238 research outputs found
Primordial Hypermagnetic Knots
Topologically non-trivial configurations of the hypermagnetic flux lines lead
to the formation of hypermagnetic knots (HK) whose decay might seed the Baryon
Asymmetry of the Universe (BAU).HK can be dynamically generated provided a
topologically trivial (i.e. stochastic) distribution of flux lines is already
present in the symmetric phase of the electroweak (EW) theory. In spite of the
mechanism generating the HK, their typical size must exceed the diffusivity
length scale. In the minimal standard model (MSM) (but not necessarily in its
supersymmetric extension) HK are washed out. A classical hypermagnetic
background in the symmetric phase of the EW theory can produce interesting
amounts of gravitational radiation.Comment: 4 pages in Revtex style, 2 figure
Strongly nonlinear dynamics of electrolytes in large ac voltages
We study the response of a model micro-electrochemical cell to a large ac
voltage of frequency comparable to the inverse cell relaxation time. To bring
out the basic physics, we consider the simplest possible model of a symmetric
binary electrolyte confined between parallel-plate blocking electrodes,
ignoring any transverse instability or fluid flow. We analyze the resulting
one-dimensional problem by matched asymptotic expansions in the limit of thin
double layers and extend previous work into the strongly nonlinear regime,
which is characterized by two novel features - significant salt depletion in
the electrolyte near the electrodes and, at very large voltage, the breakdown
of the quasi-equilibrium structure of the double layers. The former leads to
the prediction of "ac capacitive desalination", since there is a time-averaged
transfer of salt from the bulk to the double layers, via oscillating diffusion
layers. The latter is associated with transient diffusion limitation, which
drives the formation and collapse of space-charge layers, even in the absence
of any net Faradaic current through the cell. We also predict that steric
effects of finite ion sizes (going beyond dilute solution theory) act to
suppress the strongly nonlinear regime in the limit of concentrated
electrolytes, ionic liquids and molten salts. Beyond the model problem, our
reduced equations for thin double layers, based on uniformly valid matched
asymptotic expansions, provide a useful mathematical framework to describe
additional nonlinear responses to large ac voltages, such as Faradaic
reactions, electro-osmotic instabilities, and induced-charge electrokinetic
phenomena.Comment: 30 pages, 17 eps-figures, RevTe
Crystalline ground state in chiral Gross-Neveu and Cooper pair models at finite densities
We study the possibility of spatially non-uniform ground state in
(1+1)-dimensional models with quartic fermi interactions at finite fermion
densities by introducing chemical potential \mu. We examine the chiral
Gross-Neveu model and the Cooper pair model as toy models of the chiral
symmetry breaking and the difermion pair condensates which are presumed to
exist in QCD. We confirm in the chiral Gross-Neveu model that the ground state
has a crystalline structure in which the chiral condensate oscillates in space
with wave number 2\mu. Whereas in the Cooper pair model we find that the vacuum
structure is spatially uniform. Some discussions are given to explain this
difference.Comment: 18 pages, REVTeX, 3 eps figure
Phases of QCD at High Baryon Density
We review recent work on the phase structure of QCD at very high baryon
density. We introduce the phenomenon of color superconductivity and discuss how
the quark masses and chemical potentials determine the structure of the
superfluid quark phase. We comment on the possibility of kaon condensation at
very high baryon density and study the competition between superfluid, density
wave, and chiral crystal phases at intermediate density.Comment: 15 pages. To appear in the proceedings of the ECT Workshop on Neutron
Star Interiors, Trento, Italy, June 200
Spontaneous symmetry breaking in strong-coupling lattice QCD at high density
We determine the patterns of spontaneous symmetry breaking in strong-coupling
lattice QCD in a fixed background baryon density. We employ a
next-nearest-neighbor fermion formulation that possesses the SU(N_f)xSU(N_f)
chiral symmetry of the continuum theory. We find that the global symmetry of
the ground state varies with N_f and with the background baryon density. In all
cases the condensate breaks the discrete rotational symmetry of the lattice as
well as part of the chiral symmetry group.Comment: 10 pages, RevTeX 4; added discussion of accidental degeneracy of
vacuum after Eq. (35
Superdense Matter
We review recent work on the phase structure of QCD at very high baryon
density. We introduce the phenomenon of color superconductivity and discuss the
use of weak coupling methods. We study the phase structure as a function of the
number of flavors and their masses. We also introduce effective theories that
describe low energy excitations at high baryon density. Finally, we study the
possibility of kaon condensation at very large baryon density.Comment: 13 pages, talk at ICPAQGP, Jaipur, India, Nov. 26-30, 2001; to appear
in the proceeding
Local and Global Casimir Energies: Divergences, Renormalization, and the Coupling to Gravity
From the beginning of the subject, calculations of quantum vacuum energies or
Casimir energies have been plagued with two types of divergences: The total
energy, which may be thought of as some sort of regularization of the
zero-point energy, , seems manifestly divergent. And
local energy densities, obtained from the vacuum expectation value of the
energy-momentum tensor, , typically diverge near
boundaries. The energy of interaction between distinct rigid bodies of whatever
type is finite, corresponding to observable forces and torques between the
bodies, which can be unambiguously calculated. The self-energy of a body is
less well-defined, and suffers divergences which may or may not be removable.
Some examples where a unique total self-stress may be evaluated include the
perfectly conducting spherical shell first considered by Boyer, a perfectly
conducting cylindrical shell, and dilute dielectric balls and cylinders. In
these cases the finite part is unique, yet there are divergent contributions
which may be subsumed in some sort of renormalization of physical parameters.
The divergences that occur in the local energy-momentum tensor near surfaces
are distinct from the divergences in the total energy, which are often
associated with energy located exactly on the surfaces. However, the local
energy-momentum tensor couples to gravity, so what is the significance of
infinite quantities here? For the classic situation of parallel plates there
are indications that the divergences in the local energy density are consistent
with divergences in Einstein's equations; correspondingly, it has been shown
that divergences in the total Casimir energy serve to precisely renormalize the
masses of the plates, in accordance with the equivalence principle.Comment: 53 pages, 1 figure, invited review paper to Lecture Notes in Physics
volume in Casimir physics edited by Diego Dalvit, Peter Milonni, David
Roberts, and Felipe da Ros
Nonlinear electrochemical relaxation around conductors
We analyze the simplest problem of electrochemical relaxation in more than
one dimension - the response of an uncharged, ideally polarizable metallic
sphere (or cylinder) in a symmetric, binary electrolyte to a uniform electric
field. In order to go beyond the circuit approximation for thin double layers,
our analysis is based on the Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) equations of dilute
solution theory. Unlike most previous studies, however, we focus on the
nonlinear regime, where the applied voltage across the conductor is larger than
the thermal voltage. In such strong electric fields, the classical model
predicts that the double layer adsorbs enough ions to produce bulk
concentration gradients and surface conduction. Our analysis begins with a
general derivation of surface conservation laws in the thin double-layer limit,
which provide effective boundary conditions on the quasi-neutral bulk. We solve
the resulting nonlinear partial differential equations numerically for strong
fields and also perform a time-dependent asymptotic analysis for weaker fields,
where bulk diffusion and surface conduction arise as first-order corrections.
We also derive various dimensionless parameters comparing surface to bulk
transport processes, which generalize the Bikerman-Dukhin number. Our results
have basic relevance for double-layer charging dynamics and nonlinear
electrokinetics in the ubiquitous PNP approximation.Comment: 25 pages, 17 figures, 4 table
On the Applicability of Weak-Coupling Results in High Density QCD
Quark matter at asymptotically high baryon chemical potential is in a color
superconducting state characterized by a gap Delta. We demonstrate that
although present weak-coupling calculations of Delta are formally correct for
mu -> Infinity, the contributions which have to this point been neglected are
large enough that present results can only be trusted for mu >> mu_c ~ 10^8
MeV. We make this argument by using the gauge dependence of the present
calculation as a diagnostic tool. It is known that the present calculation
yields a gauge invariant result for mu -> Infinity; we show, however, that the
gauge dependence of this result only begins to decrease for mu > mu_c, and
conclude that the result can certainly not be trusted for mu < mu_c. In an
appendix, we set up the calculation of the influence of the Meissner effect on
the magnitude of the gap. This contribution to Delta is, however, much smaller
than the neglected contributions whose absence we detect via the resulting
gauge dependence.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures, uses LaTeX2e and ReVTeX, updated figures, made
minor text change
Color Superconductivity in Compact Stars
After a brief review of the phenomena expected in cold dense quark matter,
color superconductivity and color-flavor locking, we sketch some implications
of recent developments in our understanding of cold dense quark matter for the
physics of compact stars. We give a more detailed summary of our recent work on
crystalline color superconductivity and the consequent realization that (some)
pulsar glitches may originate in quark matter.Comment: 19 pages. 2 figures. To appear in the proceedings of the ECT Workshop
on Neutron Star Interiors, Trento, Italy, June 2000. Shorter versions
contributed to the proceedings of Strong and Electroweak Matter 2000,
Marseille, France, June 2000 and to the proceedings of Strangeness 2000,
Berkeley, CA, July 2000. KR was the speaker at all three meeting
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