arXiv subjects

Arus Harutyunyan

Publications and source records attributed to Arus Harutyunyan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Thermal conduction and thermopower of a warm neutron star crust in magnetic fields

We compute the thermal conductivity and thermopower of the inner crust of compact stars over a broad temperature-density domain relevant to proto-neutron stars, binary neutron-star mergers, and accreting neutron stars, spanning the transition from a semi-degenerate to a highly degenerate electron gas above the lattice melting temperature, where nuclei form a liquid. Nuclear composition is fixed by selected zero-temperature inner-crust models as temperature varies. Transport coefficients follow from the Boltzmann equation in the relaxation-time approximation, including anisotropies from non-quantizing magnetic fields. Electron scattering rates incorporate (i) dynamical screening of electron-ion interactions via the hard-thermal-loop QED approximation, (ii) ion-ion correlations in a one-component plasma, and (iii) finite nuclear-size effects. We also evaluate electron-neutron scattering from coupling to the neutron anomalous magnetic moment, finding it subdominant throughout. To test sensitivity to microphysics, we compare several inner-crust compositions from different nuclear interactions and many-body methods. Across most of the crust, relaxation times and the anisotropic thermal-conductivity and thermopower tensor components vary by factors of 3 to 4 and 1.5 to 2, respectively, except near the pasta-phase region. Within this single-component, fixed-composition approximation, these results offer composition-dependent microphysical inputs for dissipative magneto-hydrodynamic simulations of warm neutron stars and post-merger remnants, where anisotropic heat and charge transport are critical.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Impact of positrons on electrical conductivity of hot and dense astrophysical plasma

We study the influence of positrons on the outer crusts of neutron stars and the interiors of white dwarfs, introducing them as a novel component in both the composition of matter and in transport processes. We solve a system of coupled Boltzmann kinetic equations for the electron and positron distribution functions in the relaxation-time approximation, taking into account electron-ion, positron-ion, and electron-positron collisions. The relevant scattering matrix elements are calculated from one-plasmon exchange diagrams, with in-medium polarization tensors derived within hard-thermal-loop effective theory. Numerical results are obtained for matter composed of carbon nuclei. We find that the conductivity rises with temperature, following a power law sigma proportional to the 4th power of T in the semi-degenerate regime and sigma proportional to T in the nondegenerate regime, due to the intense creation of thermal electron-positron pairs and the resulting collisions among them. These results highlight the importance of including positrons in the transport properties of heated, dense astrophysical plasmas.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Thermoelectric coefficients of two-flavor quark matter from the Kubo formalism

The hot quark matter created in heavy-ion collision experiments can exhibit strong temperature and chemical-potential gradients, which in turn can generate electric fields through thermoelectric effects. In this work, we investigate two relevant thermoelectric coefficients -- the thermopower (Seebeck coefficient) and the Thomson coefficient -- of two-flavor quark matter using the Kubo formalism and the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model as an effective description of dense, finite-temperature QCD. The required two-point equilibrium correlation functions are evaluated using the Matsubara formalism of thermal field theory, applying a 1/Nc expansion to the relevant multi-loop Feynman diagrams. We employ previously derived quark spectral functions obtained from one--meson-exchange diagrams above the Mott transition temperature. Our numerical results show that both thermoelectric coefficients increase approximately linearly with temperature and decrease with increasing chemical potential. We also estimate the magnitude of the electric fields that can be generated in heavy-ion collisions by thermal gradients via the Seebeck effect.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2025

Generalized relativistic second-order dissipative hydrodynamics: coupling different rank tensors

In this work, we extend the formalism of second-order relativistic dissipative hydrodynamics, developed previously using Zubarev's non-equilibrium statistical operator formalism. By employing a second-order expansion of the statistical operator in terms of hydrodynamic gradients, we demonstrate that new second-order terms emerge due to the coupling of two-point quantum correlators between tensors of differing ranks, evaluated at distinct space-time points. Such terms arise because the presence of the acceleration vector in the system allows Curie's theorem, which governs symmetry constraints, to be extended for constructing invariants from tensors of different ranks evaluated at distinct space-time points. The new terms are identified in the context of a complete set of second-order equations governing the shear-stress tensor, bulk-viscous pressure, and charge-diffusion currents for a generic quantum system characterized by the energy-momentum tensor and multiple conserved charges. Additionally, we identify the transport coefficients associated with these new terms and derive the Kubo formulas expressing the second-order transport coefficients through two- and three-point correlation functions.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2025

Bulk Viscosity of Two-Flavor Color Superconducting Quark Matter in Neutron Star Mergers

This work investigates the bulk viscosity of warm, dense, neutrino-transparent, color-superconducting quark matter, where damping of density oscillations in the kHz frequency range arises from weak-interaction-driven direct Urca processes involving quarks. We study the two-flavor red-green paired color-superconducting (2SC) phase, while allowing for the presence of unpaired strange quarks and blue color light quarks of all flavors. Our calculations are based on the SU(3) Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model, extended to include both vector interactions and the `t Hooft determinant term. The primary focus is on how variations in the NJL Lagrangian parameters -- specifically, the diquark and vector coupling strengths -- affect both the static properties of quark matter, such as its equation of state and composition, and its dynamical behavior, including bulk viscosity and associated damping timescales. We find that the bulk viscosity and corresponding damping timescale can change by more than an order of magnitude upon varying the vector coupling by a factor of two at high densities and by a lesser degree at lower densities. This sensitivity primarily arises from the susceptibility of 2SC matter, with a smaller contribution from modifications to the weak interaction rates. In comparison, changes in the diquark coupling have a more limited impact. The damping of density oscillations in 2SC matter is similar quantitatively to nucleonic matter and can be a leading mechanism of dissipation in merging hybrid stars containing color superconducting cores. -

nucl-th↗

arXiv2024

Thermal Conductivity and Thermal Hall Effect in Dense Electron-Ion Plasma

In this study, we examine thermal conductivity and the thermal Hall effect in electron-ion plasmas relevant to hot neutron stars, white dwarfs, and binary neutron star mergers, focusing on densities found in the outer crusts of neutron stars and the interiors of white dwarfs. We consider plasma consisting of single species of ions, which could be either iron $\isotope[56]{Fe}$ or carbon $\isotope[12]{C}$ nuclei. The temperature range explored is from the melting temperature of the solid $T\sim10^9$~K up to $10^{11}$~K. This covers both degenerate and non-degenerate electron regimes. We find that thermal conductivity increases with density and temperature for which we provide analytical scaling relations valid in different regimes. The impact of magnetic fields on thermal conductivity is also analyzed, showing anisotropy in low-density regions and the presence of the thermal Hall effect characterized by the Righi--Leduc coefficient. The transition from a degenerate to non-degenerate regime is characterized by a minimum ratio of thermal conductivity to temperature, which is analogous to the minimum observed already in the case of electrical conductivity. We provide also formulas fit to our numerical results, which can be used in dissipative magneto-hydrodynamics simulations of warm compact stars.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Bulk viscosity of two-color superconducting quark matter in neutron star mergers

We study the bulk viscosity of moderately hot and dense, neutrino-transparent color superconducting quark matter arising from weak-interaction-driven direct URCA processes. The quark matter is modeled using the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model improved to account for vector and 't Hooft interactions as well as antisymmetric pairing among the red/green up and down quarks. The unpaired excitations are the strange quarks and the blue up or down quarks. We compute the relaxation rates associated with $d$ and $s$-quark decay and electron capture processes on $u$ quark for blue color. The resulting bulk viscosity for density oscillations in the 1--10\,kHz range shows a resonant peak at $T\sim 5\,\MeV$, and the damping time may drop below 10 ms. This is short enough to affect the postmerger evolution and is very similar to the damping predicted in nuclear matter.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2024

Electrical conductivity of warm neutron star crust in magnetic fields: Neutron-drip regime

We compute the anisotropic electrical conductivity tensor of the inner crust of a compact star at non-zero temperature by extending a previous work on the conductivity of the outer crust. The physical scenarios, where such crust is formed, involve proto-neutron stars born in supernova explosions, binary neutron star mergers and accreting neutron stars. The temperature-density range studied covers the transition from a non-degenerate to a highly degenerate electron gas and assumes that the nuclei form a liquid, i.e., the temperature is above the melting temperature of the lattice of nuclei. The electronic transition probabilities include (a) the dynamical screening of electron-ion interaction in the hard-thermal-loop approximation for the QED plasma, (b) the correlations of the ionic component in a one-component plasma, and (c) finite nuclear size effects. The conductivity tensor is obtained from the Boltzmann kinetic equation in relaxation time approximation accounting for the anisotropies introduced by a magnetic field. The sensitivity of the results towards the matter composition of the inner crust is explored by using several compositions of the inner crust which were obtained using different nuclear interactions and methods of solving the many-body problem. The standard deviation of relaxation time and components of the conductivity tensor from the average are below $\le 10\%$ except close to crust-core transition, where non-spherical nuclear structures are expected. Our results can be used in dissipative magneto-hydrodynamics (MHD) simulations of warm compact stars.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Bulk viscosity from Urca processes: $npeμ$ matter in the neutrino-transparent regime

We study the bulk viscosity of moderately hot and dense, neutrino-transparent relativistic $npeμ$ matter arising from weak-interaction direct Urca processes. This work parallels our recent study of the bulk viscosity of $npeμ$ matter with a trapped neutrino component. The nuclear matter is modeled in a relativistic density functional approach with two different parametrizations -- DDME2 (which does not allow for the low-temperature direct-Urca process at any density) and NL3 (which allows for low-temperature direct-Urca process above a low-density threshold). We compute the equilibration rates of Urca processes of neutron decay and lepton capture, as well as the rate of the muon decay, and find that the muon decay process is subdominant to the Urca processes at temperatures $T\geq 3$MeV in the case of DDME2 model and $T\geq 1$MeV in the case of NL3 model. Thus, the Urca-process-driven bulk viscosity is computed with the assumption that pure leptonic reactions are frozen. As a result the electronic and muonic Urca channels contribute to the bulk viscosity independently and at certain densities the bulk viscosity of $npeμ$ matter shows instead of the standard one-peak (resonant) form a "flattened" shape. In the final step, we estimate the damping timescales of density oscillations by the bulk viscosity. We find that, e.g., at a typical oscillation frequency $f=1$kHz, the damping of oscillations is most efficient at temperatures $3\leq T\leq 5$MeV and densities $n_B\leq 2n_0$ where they can affect the evolution of the post-merger object.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2023

Phenomenological Relativistic Second-Order Hydrodynamics for Multiflavor Fluids

In this work, we perform a phenomenological derivation of the first- and second-order relativistic hydrodynamics of dissipative fluids. To set the stage, we start with a review of the ideal relativistic hydrodynamics from energy-momentum and particle number conservation equations. We then go on to discuss the matching conditions to local thermodynamical equilibrium, symmetries of the energy-momentum tensor, decomposition of dissipative processes according to their Lorentz structure, and finally, the definition of the fluid velocity in the Landau and Eckart frames. With this preparatory work, we first formulate the first-order (Navier-Stokes) relativistic hydrodynamics from the entropy flow equation, keeping only the first-order gradients of thermodynamical forces. A generalized form of diffusion terms is found with a matrix of diffusion coefficients describing the relative diffusion between various flavors. The procedure of finding the dissipative terms is then extended to the second order to obtain the most general form of dissipative function for multiflavor systems up to the second order in dissipative fluxes. The dissipative function now includes in addition to the usual second-order transport coefficients of Israel-Stewart theory also second-order diffusion between different flavors. The relaxation-type equations of second-order hydrodynamics are found from the requirement of positivity of the dissipation function, which features the finite relaxation times of various dissipative processes that guarantee the causality and stability of the fluid dynamics. These equations contain a complete set of nonlinear terms in the thermodynamic gradients and dissipative fluxes arising from the entropy current, which are not present in the conventional Israel-Stewart theory.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2022

Bulk Viscosity of Relativistic $npeμ$ Matter in Neutron-Star Mergers

We discuss the bulk viscosity of hot and dense $npeμ$ matter arising from weak-interaction direct Urca processes. We consider two regimes of interest: (a) the neutrino-transparent regime with $T\leq T_{\rm tr}$ ($T_{\rm tr}\simeq 5÷10$ MeV is the neutrino-trapping temperature); and (b) the neutrino-trapped regime with $T\geq T_{\rm tr}$. Nuclear matter is modeled in relativistic density functional approach with density-dependent parametrization DDME2. The maximum of the bulk viscosity is achieved at temperatures $T \simeq 5÷6$ MeV in the neutrino-transparent regime, then it drops rapidly at higher temperatures where neutrino-trapping occurs. As an astrophysical application, we estimate the damping timescales of density oscillations by the bulk viscosity in neutron star mergers and find that, e.g., at the oscillation frequency $f=10$ kHz, the damping will be very efficient at temperatures $4\leq T\leq 7$ MeV where the bulk viscosity might affect the evolution of the post-merger object.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Delta-resonances and hyperons in proto-neutron stars and merger remnants

The equation of state (EoS) and composition of dense and hot $Δ$-resonance admixed hypernuclear matter is studied under conditions that are characteristic of neutron star binary merger remnants and supernovas. The cold, neutrino free regime is also considered as a reference for the astrophysical constraints on the EoS of dense matter. Our formalism uses the covariant density functional (CDF) theory successfully adapted to include the full $J^P=1/2^+$ baryon octet and non-strange members of $J^P=3/2^+$ decouplet with density-dependent couplings that have been suitably adjusted to the existing laboratory and astrophysical data. The effect of $Δ$-resonances at finite temperatures is to soften the EoS of hypernuclear matter at intermediate densities and stiffen it at high densities. At low temperatures, the heavy baryons $Λ$, $Δ^-$,$Ξ^-$, $Ξ^0$ and $Δ^0$ appear in the given order if the $Δ$-meson couplings are close to those for the nucleon-meson couplings. As is the case for hyperons, the thresholds of $Δ$-resonances move to lower densities with the increase of temperature indicating a significant fraction of $Δ$'s in the low-density subnuclear regime. We find that the $Δ$-resonances comprise a significant fraction of baryonic matter, of the order of $10\%$ at temperatures of the order of several tens of MeV in the neutrino-trapped regime and, thus, may affect the supernova and binary neutron star dynamics by providing, for example, a new source for neutrino opacity or a new channel for bulk viscosity via the direct Urca processes. The mass-radius relation of isentropic static, spherically symmetric hot compact stars is discussed.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2022

Relativistic second-order dissipative hydrodynamics from Zubarev's non-equilibrium statistical operator

We present a new derivation of relativistic second-order dissipative hydrodynamics for quantum systems using Zubarev's non-equilibrium statistical-operator formalism. This is achieved by a systematic expansion of the energy-momentum tensor and the charge current to second order in deviations from equilibrium. As a concrete example, we obtain the relaxation equations for the shear-stress tensor, the bulk-viscous pressure, and the charge-diffusion currents required to close the set of equations of motion for relativistic second-order dissipative hydrodynamics. We also identify new transport coefficients which describe the relaxation of dissipative processes to second order and express them in terms of equilibrium correlation functions, thus establishing new Kubo-type formulas for second-order transport coefficients.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2021

Bulk viscosity from Urca processes: $npeμ$ matter in the neutrino-trapped regime

In this work, we extend our previous study of the bulk viscosity of hot and dense $npe$ matter induced by the Urca processes in the neutrino trapped regime to $npeμ$ matter by adding the muonic Urca processes as well as the purely leptonic electroweak processes involving electron-muon transition. The nuclear matter is modeled in a relativistic density functional approach with two different parametrizations which predict neutrino dominated matter (DDME2 model) and antineutrino dominated matter (NL3 model) at temperatures for which neutrinos/antineutrinos are trapped. In the case of neutrino-dominated matter, the main equilibration mechanism is lepton capture, whereas in the case of antineutrino-dominated matter this is due to neutron decay. We find that the equilibration rates of Urca processes are higher than that of the pure leptonic processes, which implies that the Urca-process-driven bulk viscosity can be computed with the leptonic reactions assumed to be frozen. We find that the bulk viscosity decreases with temperature as $ζ\sim T^{-2}$ at moderate temperatures. At high temperatures this scaling breaks down by sharp drops of the bulk viscosity close to the temperature where the proton fraction is density-independent and the matter becomes scale-invariant. This occurs also when the matter undergoes a transition from the antineutrino-dominated regime to the neutrino-dominated regime where the bulk viscosity attains a local maximum. We also estimate the bulk viscous dissipation timescales and find that these are in the range $\gtrsim$ 1 s for temperatures above the neutrino trapping temperature. These timescales would be relevant only for long-lived objects formed in binary neutron star mergers and hot proto-neutron stars formed in core-collapse supernovas.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Equation of state and composition of proto-neutron stars and merger remnants with hyperons

Finite-temperature equation of state (EoS) and the composition of dense nuclear and hypernuclear matter under conditions characteristic of neutron star binary merger remnants and supernovas are discussed. We consider both neutrino free-streaming and trapped regimes which are separated by a temperature of a few MeV. The formalism is based on covariant density functional (CDF) theory for the full baryon octet with density-dependent couplings, suitably adjusted in the hypernuclear sector. The softening of the EoS with the introduction of the hyperons is quantified under various conditions of lepton fractions and temperatures. We find that $Λ$, $Ξ^-$, and $Ξ^0$ hyperons appear in the given order with a sharp density increase at zero temperature at the threshold being replaced by an extended increment over a wide density range at high temperatures. The $Λ$ hyperon survives in the deep subnuclear regime. The triplet of $Σ$s is suppressed in cold hypernuclear matter up to around seven times the nuclear saturation density, but appears in significant fractions at higher temperatures, $T\geq 20$ MeV, in both supernova and merger remnant matter. We point out that a special isospin degeneracy point exists where the baryon abundances within each of the three isospin multiplets are equal to each other as a result of (approximate) isospin symmetry. At that point, the charge chemical potential of the system vanishes. We find that under the merger remnant conditions, the fractions of electron and $μ$-on neutrinos are close and are about 1\%, whereas in the supernova case, we only find a significant fraction ($\sim$10\%) of electron neutrinos, given that in this case, the $μ$-on lepton number is zero.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2020

Transport coefficients of two-flavor quark matter from the Kubo formalism

The transport coefficients of quark matter at non-zero chemical potential and temperature are computed within the two-flavor Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. We apply the Kubo formalism to obtain the thermal ($κ$) and electrical ($σ$) conductivities as well as an update of the shear viscosity ($η$) by evaluating the corresponding equilibrium two-point correlation functions to leading order in the $1/N_c$ expansion. The Dirac structure of the self-energies and spectral functions is taken into account as these are evaluated from the meson-exchange Fock diagrams for on-mass-shell quarks. We find that the thermal and electrical conductivities are decreasing functions of temperature and density above the Mott temperature $T_{\rm M}$ of dissolution of mesons into quarks, the main contributions being generated by the temporal and vector components of the spectral functions. The coefficients show a universal dependence on the ratio $T/T_{\rm M}$ for different densities, i.e., the results differ by a chemical-potential dependent constant. We also show that the Wiedemann-Franz law for the ratio $σ/κ$ does not hold. The ratio $η/s $, where $s$ is the entropy density, is of order of unity (or larger) close to the Mott temperature and, as the temperature increases, approaches the AdS/CFT bound $1/4π$. It is also conjectured that the ratio $κT/c_V $, with $c_V$ being the specific heat, is bounded from below by $1/18$.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2020

Bulk Viscous Damping of Density Oscillations in Neutron Star Mergers

In this paper, we discuss the damping of density oscillations in dense nuclear matter in the temperature range relevant to neutron star mergers. This damping is due to bulk viscosity arising from the weak interaction ``Urca'' processes of neutron decay and electron capture. The nuclear matter is modelled in the relativistic density functional approach. The bulk viscosity reaches a resonant maximum close to the neutrino trapping temperature, then drops rapidly as temperature rises into the range where neutrinos are trapped in neutron stars. We investigate the bulk viscous dissipation timescales in a post-merger object and identify regimes where these timescales are as short as the characteristic timescale $\sim$10 ms, and, therefore, might affect the evolution of the post-merger object. Our analysis indicates that bulk viscous damping would be important at not too high temperatures of the order of a few MeV and densities up to a few times saturation density.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2019

Bulk viscosity of baryonic matter with trapped neutrinos

We study bulk viscosity arising from weak current Urca processes in dense baryonic matter at and beyond nuclear saturation density. We consider the temperature regime where neutrinos are trapped and therefore have nonzero chemical potential. We model the nuclear matter in a relativistic density functional approach, taking into account the trapped neutrino component. We find that the resonant maximum of the bulk viscosity would occur at or below the neutrino trapping temperature, so in the neutrino trapped regime the bulk viscosity decreases with temperature as $T^{-2}$, this decrease being interrupted by a drop to zero at a special temperature where the proton fraction becomes density-independent and the material scale-invariant. The bulk viscosity is larger for matter with lower lepton fraction, i.e., larger isospin asymmetry. We find that bulk viscosity in the neutrino-trapped regime is smaller by several orders of magnitude than in the neutrino-transparent regime, which implies that bulk viscosity in neutrino-trapped matter is probably not strong enough to affect significantly the evolution of neutron star mergers. This also implies weak damping of gravitational waves emitted by the oscillations of the postmerger remnant in the high-temperature, neutrino-trapped phase of evolution.

astro-ph.HE↗