effective low-energy theory.
For temperatures in the tens of keV range, relevant to the long-term cooling of
neutron stars, the emissivities involving Goldstone bosons dominate over those
involving quarks, because gaps in the CFL phase are MeV while the
masses of Goldstone modes are on the order of 10 MeV. For the same reason, the
specific heat of the CFL phase is also dominated by the Goldstone modes.
Notwithstanding this, both the emissivity and the specific heat from the
massive modes remain rather small, because of their extremely small number
densities. The values of the emissivity and the specific heat imply that the
timescale for the cooling of the CFL core in isolation is y,
which makes the CFL phase invisible as the exterior layers of normal matter
surrounding the core will continue to cool through significantly more rapid
processes. If the CFL phase appears during the evolution of a proto-neutron
star, neutrino interactions with Goldstone bosons are expected to be
significantly more important since temperatures are high enough (
MeV) to admit large number densities of Goldstone modes.Comment: 29 pages, no figures. slightly modified text, one new eqn. and new
refs. adde
Lattice gauge theory with baryons at strong coupling
We study the effective Hamiltonian for strong-coupling lattice QCD in the
case of non-zero baryon density. In leading order the effective Hamiltonian is
a generalized antiferromagnet. For naive fermions, the symmetry is U(4N_f) and
the spins belong to a representation that depends on the local baryon number.
Next-nearest-neighbor (nnn) terms in the Hamiltonian break the symmetry to
U(N_f) x U(N_f). We transform the quantum problem to a Euclidean sigma model
which we analyze in a 1/N_c expansion. In the vacuum sector we recover
spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry for the nearest-neighbor and nnn
theories. For non-zero baryon density we study the nearest-neighbor theory
only, and show that the pattern of spontaneous symmetry breaking depends on the
baryon density.Comment: 31 pages, 5 EPS figures. Corrected Eq. (6.1