arXiv subjects

C. J. Pethick

Publications and source records attributed to C. J. Pethick.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Multicomponent Fermi systems at low densities

We calculate, to second order in the scattering length between two fermions, the Landau quasiparticle interaction for a low-density mixture of two fermion species with unequal densities at temperature zero. From the Landau parameters we evaluate the energy density and find agreement with the result of Kanno, Prog. Theor. Phys. 44, 813 (1970). The calculations are then extended to the case of two fermion components with different total densities, each with two spin components, a situation of interest in nuclear physics and astrophysics, where the species are neutrons and protons. An interesting finding is that, for low proton concentrations, $x \ll 1$, the leading term in the energy density, beyond the $x^{5/3}$ contribution from the kinetic energy and the $x^2$ one due to the two-body interaction in the mean-field approximation, varies as $x^{7/3} \ln x$. This is to be contrasted with the higher powers of $x$ implicit in many phenomenological energy-density functionals employed in nuclear physics, such as those of the Skyrme type.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2024

Understanding the puzzle of angular momentum conservation in beta decay and related processes

We ask the question of how angular momentum is conserved in electroweak interaction processes. To introduce the problem with a minimum of mathematics, we first raise the same issue in elastic scattering of a circularly polarized photon by an atom, where the scattered photon has a different spin direction than the original photon, and note its presence in scattering of a fully relativistic spin-1/2 particle by a central potential. We then consider inverse beta decay in which an electron is emitted following the capture of a neutrino on a nucleus. While both the incident neutrino and final electron spins are antiparallel to their momenta, the final spin is in a different direction than that of the neutrino -- an apparent change of angular momentum. However, prior to measurement of the final particle, in all these cases angular momentum is indeed conserved, The apparent non-conservation of angular momentum arises in the quantum measurement process in which the measuring apparatus does not have an initially well-defined angular momentum, but is localized in the outside world. We generalize the discussion to massive neutrinos and electrons, and examine nuclear beta decay and electron-positron annihilation processes through the same lens, enabling physically transparent derivations of angular and helicity distributions in these reactions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Neutron star matter as a dilute solution of protons in neutrons

Neutron stars contain neutron-rich matter with around 5% protons at nuclear saturation density. In this Letter, we consider equilibrium between bulk phases of matter based on asymmetric nuclear matter calculations using chiral effective field theory interactions rather than, as has been done in the past, by interpolation between the properties of symmetric nuclear matter and pure neutron matter. Neutron drip (coexistence of nuclear matter with pure neutrons) is well established, but from earlier work it is unclear whether proton drip (equilibrium between two phases, both of which contain protons and neutrons) is possible. We find that proton drip is a robust prediction of any physically reasonable equation of state, but that it occurs over a limited region of densities and proton fractions. An analytical model based on expanding the energy in powers of the proton density, rather than the neutron excess, is able to account for these features of the phase diagram.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2021

Superfluid density in disordered pasta phases in neutron star crusts

We calculate the superfluid density of nucleons in disordered pasta phases in the inner crust of neutron stars using an effective medium approach which parallels that previously used for calculating the electrical conductivity of terrestrial matter. We allow for the effect of entrainment, the fact that the current density of one species of nucleon depends on the gradient of the phase not only of the same species but also of the other species. The superfluid density tensors for the perfectly ordered pasta phases are very anisotropic, and we derive expression for the effective superfluid densities of the disordered phases.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2021

Searching for low mass dark matter via phonon creation in superfluid 4He

We consider the scattering of dark matter particles from superfluid liquid $^4$He, which has been proposed as a target for their direct detection. Focusing on dark matter masses below ~1 MeV, we demonstrate from sum-rule arguments the importance of the production of single phonons with energies $ω\lesssim 1$ meV. We show further that the anomalous dispersion of phonons in liquid $^4$He at low pressures [i.e., $d^2ω(q)/dq^2>0$, where $q$ and $ω(q)$ are the phonon momentum and energy] has the important consequence that a single phonon will decay over a relatively short distance into a shower of lower energy phonons centered on the direction of the original phonon. Thus the experimental challenge in this regime is to detect a shower of low energy phonons, not just a single phonon. Additional information from the distribution of phonons in such a shower could enhance the determination of the dark matter mass.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Proton superconductivity in pasta phases in neutron star crusts

In the so-called pasta phases predicted to occur in neutron star crusts, protons are able to move easily over large distances because the nuclear matter regions are extended in space. Consequently, electrical currents can be carried by protons, an effect not possible in conventional crystalline matter with isolated nuclei. With emphasis on the so-called lasagna phase, which has sheet-like nuclei, we describe the magnetic properties of the pasta phases allowing for proton superconductivity. We predict that these phases will be Type II superconductors and we calculate the energy per unit length of a flux line, which is shown to be strongly anisotropic. If, as seems likely, the pasta structure is imperfect, flux lines will be pinned and matter will behave as a good electrical conductor and flux decay times will be long. We describe some possible astrophysical manifestations of our results.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2020

Equation of state constraints from nuclear physics, neutron star masses, and future moment of inertia measurements

We explore constraints on the equation of state (EOS) of neutron-rich matter based on microscopic calculations up to nuclear densities and observations of neutron stars. In a previous work we showed that predictions based on modern nuclear interactions derived within chiral effective field theory and the observation of two-solar-mass neutron stars result in a robust uncertainty range for neutron star radii and the EOS over a wide range of densities. In this work we extend this study, employing both the piecewise polytrope extension from Hebeler et al. as well as the speed of sound model of Greif et al., and show that moment of inertia measurements of neutron stars can significantly improve the constraints on the EOS and neutron star radii.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Elastic properties of phases with nonspherical nuclei in dense matter

We consider the elastic constants of phases with nonspherical nuclei, so-called pasta phases, predicted to occur in the inner crust of a neutron star. First, we treat perfectly ordered phases and give numerical estimates for lasagna and spaghetti when the pasta elements are spatially uniform: the results are in order-of-magnitude agreement with the numerical simulations of Caplan, Schneider, and Horowitz, Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 132701 (2018). We then turn to pasta phases without long-range order and calculate upper (Voigt) and lower (Reuss) bounds on the effective shear modulus and find that the lower bound is zero, but the upper bound is nonzero. To obtain better estimates, we then apply the self-consistent formalism and find that this predicts that the shear modulus of the phases without long-range order is zero if the pasta elements are spatially uniform. In numerical simulations, the pasta elements are found to be modulated spatially and we show that this modulation is crucial to obtaining a nonzero elastic moduli for pasta phases without long-range order. In the self-consistent formalism we find that, for lasagna, the effective shear modulus is linear in the elastic constants that do not vanish when the pasta elements are spatially uniform while, for spaghetti, it varies as the square root of these elastic constants. We also consider the behavior of the elastic constant associated with a homologous strain (hydrostatic compression) of the structure of the pasta phases without long-range order.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Dense Matter and Neutron Stars: Some Basic Notions

A number of properties of dense matter can be understood semiquantitatively in terms of simple physical arguments. We begin with the outer parts of neutron stars, and consider the density at which pressure ionization occurs, the density at which electrons become relativistic, the density at which neutrons drip out of nuclei, and the size of the equilibrium nucleus in dense matter. Subsequently, we treat the so-called "pasta" phases expected to occur at densities just below the density at which the transition from the crust to the liquid core of a neutron star occurs. We then consider aspects of superfluidity in dense matter. Estimates of pairing gaps in homogeneous nuclear matter are given, and the effect of the dense medium on the interaction between nucleons is described. Finally, we turn to superfluidity in the crust of neutron stars and especially the neutron superfluid density, an important quantity in the theory of sudden speedups of the rotation rate of some pulsars.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2018

Superfluid liquid crystals: pasta phases in neutron star crusts

The pasta phases predicted to occur near the inner boundary of the crust of a neutron star resemble liquid crystals, a smectic A in the case of sheet-like nuclei (lasagna) and the columnar phase in the case of rod-like nuclei (spaghetti). An important difference compared with usual liquid crystals is that the nucleons are superfluid. We develop the hydrodynamic equations for this system and use them to study collective oscillations. Nucleon superfluidity leads to important qualitative differences in the spectra of these oscillations and also increases their frequencies compared with ordinary liquid crystals. We discuss a number of directions for future work.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2017

Damping of gravitational waves by matter

We develop a unified description, via the Boltzmann equation, of damping of gravitational waves by matter, incorporating collisions. We identify two physically distinct damping mechanisms -- collisional and Landau damping. We first consider damping in flat spacetime, and then generalize the results to allow for cosmological expansion. In the first regime, maximal collisional damping of a gravitational wave, independent of the details of the collisions in the matter is, as we show, significant only when its wavelength is comparable to the size of the horizon. Thus damping by intergalactic or interstellar matter for all but primordial gravitational radiation can be neglected. Although collisions in matter lead to a shear viscosity, they also act to erase anisotropic stresses, thus suppressing the damping of gravitational waves. Damping of primordial gravitational waves remains possible. We generalize Weinberg's calculation of gravitational wave damping, now including collisions and particles of finite mass, and interpret the collisionless limit in terms of Landau damping. While Landau damping of gravitational waves cannot occur in flat spacetime, the expansion of the universe allows such damping by spreading the frequency of a gravitational wave of given wavevector.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

Dispersion and decay of collective modes in neutron star cores

We calculate the frequencies of collective modes of neutrons, protons and electrons in the outer core of neutron stars. The neutrons and protons are treated in a hydrodynamic approximation and the electrons are regarded as collisionless. The coupling of the nucleons to the electrons leads to Landau damping of the collective modes and to significant dispersion of the low-lying modes. We investigate the sensitivity of the mode frequencies to the strength of entrainment between neutrons and protons, which is not well characterized. The contribution of collective modes to the thermal conductivity is evaluated.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2017

Superfluid Density of Neutrons in the Inner Crust of Neutron Stars: New Life for Pulsar Glitch Models

Calculations of the effects of band structure on the neutron superfluid density in the crust of neutron stars made under the assumption that the effects of pairing are small [N. Chamel, Phys. Rev. C 85, 035801 (2012)] lead to moments of inertia of superfluid neutrons so small that the crust alone is insufficient to account for the magnitude of neutron star glitches. Inspired by earlier work on ultracold atomic gases in an optical lattice, we investigate fermions with attractive interactions in a periodic lattice in the mean-field approximation. The effects of band structure are suppressed when the pairing gap is of order or greater than the strength of the lattice potential. By applying the results to the inner crust of neutron stars, we conclude that the reduction of the neutron superfluid density is considerably less than previously estimated and, consequently, it is premature to rule out models of glitches based on neutron superfluidity in the crust.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2017

Two-component superfluid hydrodynamics of neutron star cores

We consider the hydrodynamics of the outer core of a neutron star under conditions when both neutrons and protons are superfluid. Starting from the equation of motion for the phases of the wave functions of the condensates of neutron pairs and proton pairs we derive the generalization of the Euler equation for a onecomponent fluid. These equations are supplemented by the conditions for conservation of neutron number and proton number. Of particular interest is the effect of entrainment, the fact that the current of one nucleon species depends on the momenta per nucleon of both condensates. We find that the nonlinear terms in the Euler-like equation contain contributions that have not always been taken into account in previous applications of superfluid hydrodynamics. We apply the formalism to determine the frequency of oscillations about a state with stationary condensates and states with a spatially uniform counterflow of neutrons and protons. The velocities of the coupled sound-like modes of neutrons and protons are calculated from properties of uniform neutron star matter evaluated on the basis of chiral effective field theory. We also derive the condition for the two-stream instability to occur.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Nucleus--nucleus interactions in the inner crust of neutron stars

The interaction between nuclei in the inner crust of neutron stars consists of two contributions, the so-called "direct" interaction and an "induced" one due to density changes in the neutron fluid. For large nuclear separations $r$ the contributions from nuclear forces to each of these terms are shown to be nonzero. In the static limit they are equal in magnitude but have opposite signs and they cancel exactly. We analyze earlier results on effective interactions in the light of this finding. We consider the properties of long-wavelength collective modes and, in particular, calculate the degree of mixing between the lattice phonons and the phonons in the neutron superfluid. Using microscopic theory, we calculate the net non-Coulombic contribution to the nucleus--nucleus interaction and show that, for large $r$, the leading term is due to exchange of two phonons and varies as $1/r^7$: it is an analog of the Casimir--Polder interaction between neutral atoms.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2015

Bose-Einstein condensates in neutron stars

In the two decades since the appearance of the book "Bose-Einstein Condensation" in 1995, there have been a number of developments in our understanding of dense matter. After a brief overview of neutron star structure and the Bose-Einstein condensed phases that have been proposed, we describe selected topics, including neutron and proton pairing gaps, the physics of the inner crust of neutron stars, where a neutron fluid penetrates a lattice of nuclei, meson condensates, and pairing in dense quark matter. Especial emphasis is placed on basic physical effects and on connections to the physics of cold atomic gases.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2015

Transport in ultradilute solutions of $^3$He in superfluid $^4$He

We calculate the effect of a heat current on transporting $^3$He dissolved in superfluid $^4$He at ultralow concentration, as will be utilized in a proposed experimental search for the electric dipole moment of the neutron (nEDM). In this experiment, a phonon wind will generated to drive (partly depolarized) $^3$He down a long pipe. In the regime of $^3$He concentrations $\tilde < 10^{-9}$ and temperatures $\sim 0.5$ K, the phonons comprising the heat current are kept in a flowing local equilibrium by small angle phonon-phonon scattering, while they transfer momentum to the walls via the $^4$He first viscosity. On the other hand, the phonon wind drives the $^3$He out of local equilibrium via phonon-$^3$He scattering. For temperatures below $0.5$ K, both the phonon and $^3$He mean free paths can reach the centimeter scale, and we calculate the effects on the transport coefficients. We derive the relevant transport coefficients, the phonon thermal conductivity and the $^3$He diffusion constants from the Boltzmann equation. We calculate the effect of scattering from the walls of the pipe and show that it may be characterized by the average distance from points inside the pipe to the walls. The temporal evolution of the spatial distribution of the $^3$He atoms is determined by the time dependent $^3$He diffusion equation, which describes the competition between advection by the phonon wind and $^3$He diffusion. As a consequence of the thermal diffusivity being small compared with the $^3$He diffusivity, the scale height of the final $^3$He distribution is much smaller than that of the temperature gradient. We present exact solutions of the time dependent temperature and $^3$He distributions in terms of a complete set of normal modes.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2015

Pairing and superfluidity of nucleons in neutron stars

We survey the current status of understanding of pairing and superfluidity of neutrons and protons in neutron stars from a theoretical perspective, with emphasis on basic physical properties. During the past two decades, the blossoming of the field of ultracold atomic gases and the development of quantum Monte Carlo methods for solving the many-body problem have been two important sources of inspiration, and we shall describe how these have given insight into neutron pairing gaps. The equilibrium properties and collective oscillations of the inner crust of neutron stars, where neutrons paired in a $^1$S$_0$ state coexist with a lattice of neutron-rich nuclei, are also described. While pairing gaps are well understood at densities less than one tenth of the nuclear saturation density, significant uncertainties exist at higher densities due to the complicated nature of nucleon-nucleon interactions, the difficulty of solving the many-body problem under these conditions, and the increasing importance of many-nucleon interactions. We also touch more briefly on the subject of pairing of neutrons in other angular momentum states, specifically the $^3$P$_2$ state, as well as pairing of protons.

nucl-th↗