Expansion, Thermalization and Entropy Production in High-Energy Nuclear Collisions

The thermalization process is studied in an expanding parton gas using the Boltzmann equation with two types of collision terms. In the relaxation time approximation we determine the criteria under which a time-dependent relaxation time leads to thermalization of the partons. We calculate the entropy production due to collisions for the general time-dependent relaxation time. In a perturbative QCD approach on the other hand, we can estimate the parton collision time and its dependence on expansion time. The effective `out of equilibrium' collision time differs from the standard transport relaxation time, $\tau_{\rm tr}\simeq(\alpha_s^2\ln(1/\alpha_s)T)^{-1}$, by a weak time dependence. It is in both cases Debye screening and Landau damping that regulate the singular forward scattering processes. We find that the parton gas does thermalize eventually but only after having undergone a phase of free streaming and gradual equilibration where considerable entropy is produced (``after-burning"). The final entropy and thus particle density depends on the collision time as well as the initial conditions (a ``memory effect"). Results for entropy production are presented based upon various model estimates of early parton production.Comment: 15 pages revtex + 4 figures. Figures can be obtained by supplying address to: [email protected]

Structure of Strange Dwarfs with Color Superconducting Core

We study effects of two-flavor color superconductivity on the structure of strange dwarfs, which are stellar objects with similar masses and radii with ordinary white dwarfs but stabilized by the strange quark matter core. We find that unpaired quark matter is a good approximation to the core of strange dwarfs.Comment: 8 pages 5 figures, J. Phys. G, accepte

Fragmentation of Bose-Einstein Condensates

We present the theory of bosonic systems with multiple condensates, unifying disparate models which are found in the literature, and discuss how degeneracies, interactions, and symmetries conspire to give rise to this unusual behavior. We show that as degeneracies multiply, so do the types of fragmentation, eventually leading to strongly correlated states with no trace of condensation.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure, revtex

Bose Metals and Insulators on Multi-Leg Ladders with Ring Exchange

We establish compelling evidence for the existence of new quasi-one-dimensional descendants of the d-wave Bose liquid (DBL), an exotic two-dimensional quantum phase of uncondensed itinerant bosons characterized by surfaces of gapless excitations in momentum space [O. I. Motrunich and M. P. A. Fisher, Phys. Rev. B {\bf 75}, 235116 (2007)]. In particular, motivated by a strong-coupling analysis of the gauge theory for the DBL, we study a model of hard-core bosons moving on the $N$-leg square ladder with frustrating four-site ring exchange. Here, we focus on four- and three-leg systems where we have identified two novel phases: a compressible gapless Bose metal on the four-leg ladder and an incompressible gapless Mott insulator on the three-leg ladder. The former is conducting along the ladder and has five gapless modes, one more than the number of legs. This represents a significant step forward in establishing the potential stability of the DBL in two dimensions. The latter, on the other hand, is a fundamentally quasi-one-dimensional phase that is insulating along the ladder but has two gapless modes and incommensurate power law transverse density-density correlations. In both cases, we can understand the nature of the phase using slave-particle-inspired variational wave functions consisting of a product of two distinct Slater determinants, the properties of which compare impressively well to a density matrix renormalization group solution of the model Hamiltonian. Stability arguments are made in favor of both quantum phases by accessing the universal low-energy physics with a bosonization analysis of the appropriate quasi-1D gauge theory. We will briefly discuss the potential relevance of these findings to high-temperature superconductors, cold atomic gases, and frustrated quantum magnets.Comment: 33 pages, 16 figures; this is the print version, only very minor changes from v

An electron correlation originated negative magnetoresistance in a system having a partly flat band

Inspired from an experimentally examined organic conductor, a novel mechanism for negative magnetoresistance is proposed for repulsively interacting electrons on a lattice whose band dispersion contains a flat portion (a flat bottom below a dispersive part here). When the Fermi level lies in the flat part, the electron correlation should cause ferromagnetic spin fluctuations to develop with an enhanced susceptibility. A relatively small magnetic field will then shift the majority-spin Fermi level to the dispersive part, resulting in a negative magnetoresistance. We have actually confirmed the idea by calculating the conductivity in magnetic fields, with the fluctuation exchange approximation, for the repulsive Hubbard model on a square lattice having a large second nearest-neighbor hopping.Comment: RevTex, 5 figures in Postscript, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Phase Transitions in Rotating Neutron Stars

As rotating neutron stars slow down, the pressure and the density in the core region increase due to the decreasing centrifugal forces and phase transitions may occur in the center. We extract the analytic behavior near the critical angular velocity $\Omega_0$, where the phase transitions occur in the center of a neutron star, and calculate the moment of inertia, angular velocity, rate of slow down, braking index, etc. For a first order phase transition these quantities have a characteristic behavior, e.g., the braking index diverges as $\sim(\Omega_0-\Omega)^{-1/2}$. Observational consequences for first, second and other phase transitions are discussed.Comment: 5 pages, one figure included, revtex latex styl

Superfluid density and condensate fraction in the BCS-BEC crossover regime at finite temperatures

The superfluid density is a fundamental quantity describing the response to a rotation as well as in two-fluid collisional hydrodynamics. We present extensive calculations of the superfluid density \rho_s in the BCS-BEC crossover regime of a uniform superfluid Fermi gas at finite temperatures. We include strong-coupling or fluctuation effects on these quantities within a Gaussian approximation. We also incorporate the same fluctuation effects into the BCS single-particle excitations described by the superfluid order parameter \Delta and Fermi chemical potential \mu, using the Nozi\`eres and Schmitt-Rink (NSR) approximation. This treatment is shown to be necessary for consistent treatment of \rho_s over the entire BCS-BEC crossover. We also calculate the condensate fraction N_c as a function of the temperature, a quantity which is quite different from the superfluid density \rho_s. We show that the mean-field expression for the condensate fraction N_c is a good approximation even in the strong-coupling BEC regime. Our numerical results show how \rho_s and N_c depend on temperature, from the weak-coupling BCS region to the BEC region of tightly-bound Cooper pair molecules. In a companion paper by the authors (cond-mat/0609187), we derive an equivalent expression for \rho_s from the thermodynamic potential, which exhibits the role of the pairing fluctuations in a more explicit manner.Comment: 32 pages, 12 figure

Spin-Dependent Mass Enhancement under Magnetic Field in the Periodic Anderson Model

In order to study the mechanism of the mass enhancement in heavy fermion compounds in the presence of magnetic field, we study the periodic Anderson model using the fluctuation exchange approximation. The resulting value of the mass enhancement factor z^{-1} can become up to 10, which is significantly larger than that in the single-band Hubbard model. We show that the difference between the magnitude of the mass enhancement factor of up spin (minority spin) electrons z^{-1}_up and that of down spin (majority spin) electrons z^{-1}_down increases by the applied magnetic field B//z, which is consistent with de Haas-van Alphen measurements for CeCoIn_5, CeRu_2Si_2 and CePd_2Si_2. We predict that z^{-1}_up >z^{-1}_down in many Ce compounds, whereas z^{-1}_up < z^{-1}_down in Yb compounds.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Signal of Quark Deconfinement in the Timing Structure of Pulsar Spin-Down

The conversion of nuclear matter to quark matter in the core of a rotating neutron star alters its moment of inertia. Hence the epoch over which conversion takes place will be signaled in the spin-down "signal_prl.tex" 581 lines, 22203 characters characteristics of pulsars. We find that an observable called the braking index should be easily measurable during the transition epoch and can have a value far removed (by orders of magnitude) from the canonical value of three expected for magnetic dipole radiation, and may have either sign. The duration of the transition epoch is governed by the slow loss of angular momentum to radiation and is further prolonged by the reduction in the moment of inertia caused by the phase change which can even introduce an era of spin-up. We estimate that about one in a hundred pulsars may be passing through this phase. The phenomenon is analogous to ``bachbending'' observed in the moment of inertia of rotating nuclei observed in the 1970's, which also signaled a change in internal structure with changing spin.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Revtex. (May 12, 1997, submitted to PRL

Dislocation-Mediated Melting in Superfluid Vortex Lattices

We describe thermal melting of the two-dimensional vortex lattice in a rotating superfluid by generalizing the Halperin and Nelson theory of dislocation-mediated melting. and derive a melting temperature proportional to the renormalized shear modulus of the vortex lattice. The rigid-body rotation of the superfluid attenuates the effects of lattice compression on the energy of dislocations and hence the melting temperature, while not affecting the shearing. Finally, we discuss dislocations and thermal melting in inhomogeneous rapidly rotating Bose-Einstein condensates; we delineate a phase diagram in the temperature -- rotation rate plane, and infer that the thermal melting temperature should lie below the Bose-Einstein transition temperature.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure