arXiv subjects

Efrain J. Ferrer

Publications and source records attributed to Efrain J. Ferrer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Magnetized neutral 2SC color superconductivity and possible origin of the inner magnetic field of magnetars

In this paper the neutral 2SC phase of color superconductivity is investigated in the presence of a magnetic field and for diquark coupling constants and baryonic densities that are expected to characterize neutron stars. Specifically, the behavior of the charged gluons Meissner masses is investigated in the parameter region of interest taking into account, in addition, the contribution of a rotated magnetic field. It is found that up to moderately-high diquark coupling constants the mentioned Meissner masses become tachyonic independently of the applied magnetic-field amplitude, hence signalizing the chromomagnetic instability of this phase. To remove the instability, the restructuring of the system ground state is proposed, which now will be formed by vortices of the rotated charged gluons. These vortices boost the applied magnetic field having the most significant increase for relatively low applied magnetic fields. Finally, considering that with the stellar rotational frequency observed for magnetars a field of the order of $10^8$ G can be generated by dynamo effect, we show that by the boosting effect just described the field can be amplified to $10^{17}$ G that is in the range of inner core fields expected for magnetars. Thus, we conclude that the described mechanism could be the one responsible for the large fields characterizing magnetars if the cores of these compact objects are formed by neutral 2SC matter.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Axion-Polaritons in the Magnetic Dual Chiral Density Wave Phase of Dense QCD

We investigate the propagation of electromagnetic radiation in the magnetic dual chiral density wave (MDCDW) phase of dense quark matter. Considering the theory of low-energy fluctuations in this phase, we show how linearly polarized photons reaching the MDCDW medium couple to the fluctuation field to produce two hybridized modes of propagation that we call in analogy with similar phenomenon in condensed matter physics axion polaritons, one of them being gapless and the other gapped. The gapped mode's gap is proportional to the background magnetic field and inversely proportional to the amplitude of the inhomogeneous condensate. The generation of axion polaritons can be traced back to the presence of the chiral anomaly in the low-energy theory of the fluctuations. Considering the Primakoff effect in the MDCDW medium, we argued that axion polaritons can be generated inside quark stars bombarded by energetic photons coming from gamma-ray bursts and point out that this mechanism could serve to explain the missing pulsar paradox in the galaxy center.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Tidal deformability of strange stars and the GW170817 event

In this work we consider strange stars formed by quark matter in the color-flavor-locked (CFL) phase of color superconductivity. The CFL phase is described by a Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with four-fermion vector and diquark interaction channels. The effect of the color superconducting medium on the gluons are incorporated into the model by including the gluon self-energy in the thermodynamic potential. We construct parametrizations of the model by varying the vector coupling $G_V$ and comparing the results to the data on tidal deformability from the GW170817 event, the observational data on maximum masses from massive pulsars such as the MSP J0740+6620, and the mass/radius fits to NICER data for PSR J003+0451. Our results points out to windows for the $G_V$ parameter space of the model, with and without gluon effects included, that are compatible with all these astrophysical constraints, namely, $0.21<G_V/G_S<0.4$, and $0.02<G_V/G_S<0.1$, respectively. We also observe a strong correlation between the tidal deformabilites of the GW170817 event and $G_V$. Our results indicate that strange stars cannot be ruled out in collisions of compact binaries from the structural point of view.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Lack of Debye and Meissner screening in strongly magnetized quark matter at intermediate densities

We study the static responses of cold quark matter in the intermediate baryonic density region (characterized by a chemical potential $μ$) in the presence of a strong magnetic field. We consider in particular, the so-called Magnetic Dual Chiral Density Wave (MDCDW) phase, which is materialized by an inhomogeneous condensate formed by a particle-hole pair. It is shown, that the MDCDW phase is more stable in the weak-coupling regime than the one considered in the magnetic catalysis of chiral symmetry braking phenomenon (MC$χ$SB) and even than the chiral symmetric phase that was expected to be realized at sufficiently high baryonic chemical potential. The different components of the photon polarization operator of the MDCDW phase in the one-loop approximation are calculated. We found that in the MDCDW phase there is no Debye screening neither Meissner effect in the lowest-Landau-level approximation. The obtained Debye length depends on the amplitude $m$ and modulation $b$ of the inhomogeneous condensate and it is only different from zero if the relation $| μ-b| > m$ holds. But, we found that in the region of interest this inequality is not satisfied. Thus, no Debye screening takes place under those conditions. On the other hand, since the particle-hole condensate is electrically neutral, the U(1) electromagnetic group is not broken by the ground state and consequently there is no Meissner effect. These results can be of interest for the astrophysics of neutron stars.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2015

BCS-BEC Crossover and Stability in a Nambu-Jona-Lasinio Model with Diquark-Diquark Repulsion

We investigate the equation of state (EoS) along the BCS-BEC crossover for a quark system described by a Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with multi-fermion interactions. Together with attractive channels for particle-antiparticle ($\Gs$) and particle-particle ($\Gd$) interactions, a multi-fermion channel with coupling $λ$ that accounts for the diquark-diquark repulsion is also considered. The chiral and diquark condensates are found in the mean-field approximation for different values of the coupling constants. The parameter values where the BCS-BEC crossover can take place are found, and the EoS is used to identify the stability region where the BEC regime has positive pressure. We discuss how the particle density and the repulsive diquark-diquark interaction affect the stability window in the $\Gs-\Gd$ plane and find the profile of the pressure versus the density for various values of $λ$ and $\Gd$. The effects of $λ$ and $\Gd$ in the BCS-BEC crossover tend to compensate each other, allowing for a feasible region of densities where the crossover can occur with positive pressure. These results, although mainly qualitative, should serve as a preliminary step in the microscopic analysis required to determine the feasibility of the BCS-BEC crossover and its realization in more realistic models of dense QCD that can be relevant for applications to neutron stars.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

Induced magnetic moment in the magnetic catalysis of chiral symmetry breaking

The chiral symmetry breaking in a Nambu-Jona-Lasinio effective model of quarks in the presence of a magnetic field is investigated. We show that new interaction tensor channels open up via Fierz identities due to the explicit breaking of the rotational symmetry by the magnetic field. We demonstrate that the magnetic catalysis of chiral symmetry breaking leads to the generation of two independent condensates, the conventional chiral condensate and a spin-one condensate. While the chiral condensate generates, as usual, a dynamical fermion mass, the new condensate enters as a dynamical anomalous magnetic moment in the dispersion of the quasiparticles. Since the pair, formed by a quark and an antiquark with opposite spins, possesses a resultant magnetic moment, an external magnetic field can align it giving rise to a net magnetic moment for the ground state. The two condensates contribute to the effective mass of the LLL quasiparticles in such a way that the critical temperature for chiral symmetry restoration becomes enhanced.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2014

Inhomogeneous phases and chiral symmetry breaking

In the past few years, a growing number of compelling arguments, backed up by model calculations, pointed out that the intermediate-density region of the QCD phase diagram may be characterized by the formation of inhomogeneous condensates which spontaneously break some of the spatial symmetries of the theory. In the following we provide a brief recapitulation of these arguments and describe some recent results in a 3+1-dimensional QCD-inspired NJL model with quark-hole condensation in the form of a plane wave in the scalar and tensor channels. This model exhibits particular features in close analogy to its 1+1-dimensional counterpart, most notably an asymmetric spectral density and the arising of an anomalous contribution to the free energy.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

New look at the QCD ground state in a magnetic field

We explore chiral symmetry breaking in a magnetic field within a Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model of interacting massless quarks including tensor channels. We show that the new interaction channels open up via Fierz identities due to the explicit breaking of the rotational symmetry by the magnetic field. We demonstrate that the magnetic catalysis of chiral symmetry breaking leads to the generation of two independent condensates, the conventional chiral condensate and a spin-one condensate. While the chiral condensate generates a dynamical fermion mass, the new condensate gives rise to a dynamical anomalous magnetic moment for the fermions. As a consequence, the spectrum of the excitations in all Landau levels, except the lowest one, exhibits Zeeman splitting. Since the pair, formed by a quark and an antiquark with opposite spins, possesses a resultant magnetic moment, an external magnetic field can align it giving rise to a net magnetic moment for the ground state. This is the physical interpretation of the spin-one condensate. Our results show that the magnetically catalyzed ground state in QCD is actually richer than previously thought. The two condensates contribute to the effective mass of the LLL quasiparticles in such a way that the critical temperature for chiral symmetry restoration becomes enhanced.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2013

Magnetism in Compact Ultra Dense Objects

This paper summarizes some of the recent results on magnetism in high dense mediums, where the phenomenon of color superconductivity can be present, and its possible implications for the astrophysics of compact objects. The presentation will be organized through the answers to three fundamental questions.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2013

BEC-BCS Crossover and the EoS of Strongly Interacting Systems

We show that at sufficiently strong coupling, quarks form a BEC system that does not collapse into a pressureless gas at zero temperature only if the diquark-diquark repulsion is self-consistently taken into account. It is found that there is a critical value of the coupling constant of the diquark-diquark interaction beyond which the tendency at zero temperature of the strongly interacting diquark gas to condense into the system ground state with zero momentum is compensated by the repulsion between diquarks so keeping a positive pressure with no significant variation along the whole strongly interacting region. We discuss possible implications of the diquark-diquark interaction for the astrophysics of compact stars. Also we analyze the effect of a strong magnetic field for the BEC-BCS crossover.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2013

Quarkyonic Chiral Spirals in the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio Approach

We explore the inhomogeneous QCD phases at finite density and temperature using a (3+1)-dimensional Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model in the large Nc limit with an additional attractive tensor-tensor interaction channel. For single modulated solutions, the problem reduces to solving the gap equation of a Chiral Gross-Neveu (NJL2) theory, whose minimum solution is a periodic array of chirally twisted kinks. At zero temperature, the minimum solution reduces to the quarkyonic chiral spiral found in quarkyonic matter. The connection between the quarkyonic matter and our (3+1)-dimensional NJL model is rooted on the fact that the first reduces to (1+1)-dimensional QCD and the second to the NJL2 theory, both of which have continuous chiral symmetry and asymptotic freedom. Our findings can be useful to obtain a reliable qualitative picture of the QCD phase diagram and the location of the QCD critical point in the technically challenging region of intermediate densities and temperatures.

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arXiv2012

Equation of State in a Strongly Interacting Relativistic System

We study the evolution of the equation of state of a strongly interacting quark system as a function of the diquark interaction strength. We show that for the system to avoid collapsing into a pressureless Boson gas at sufficiently strong diquark coupling strength, the diquark-diquark repulsion has to be self-consistently taken into account. In particular, we find that the tendency at zero temperature of the strongly interacting diquark gas to condense into the system ground state is compensated by the repulsion between diquarks if the diquark-diquark coupling constant is higher than a critical value $λ_C=7.65$. Considering such diquark-diquark repulsion, a positive pressure with no significant variation along the whole strongly interacting region is obtained. A consequence of the diquark-diquark repulsion is that the system maintains its BCS character in the whole strongly interacting region.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2012

Magnetism in Dense Quark Matter

We review the mechanisms via which an external magnetic field can affect the ground state of cold and dense quark matter. In the absence of a magnetic field, at asymptotically high densities, cold quark matter is in the Color-Flavor-Locked (CFL) phase of color superconductivity characterized by three scales: the superconducting gap, the gluon Meissner mass, and the baryonic chemical potential. When an applied magnetic field becomes comparable with each of these scales, new phases and/or condensates may emerge. They include the magnetic CFL (MCFL) phase that becomes relevant for fields of the order of the gap scale; the paramagnetic CFL, important when the field is of the order of the Meissner mass, and a spin-one condensate associated to the magnetic moment of the Cooper pairs, significant at fields of the order of the chemical potential. We discuss the equation of state (EoS) of MCFL matter for a large range of field values and consider possible applications of the magnetic effects on dense quark matter to the astrophysics of compact stars.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2012

Non-perturbative Euler-Heisenberg Lagrangian and Paraelectricity in Magnetized Massless QED

In this paper we calculate the non-perturbative Euler-Heisenberg Lagrangian for massless QED in a strong magnetic field $H$, where the breaking of the chiral symmetry is dynamically catalyzed by the external magnetic field via the formation of an electro-positron condensate. This chiral condensate leads to the generation of dynamical parameters that have to be found as solutions of non-perturbative Schwinger-Dyson equations. Since the electron-positron pairing mechanism leading to the breaking of the chiral symmetry is mainly dominated by the contributions from the infrared region of momenta much smaller than $\sqrt{eH}$, the magnetic field introduces a dynamical ultraviolet cutoff in the theory that also enters in the non-perturbative Euler-Heisenberg action. Using this action, we show that the system exhibits a significant paraelectricity in the direction parallel to the magnetic field. The nonperturbative nature of this effect is reflected in the non-analytic dependence of the obtained electric susceptibility on the fine-structure constant. The strong paraelectricity in the field direction is linked to the orientation of the electric dipole moments of the pairs that form the chiral condensate. The large electric susceptibility can be used to detect the realization of the magnetic catalysis of chiral symmetry breaking in physical systems.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Quarkyonic Chiral Spirals in a Magnetic Field

We discuss the formation of quarkyonic chiral spirals in the presence of a magnetic field. The explicit breaking of the rotational symmetry by the external magnetic field gives rise to an additional chiral spiral that varies along the field direction and rotates in the chiral space between pion and magnetic moment components.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2012

Photon Self-Energy and Electric Susceptibility in a Magnetized Three-flavor Color Superconductor

We study the photon self-energy for the in-medium photon in a three-flavor color superconductor in the presence of a magnetic field. At strong magnetic field, the quark dynamics becomes $(1+1)$-dimensional and the self-energy tensor only has longitudinal components. In this approximation there is no Debye or Meissner screenings at zero temperature, but the electric susceptibility is nonzero and highly anisotropic. In the direction transverse to the applied field, the electric susceptibility is the same as in vacuum, while in the longitudinal direction it depends on the magnitude of the magnetic field. Such a behavior is a realization in cold-dense QCD of the magnetoelectric effect, which was first discovered in condensed matter physics. The magnetic permeability remains equal to that in vacuum for both transverse and longitudinal components. We discuss the importance of the Pauli-Villars regularization to get meaningful physical results in the infrared limit of the polarization operator. We also find the covariant form of the polarization operator in the reduced (1+1)-D space of the lowest Landau level and proves its transversality.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Magnetoelectric Effect in Strongly Magnetized Color Superconductivity

The effect of a strong magnetic field on the electric polarization of a three-flavor color superconducting medium is investigated. We found that the electric susceptibility of this strongly magnetized medium is highly anisotropic. In the direction transverse to the applied magnetic field the susceptibility reduces to that of the vacuum, while in the longitudinal direction it depends on the magnetic field and decreases with it. The nature of this behavior is associated with the field's dependence of the Cooper pairs' coherence length, which plays the role of the electric dipole length. The field's dependence of the electric polarization is interpreted as the realization of the magnetoelectric effect in cold-dense quark matter.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2011

Magnetism in Cold-Dense QCD

In this talk I review some of the main findings on magnetism in color superconductivity. The physical characteristic of the different phases that are reached by increasing the applied magnetic field in a three-flavor color superconductor at asymptotically high densities are discussed. A mechanism to boost a seed magnetic field in high-dense quark matter is presented. Also, it is shown how a magnetic field can be generated in a color superconductor at moderate densities. Possible implications of these results for the astrophysics of magnetized compact objects are indicated.

nucl-th↗