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Igor Shovkovy

Publications and source records attributed to Igor Shovkovy.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Photon emission from weakly magnetized neutral pions

Using a hadronic framework, we derive an explicit expression for photon production from neutral pions in a weak background magnetic field. Our calculation is built on the proton triangle diagram with an effective Yukawa $\pi^0$-proton coupling, offering an alternative to quark-level descriptions that is advantageous when the magnetic length greatly exceeds the proton size. Corrections to the pion decay constant are computed up to second order in the magnetic-field strength, revealing that the field generally suppresses the decay rate. Quantitatively, however, the effect remains modest even for fields as strong as $|eB|\simeq m_\pi^2$. The differential photon emission rate exhibits anisotropy, with the strongest suppression occurring when the pion momentum is perpendicular to the magnetic field. Overall, the modification of the $\pi^0 \to \gamma\gamma$ rate is parametrically small, scaling as $|eB|^2/m_P^4$, where $m_P$ is the proton mass. While the magnetic-field-induced anisotropy is conceptually interesting in principle, it is likely too small to be resolved in present heavy-ion measurements.

hep-ph

Polarization tensor of magnetized quark-gluon plasma at nonzero baryon density

We derive a general expression for the absorptive part of the one-loop photon polarization tensor in a strongly magnetized quark-gluon plasma at nonzero baryon chemical potential. To demonstrate the application of the main result in the context of heavy-ion collisions, we study the effect of a nonzero baryon chemical potential on the photon emission rate. The rate and the ellipticity of photon emission are studied numerically as a function the transverse momentum (energy) for several values of temperature and chemical potential. When the chemical potential is small compared to the temperature, the rates of the quark and antiquark splitting processes (i.e., $q\rightarrow q +γ$ and $\bar{q}\rightarrow \bar{q} +γ$, respectively) are approximately the same. However, the quark splitting gradually becomes the dominant process with increasing the chemical potential. We also find that increasing the chemical potential leads to a growing total photon production rate but has only a small effect on the ellipticity of photon emission. The quark-antiquark annihilation ($q+\bar{q}\rightarrow γ$) also contributes to the photon production, but its contribution remains relatively small for a wide range of temperatures and chemical potentials investigated.

nucl-th

Photon polarization tensor in a magnetized plasma: Absorptive part

We calculate the absorptive part of the photon polarization tensor in a hot magnetized relativistic plasma. In the derivation, we utilize a Landau-level representation for the fermion Green's function in a mixed coordinate-momentum space and obtain a closed-form expression for the one-loop polarization tensor. At the leading order in the coupling, its absorptive part is determined by particle and antiparticle splitting processes ($e^{-} \leftrightarrow e^{-}+γ$ and $e^{+} \leftrightarrow e^{+}+γ$, respectively), as well as by particle-antiparticle annihilation processes ($e^{-} + e^{+}\leftrightarrow γ$). The interpretation in terms of quantum transitions between Landau levels is also given. By making use of the photon polarization tensor, we study the differential photon emission rate in the quantum limit of magnetized relativistic plasma. At low energies, the photon emission has a prolate profile with the symmetry axis along the line of the magnetic field. At high energies, on the other hand, the photon emission has an oblate profile. The underlying reasons for such emission profiles are given in both regimes. The general result for the photon polarization tensor is also used to calculate the longitudinal and transverse components of magneto-optical conductivity.

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Thermalization through Hagedorn states - the importance of multiparticle collisions

Quick chemical equilibration times of hadrons within a hadron gas are explained dynamically using Hagedorn states, which drive particles into equilibrium close to the critical temperature. Within this scheme master equations are employed for the chemical equilibration of various hadronic particles like (strange) baryon and antibaryons. A comparison of the Hagedorn model to recent lattice results is made and it is found that for both Tc =176 MeV and Tc=196 MeV, the hadrons can reach chemical equilibrium almost immediately, well before the chemical freeze-out temperatures found in thermal fits for a hadron gas without Hagedorn states.

nucl-th

Neutral Dense Quark Matter

The ground state of dense up and down quark matter under local and global charge neutrality conditions with $β$-equilibrium has at least four possibilities: normal, regular 2SC, gapless 2SC phases, and mixed phase composed of 2SC phase and normal components. The discussion is focused on the unusual properties of gapless 2SC phase at zero as well as at finite temperature.

hep-ph

Two flavor color superconductivity and compact stars

Baryonic matter at high density and low temperature is a color superconductor. In real world, this state of matter may naturally appear inside compact stars. A construction of a hybrid compact star with two flavor color superconducting quark matter in its interior is presented.

hep-ph

Gapless color superconductivity at zero and at finite temperature

We present a detailed study of the recently proposed gapless color superconductivity in neutral two-flavor quark matter in beta-equilibrium at zero as well as at finite temperature. We clarify the nature of the fermionic quasiparticles, and discuss the physical properties of this gapless phase of quark matter. The appearance of two "secondary" spin-1 condensates in the gapless ground state is pointed out. The gluon screening properties are also discussed. It is found that finite temperature properties of the gapless color superconductor are rather unusual. One of the most striking results is that the ratio of the critical temperature to the gap at zero temperature is not a universal number. Moreover, this ratio could become arbitrarily large at some values of the coupling constant. In addition, the value of the gap parameter is not a monotonic function of temperature, although the phase transition is a second order phase transition. In an extreme case, in fact, a nonzero finite temperature gap can appear even if its zero temperature value is vanishing.

hep-ph

Gapless two-flavor color superconductor

A new, gapless two-flavor color superconducting phase that appears under conditions of local charge neutrality and $β$-equilibrium is revealed. In this phase, the symmetry of the ground state is the same as in the conventional two-flavor color superconductor. In the low-energy spectrum of this phase, however, there are only two gapped fermionic quasiparticles, and the other four quasiparticles are gapless. The origin and the basic properties of the gapless two-flavor color superconductor are discussed. This phase is a natural candidate for quark matter in cores of compact stars.

hep-ph

Nonstrange hybrid compact stars with color superconducting matter

Realistic nonstrange hybrid compact stars with color superconducting quark matter in their interior are constructed. It is shown that a positively charged two-flavor color superconducting phase could naturally appear in the core of a hybrid star as one of the components of a globally neutral mixed phase. The negatively charged normal quark phase is the other component of the mixed phase. The quark core of the star is surrounded by another mixed phase made of hadronic and normal quark matter. The two mixed phases are separated by a sharp interface. Finally, the lowest density regions of the star are made of pure hadronic matter and nuclear crust.

hep-ph

Thermal rates for baryon and anti-baryon production

We use a form of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem to derive formulas giving the rate of production of spin-1/2 baryons in terms of the fluctuations of either meson or quark fields. The most general formulas do not assume thermal or chemical equilibrium. When evaluated in a thermal ensemble we find equilibration times on the order of 10 fm/c near the critical temperature in QCD.

nucl-th