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A. Steiner

Publications and source records attributed to A. Steiner.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2025

Investigating the Impact of Higher-Order Phase Transitions in Binary Neutron-Star Mergers

In this paper we investigate quark deconfinement in neutrons stars and their mergers, focusing on the effects of higher orders for the phase transition between hadronic and quark matter. The different descriptions we use to describe matter microscopically contain varying particle degrees of freedom, including nucleons, hyperons, Delta baryons, and light and strange quarks. We use tabulated equations of state from the CompOSE database in which the quark deconfinement phase transition is described as being first-order, and then smooth it out by introducing a percolation, replacing the single first-order phase transition with two transitions of second or third order. We then perform binary neutron-star merger simulations using these new equations of st ate, focusing on groups of binaries with the same single-star mass, radius, and tidal deformability, but different equations of state. We go on to discuss differences in their evolution, and the ramifications for interpreting future gravitational wave observations and the potential to learn about dense matter.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2024

Dynamical quantum maps for single-qubit gates under universal non-Markovian noise

Noise is both ubiquitous and generally deleterious in settings where precision is required. This is especially true in the quantum technology sector where system utility typically decays rapidly under its influence. Understanding the noise in quantum devices is thus a prerequisite for efficient strategies to mitigate or even eliminate its harmful effects. However, this requires resources that are often prohibitive, such that the typically-used noise models rely on simplifications that sometimes depart from experimental reality. Here we derive a compact microscopic error model for single-qubit gates that only requires a single experimental input - the noise power spectral density. Our model goes beyond standard depolarizing or Pauli-twirled noise models, explicitly including non-Clifford and non-Markovian contributions to the dynamical error map. We gauge our predictions for experimentally relevant metrics against established characterization techniques run on a trapped-ion quantum computer. In particular, we find that experimental estimates of average gate errors measured through randomized benchmarking and reconstructed via quantum process tomography are tightly lower-bounded by our analytical estimates, while the depolarizing model overestimates the gate error. Our noise modeling including non-Markovian contributions can be readily applied to established frameworks such as dynamical decoupling and dynamically-corrected gates, or to provide more realistic thresholds for quantum error correction.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2018

Nuclear Reactions in the Crusts of Accreting Neutron Stars

X-ray observations of transiently accreting neutron stars during quiescence provide information about the structure of neutron star crusts and the properties of dense matter. Interpretation of the observational data requires an understanding of the nuclear reactions that heat and cool the crust during accretion, and define its nonequilibrium composition. We identify here in detail the typical nuclear reaction sequences down to a depth in the inner crust where the mass density is 2E12 g/cm^3 using a full nuclear reaction network for a range of initial compositions. The reaction sequences differ substantially from previous work. We find a robust reduction of crust impurity at the transition to the inner crust regardless of initial composition, though shell effects can delay the formation of a pure crust somewhat to densities beyond 2E12 g/cm^3. This naturally explains the small inner crust impurity inferred from observations of a broad range of systems. The exception are initial compositions with A >= 102 nuclei, where the inner crust remains impure with an impurity parameter of Qimp~20 due to the N = 82 shell closure. In agreement with previous work we find that nuclear heating is relatively robust and independent of initial composition, while cooling via nuclear Urca cycles in the outer crust depends strongly on initial composition. This work forms a basis for future studies of the sensitivity of crust models to nuclear physics and provides profiles of composition for realistic crust models.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2000

Quark-Hadron Phase Transitions in Young and Old Neutron Stars

The mixed phase of quarks and hadrons which might exist in the dense matter encountered in the varying conditions of temperature and trapped neutrino fraction in proto-neutron stars is studied. The extent that the mixed phase depends upon the thermodynamical parameters as well as on the stiffness of matter in the hadronic and quark phases is discussed. We show that hadronic equations of state that maximize the quark content of matter at a given {\it density} generally minimize the extent of the mixed phase region in a neutron star of a given mass, and that only in extreme cases could a pure quark star result. For both the Nambu Jona-Lasinio and MIT bag quark models, neutrino trapping inhibits the appearance of a mixed phase which leads to possible proto-neutron star metastability. The main difference between the two quark models is the small abundance of strange quarks in the former. We also demonstrate that $\partial T/\partial n<0$ along adiabats in the quark-hadron mixed phase, opposite to what is found for the kaon condensates-hadron mixed phase. This could lead to core temperatures which are significantly lower in stars containing quarks than in those not containing quarks.

nucl-th↗