Phase transition to color-flavor-locked matter and condensation of Goldstone bosons in neutron star matter

Deconfinement phase transition and condensation of Goldstone bosons in neutron star matter are investigated in a chiral hadronic model (also referred as to the FST model) for the hadronic phase (HP) and in the color-flavor-locked (CFL) quark model for the deconfined quark phase. It is shown that the hadronic-CFL mixed phase (MP) exists in the center of neutron stars with a small bag constant, while the CFL quark matter cannot appear in neutron stars when a large bag constant is taken. Color superconductivity softens the equation of state (EOS) and decreases the maximum mass of neutron stars compared with the unpaired quark matter. The K⁰ condensation in the CFL phase has no remarkable contribution to the EOS and properties of neutron star matter. The EOS and the properties of neutron star matter are sensitive to the bag constant B, the strange quark mass m_s and the color superconducting gap Δ. Increasing B and m_s or decreasing Δ can stiffen the EOS which results in the larger maximum masses of neutron stars.     

Neutrino emissivities in 2SC color-superconducting quark matter

The phase structure and equation of state for two-flavor quark matter under compact star constraints is studied within a nonlocal chiral quark model. Chiral symmetry breaking leads to rather large, density dependent quark masses at the phase transition to quark matter. The influence of diquark pairing gaps and quark masses on density dependent emissivities for the direct URCA is discussed. Since m _u > m _d , the direct URCA process due to quark masses cannot occur. We present cooling curves for model quark stars and discuss their relation to observational data. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

Quark matter formation in dense stellar objects

It is expected that at very large densities and/or temperatures a quark-hadron phase transition takes place. Lattice QCD calculations at zero baryon density indicate that the transition occurs at T _c ∼ 150–170 MeV. The transition is likely to be second order or a cross over phenomenon. Although not much is known about the density at which the phase transition takes place at small temperatures, it is expected to occur around the nuclear densities of few times nuclear matter density. Also, there is a strong reason to believe that the quark matter formed after the phase transition is in colour superconducting phase. The matter densities in the interior of neutron stars being larger than the nuclear matter density, the neutron star cores may possibly consist of quark matter which may be formed during the collapse of supernova. Starting with the assumption that the quark matter, when formed consists of predominantly u and d quarks, we consider the evolution of s quarks by weak interactions in the present work. The reaction rates and time required to reach the chemical equilibrium are computed here. Our calculations show that the chemical equilibrium is reached in about 10⁻⁷ seconds. Further more during the equilibration process enormous amont of energy is released and copious numbers of neutrinos are produced. Implications of these on the evolution of supernovae will be discussed.     

Gluon condensates,quark matter equation of state and quark stars

We consider here quark matter equation of state including strange quarks and taking into account a nontrivial vacuum structure for QCD with gluon condensates. The parameters of condendsate function are determined from minimisation of the thermodynamic potential. The scale parameter of the gluon condensates is fixed from the SVZ parameter in the context of QCD sum rules at zero temperature and zero baryon density. The equation of state for strange matter at zero temperature as derived is used to study quark star structure using Tolman Oppenheimer Volkoff equations. Stable solutions for quark stars are obtained with a large Chandrasekhar limit as 3.2M and radii around 17 kms.     

Supercurrents in color-superconducting quark matter

We review the basic properties of the currCFL-K⁰ phase in dense quark matter. At asymptotically large densities, three-flavor quark matter is in the color-flavor locked (CFL) state. The currCFL-K⁰ state is a way to respond to “stress” on the quark Cooper pairing, imposed at more moderate densities by the strange quark mass and the conditions of electric and color neutrality. We show how a kaon supercurrent is incorporated in a purely fermionic formalism, and show that the net current vanishes due to cancellation of fermion and charge-conjugate fermion contributions.     

Fluctuations of Goldstone modes and the chiral transition in QCD

We provide evidence for the influence of thermal fluctuations of Goldstone modes on the chiral condensate at finite temperature. We show that at fixed temperature, T<T_c, in the vicinity of the chiral transition temperature this leads to a characteristic dependence of the chiral condensate on the square root of the light quark mass (m_l), which is expected for 3-dimensional models with broken O(N) symmetry. As a consequence the chiral susceptibility shows a strong quark mass dependence for all temperatures below T<T_c and diverges like in the chiral limit.     

Isospin breaking in nuclear physics: The Nolen-Schiffer effect

Using the QCD sum rules we calculate the neutron-proton mass difference at zero density as a function of the difference in bare quark massm _d—m _u. We confirm results of Hatsuda, Høgaasen and Prakash that the largest term results from the difference in up and down quark condensates, the explicitC(m _d—m _u) entering with the opposite sign. The quark condensates are then extended to finite density to estimate the Nolen-Schiffer effect. The neutron-proton mass difference is extremely density dependent, going to zero at roughly nuclear matter density.The Ioffe formula for the nucleon mass is interpreted as a derivation, within the QCD sum rule approach, of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio formula. This clarifies theN _c counting and furthermore provides an alternative interpretation of the Borel mass.     

Molecular dynamics study for the thermal conductivity of diatomic liquid

The thermal conductivity of diatomic liquids was analyzed using a nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) method. Five liquids, namely, O₂, CO, CS₂, Cl₂ and Br₂, were assumed. The two-center Lennard-Jones (2CLJ) model was used to express the intermolecular potential acting on liquid molecules. First, the equation of state of each liquid was obtained using MD simulation, and the critical temperature, density and pressure of each liquid were determined. Heat conduction of each liquid at various liquid states [metastable (ρ=1.9ρ_cr), saturated (ρ=2.1ρ_cr), and stable (ρ=2.3ρ_cr)] at T=0.7T_cr was simulated and the thermal conductivity was estimated. These values were compared with experimental results and it was confirmed that the simulated results were consistent with the experimental data within 10%. Obtained thermal conductivities at saturated state were reduced by the critical temperature, density and mass of molecules and these values were compared with each other. It was found that the reduced thermal conductivity increased with the increase in the molecular elongation. Detailed analysis of the molecular contribution to the thermal conductivity revealed that the contribution of the heat flux caused by energy transport and by translational energy transfer to the thermal conductivity is independent of the molecular elongation while the contribution of the heat flux caused by rotational energy transfer to the thermal conductivity increases with the increase in the molecular elongation. Moreover, by comparing the reduced thermal conductivity at various states, it was found that the increase of thermal conductivity with the increase in the density, or pressure, was caused by the increase of the contribution of energy transfer due to molecular interaction.     

Neutron star matter in a modified PNJL model

We discuss a three-flavor Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model for the quark matter equation of state with scalar diquark interaction, isoscalar vector interaction and Kobayashi-Maskawa-??t Hooft interaction. We adopt a phenomenological scheme to include possible effects of a change in the gluon pressure at finite baryon density by including a parametric dependence of the Polyakov-loop potential on the chemical potential. We discuss the results for the mass-radius relationships for hybrid neutron stars constructed on the basis of our model EoS in the context of the constraint from the recently measured mass of (1.97 ± 0.04) M _?? for the pulsar PSR J1614-2230.     

Chiral-symmetry restoration in the linear sigma model at nonzero temperature and baryon density

We study the chiral phase transition in the linear sigma model with 2 quark flavors and N _c colors. One-loop calculations predict a first-order phase transition at both μ = 0 and μ ≠ 0. We also discuss the phase diagram and make a comparison with a thermal parametrization of existing heavy-ion experimental data.     

Studies of the quantum Hall to quantum Hall insulator transition in InSb-based 2DESs

The temperature dependence of ρ_xx is studied in the vicinity of the quantum Hall to quantum Hall insulator transition (ν=1→0) in InSb/InAlSb based 2DESs. ρ_xx displays a symmetric temperature dependence about the transition with on the QH side and on the insulating side. A plot of 1/T₀ for successive ν displays power-law divergence with 1/T₀∝|ν−ν_c|^−γ,² with γ=2.2±0.3. This critical behavior in addition to the behavior expected of the quantum transport regime confirms that the QH/QHI transition is indeed a good quantum phase transition.     

Wave functions and spectrum in hot electroweak matter for large Higgs masses

We present results for the wave functions and the screening mass spectrum for quantum numbers , and in the three-dimensional SU(2)–Higgs model near to the phase transition line below the endpoint and in the crossover region. Varying the 3D gauge couplings we study the behaviour along a line of constant physics towards the continuum limit in both phases. In the crossover region the changing spectrum of screening states versus temperature is examined showing the aftermath of the phase transition at lower Higgs mass. Different to smearing concepts we used large sets of operators with various extensions allowing to identify wave functions in position space. Received: 4 August 1998 / Published online: 2 November 1998     

Quark potential in a quark–meson plasma

We investigate the effect of the restoration of chiral symmetry on the quark potential in a quark–meson plasma by considering meson exchanges in the two flavor Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model at finite temperature and density. There are two possible oscillations in the chiral restoration phase; one is the Friedel oscillation due to the sharp quark Fermi surface at high density, and the other is the Yukawa oscillation driven by the complex meson poles at high temperature. The quark–meson plasma is strongly coupled in the temperature region 1≤T/T _c≤3, with T _c being the critical temperature of the chiral phase transition. The maximum coupling in this region is located at the phase transition point.     

A new study of the transition to uniform nuclear matter in neutron stars and supernovae

A comprehensive microscopic study of the properties of bulk matter at densities just below nuclear saturation ρ _s = 2.5 ∼ 10¹⁴ g cm⁻³, zero and finite temperature, and high neutron fraction, is outlined, and preliminary results presented. Such matter is expected to exist in the inner crust of neutron stars and during the core collapse of massive stars with M ≳ 8M _⊙. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

The ferromagnetic phase of quark matter in the framework of one gluon exchange and thermodynamics with the density-temperature-dependent particle mass model

In the current work we examine the possibility of ferromagnetism phase of quark matter by using the one gluon exchange interaction and the thermodynamics with the density-temperature-dependent particle masses as well as the normal thermodynamics (with constant masses). We calculate the free energy per particle of the polarized and unpolarized states to discuss the difference between these two phases at various densities and temperatures. In our calculations we assume that the QCD coupling, α_c, is constant (the simple model) or varies with the temperature and the density (the asymptotic freedom); but we keep α_c less than one, because we intend to use the perturbation method to calculate the exchange energy. We also assume that the up and down quarks are massless and do not interact. Only the strange quarks interact with each other via the one gluon exchange interaction. The free and internal energies as well as the effective masses and the pressure are calculated at different densities and temperatures. The results are discussed and a comparison is made with those of Tatsumi. Finally it is shown that the present models do not predict any transition for the strange quark matter to its ferromagnetic phase.     

Phase transition between three- and two-flavor QCD?

We explore the possibility that QCD may undergo a phase transition as a function of the strange quark mass. This would hint towards models with ”spontaneous color symmetry breaking” in the vacuum. For two light quark flavors we classify possible colored quark-antiquark, diquark and gluon condensates that are compatible with a spectrum of integer charged states and conserved isospin and baryon number. The ”quark mass phase transition” would be linked to an unusual realization of baryon number in QCD₂ and could be tested in lattice simulations. We emphasize, however, that at the present stage the Higgs picture of the vacuum cannot predict a quark mass phase transition - a smooth crossover remains as a realistic alternative. Implications of the Higgs picture for the high-density phase transition in QCD₂ suggest that this transition is characterized by the spontaneous breaking of isospin for nuclear and quark matter. Received: 12 March 2001 / Revised version: 2 April 2003 / Published online: 2 June 2003 RID="a" ID="a" e-mail: C.Wetterich@thphys.uni-heidelberg.de     

Magnetic field and temperature-induced first-order transition in Gd5(Si1.5Ge2.5): a study of the electrical resistance behavior

Magnetic field (0–4 T) and temperature dependencies (4.2–320 K) of the electrical resistance of Gd₅(Si_1.5Ge_2.5), which undergoes a reversible first-order ferromagnetic↔paramagnetic phase transition, have been measured. The electrical resistance of Gd₅(Si_1.5Ge_2.5) indicates that the magnetic phase transition can be induced by both temperature and magnetic field. The temperature dependence of the electrical resistance, R(T), for heating at low temperatures in the zero magnetic field has the usual metallic character, but at a critical temperature of T_cr=216 K the resistance shows a 20% negative discontinuity due to the transition from the low-temperature high-resistance state to the high-temperature low-resistance state. The R(T) dependence for cooling shows a similar but positive 25% discontinuity at 198 K. The isothermal magnetic field dependence of the electrical resistance from 212T224 K indicates the presence of temperature-dependent critical magnetic fields which can reversibly transform the paramagnetic phase into the ferromagnetic phase and vice versa. The critical magnetic fields diagram determined from the isothermal magnetic field dependencies of the electrical resistance of Gd₅(Si_1.5Ge_2.5) shows that the FM↔PM transition in zero magnetic field on cooling and heating occurs at 206 and 213 K, respectively. The full isothermal magnetic filed hysteresis for the FM↔PM transition is 2 T, and the isofield temperature gap between critical magnetic fields is 7 K.     

Nucleation rate of the quark-gluon plasma droplet at finite quark chemical potential

The nucleation rate of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) droplet is computed at finite quark chemical potential. In the course of computing the nucleation rate, the finite size effects of the QGP droplet are taken into account. We consider the phenomenological flow parameter of quarks and gluons, which is dependent on quark chemical potential and we calculate the nucleation rate of the QGP droplet with this parameter. While calculating the nucleation rate, we find that for low values of quark phenomenological parameter ?? _q , nucleation rate is negligible and when ?? _q increases, nucleation rate increases significantly.     

Chiral approach to nuclear matter: role of two-pion exchange with virtual delta-isobar excitation

We extend a recent three-loop calculation of nuclear matter by including the effects from two-pion exchange with single and double virtual Δ(1232)-isobar excitation. Regularization dependent short-range contributions from pion-loops are encoded in a few NN-contact coupling constants. The empirical saturation point of isospin-symmetric nuclear matter, , ρ₀=0.16 fm⁻³, can be well reproduced by adjusting the strength of a two-body term linear in density (and tuning an emerging three-body term quadratic in density). The nuclear matter compressibility comes out as K=304 MeV. The real single-particle potential U(p,k_f0) is substantially improved by the inclusion of the chiral πNΔ-dynamics: it grows now monotonically with the nucleon momentum p. The effective nucleon mass at the Fermi surface takes on a realistic value of M^*(k_f0)=0.88M. As a consequence of these features, the critical temperature of the liquid-gas phase transition gets lowered to the value T_c15 MeV. In this work we continue the complex-valued single-particle potential U(p,k_f)+iW(p,k_f) into the region above the Fermi surface p>k_f. The effects of 2π-exchange with virtual Δ-excitation on the nuclear energy density functional are also investigated. The effective nucleon mass associated with the kinetic energy density is . Furthermore, we find that the isospin properties of nuclear matter get significantly improved by including the chiral πNΔ-dynamics. Instead of bending downward above ρ₀ as in previous calculations, the energy per particle of pure neutron matter and the asymmetry energy A(k_f) now grow monotonically with density. In the density regime ρ=2ρ_n<0.2 fm⁻³ relevant for conventional nuclear physics our results agree well with sophisticated many-body calculations and (semi)-empirical values.