arXiv subjects

L. von Smekal

Publications and source records attributed to L. von Smekal.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Chiral Magnetic Effect and Negative Magnetoresistance across the phase diagram of finite-density SU(2) gauge theory

We study the signatures of the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME) in $SU(2)$ gauge theory with $N_f = 2$ flavours of dynamical fermions at finite temperature $T$, quark chemical potential $μ$ and a weak external magnetic field $e B$. We consider both the correlator of the axial density and the vector current, which gives direct access to the out-of-equilibrium CME, and the correlator of two vector currents, which probes the CME indirectly via the enhancement of the longitudinal electric conductivity (Negative Magnetoresistance, NMR). We find that the CME response extracted from the vector-axial correlator exhibits a rather weak dependence on temperature and density in the quark-gluon plasma regime, and is very close to the universal value for free massless quarks. The CME appears to be mildly suppressed at low temperatures in the hadronic phase. In contrast, the NMR behaves in a qualitatively different way across the phase diagram, and is strongly suppressed at either large densities or temperatures. The magnitude of the NMR response appears to be considerably smaller than the prediction based on the lowest Landau level calculation for free quarks. Our findings suggest that for relatively small magnetic field strengths $e B \lesssim m_π^2$ the relation between the CME and NMR might not be as direct as expected. We also do not find statistically significant indications for an enhancement of the CME or NMR strength in the vicinity of the crossover or second-order phase transition lines in the $(μ, T)$ phase diagram.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2022

Dilepton Decay of Low-mass $ρ$ Mesons

The HADES collaboration has extracted dilepton mass spectra for $π^-$ induced reactions on the proton from a comparison of data taken on C and CH$_2$ targets. The spectra were interpreted in terms of different versions of vector meson dominance. Here we present results obtained from the theory and generator GiBUU. We first check the subtraction procedure used and then discuss the obtained mass spectra for the proton target. We point out that any conclusions on the version of VMD requires the knowledge of the $ρ$ spectral function in the interesting mass region.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2022

Effects of chiral symmetry restoration on meson and dilepton production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We include effects of chiral symmetry and its restoration in the kinetic equations for baryon propagation and explore the consequences for $η$, $π^0$, $ρ$ and dilepton production in heavy-ion collisions at 1-2A GeV. Numerical calculations are performed using the GiBUU microscopic transport model supplemented by the parity-doublet model for the mean fields of the nucleon and the $N^*(1535)$ resonance. In this chiral model, a strong dropping of the Dirac mass of the $N^*(1535)$ in the high-density stage of a collision leads to a considerable enhancement in the production of this resonance as compared to the standard (non-linear) Walecka model. As the system expands, the Dirac masses of these abundant soft $N^*(1535)$ resonances gradually increase and ultimately cross the $N η$ decay threshold. As a result, an enhanced low-energy $η$ production is observed in the calculations with chiral mean fields. Comparing with TAPS data on $η$ and $π^0$ production we find that the chiral model improves the agreement for the $m_t$-spectra of $η$'s at small $m_t$ in heavy colliding systems. A similar enhancement is also observed in the soft $ρ$ production due to chiral symmetry and its partial restoration. The resulting dilepton yields at low and intermediate invariant masses are slightly enhanced due to these chiral effects which further improve the agreement between GiBUU transport simulations and HADES data for C+C at 1A GeV.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2021

Static magnetic susceptibility in finite-density SU(2) lattice gauge theory

We study static magnetic susceptibility $χ(T, μ)$ in $SU(2)$ lattice gauge theory with $N_f = 2$ light flavours of dynamical fermions at finite chemical potential $μ$. Using linear response theory we find that $SU(2)$ gauge theory exhibits paramagnetic behavior in both the high-temperature deconfined regime and the low-temperature confining regime. Paramagnetic response becomes stronger at higher temperatures and larger values of the chemical potential. For our range of temperatures $0.727 \leq T/T_c \leq 2.67$, the first coefficient of the expansion of $χ(T, μ)$ in even powers of $μ/T$ around $μ=0$ is close to that of free quarks and lies in the range $(2 \ldots 5) \cdot 10^{-3}$. The strongest paramagnetic response is found in the diquark condensation phase at $μ> m_π/2$.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2021

Numerical Study of the Chiral Separation Effect in Two-Color QCD at Finite Density

We study the Chiral Separation Effect (CSE) in finite-density SU(2) lattice gauge theory with dynamical quarks. We find that the CSE is well described by the free quark result in the high-temperature quark-gluon plasma phase. As one enters the confinement regime with broken chiral symmetry at chemical potential smaller than half of the pion mass, the CSE response is gradually suppressed towards low temperatures in comparison to the free quark result. This suppression can be approximately described by assuming that the CSE current is proportional to the charge density, rather than the chemical potential, as suggested in the literature (ArXiv:1712.01256, Phys.Rev.D97(2018)085020). We also provide an upper bound on the contribution of disconnected fermionic diagrams to the CSE, which is consistent with zero within our statistical errors and small compared to that of the connected diagrams. Our results are obtained mainly in the QCD-like regime of SU(2) gauge theory at low densities, and hence should be at least qualitatively applicable to QCD as well.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2021

Dilepton production in microscopic transport theory with in-medium $ρ$-meson spectral function

We use the microscopic GiBUU transport model to calculate dilepton ($e^+e^-$) production in heavy-ion collisions at SIS18 energies focusing on the effect of collisional broadening of the $ρ$-meson. The collisional width of the $ρ$-meson at finite temperature and baryon density in nuclear matter is calculated on the basis of the collision integral of the GiBUU model. A systematic comparison with HADES data on dilepton production in heavy-ion collisions is performed. The collisional broadening of the $ρ$ improves the agreement between theory and experiment for the dilepton invariant-mass distributions near the $ρ$ pole mass and for the excess radiation in Au+Au at $1.23 A$ GeV. We furthermore show that some remaining underprediction of the experimental dilepton spectra in C+C at $1 A$ GeV and Au+Au at $1.23 A$ GeV at intermediate invariant masses $0.2-0.4$ GeV can be accounted for by adjusting the $pn$ bremsstrahlung cross section in a way to agree with the inclusive dilepton spectrum from $dp$ collisions at $1.25 A$ GeV.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2020

Electric conductivity in finite-density SU(2) lattice gauge theory with dynamical fermions

We study the dependence of the electric conductivity on chemical potential in finite-density $SU(2)$ gauge theory with $N_f = 2$ flavours of rooted staggered sea quarks, in combination with Wilson-Dirac and Domain Wall valence quarks. The pion mass is reasonably small with $m_π/m_ρ \approx 0.4$. We concentrate in particular on the vicinity of the chiral crossover, where we find the low-frequency electric conductivity to be most sensitive to small changes in fermion density. Working in the low-density QCD-like regime with spontaneously broken chiral symmetry, we obtain an estimate of the first nontrivial coefficient $c(T)$ of the expansion of conductivity $σ(T,μ) = σ(T,0) \left(1 + c(T) (μ/T)^2 + O(μ^4)\right)$ in powers of $μ$, which has rather weak temperature dependence and takes its maximal value $c(T) \approx 0.10 \pm 0.07$ around the critical temperature. At larger densities and lower temperatures, the conductivity quickly grows towards the diquark condensation phase, and also becomes closer to the free quark result. As a by-product of our study we confirm the conclusions of previous studies with heavier pion that for $SU(2)$ gauge theory the ratio of crossover temperature to pion mass $T_c/m_π \approx 0.4$ at $μ=0$ is significantly smaller than in real QCD.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2018

The role of frequency dependence in dynamical gap generation in graphene

We study the frequency dependencies of the fermion and photon dressing functions in dynamical gap generation in graphene. We use a low energy effective QED-like description, but within this approximation, we include all frequency dependent effects including retardation. We obtain the critical coupling by calculating the gap using a non-perturbative Dyson-Schwinger approach. Compared to the results of our previous calculation [1] which used a Lindhard screening approximation instead of including a self-consistently calculated dynamical screening function, the critical coupling is substantially reduced.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Dynamical gap generation in graphene with frequency dependent renormalization effects

We study the frequency dependencies in the renormalization of the fermion Greens function for the $π$-band electrons in graphene and their influence on the dynamical gap generation at sufficiently strong interaction. Adopting the effective QED-like description for the low-energy excitations within the Dirac-cone region we self consistently solve the fermion Dyson-Schwinger equation in various approximations for the photon propagator and the vertex function with special emphasis on frequency dependent Lindhard screening and retardation effects.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Test of the Atiyah-Singer Index Theorem for Fullerene with a Superconducting Microwave Resonator

Experiments have been performed using a spherical superconducting microwave resonator that simulates the geometric structure of the C60 fullerene molecule. The objective was to study with very high resolution the exceptional spectral properties emerging from the symmetries of the icosahedral structure of the carbon lattice. In particular, the number of zero modes has been determined to test the predictions of the Atiyah-Singer index theorem, which relates it to the topology of the curved carbon lattice. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first experimental verification of the index theorem.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Sarma phase in relativistic and non-relativistic systems

We investigate the stability of the Sarma phase in two-component fermion systems in three spatial dimensions. For this purpose we compare strongly-correlated systems with either relativistic or non-relativistic dispersion relation: relativistic quarks and mesons at finite isospin density and spin-imbalanced ultracold Fermi gases. Using a Functional Renormalization Group approach, we resolve fluctuation effects onto the corresponding phase diagrams beyond the mean-field approximation. We find that fluctuations induce a second order phase transition at zero temperature, and thus a Sarma phase, in the relativistic setup for large isospin chemical potential. This motivates the investigation of the cold atoms setup with comparable mean-field phase structure, where the Sarma phase could then be realized in experiment. However, for the non-relativistic system we find the stability region of the Sarma phase to be smaller than the one predicted from mean-field theory. It is limited to the BEC side of the phase diagram, and the unitary Fermi gas does not support a Sarma phase at zero temperature. Finally, we propose an ultracold quantum gas with four fermion species that has a good chance to realize a zero-temperature Sarma phase.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2015

Fermi velocity renormalization and dynamical gap generation in graphene

We study the renormalization of the Fermi velocity by the long-range Coulomb interactions between the charge carriers in the Dirac-cone approximation for the effective low-energy description of the electronic excitations in graphene at half filling. Solving the coupled system of Dyson-Schwinger equations for the dressing functions in the corresponding fermion propagator with various approximations for the particle-hole polarization we observe that Fermi velocity renormalization effects generally lead to a considerable increase of the critical coupling for dynamical gap generation and charge-density wave formation at the semimetal-insulator transition.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Lifshitz and Excited State Quantum Phase Transitions in Microwave Dirac Billiards

We present experimental results for the density of states (DOS) of a superconducting microwave Dirac billiard which serves as an idealized model for the electronic properties of graphene. The DOS exhibits two sharp peaks which evolve into van Hove singularities with increasing system size. They divide the band structure into regions governed by the \emph{relativistic} Dirac equation and by the \emph{non-relativistic} Schrödinger equation, respectively. We demonstrate that in the thermodynamic limit a topological transition appears as a neck-disrupting Lifshitz transition in the number susceptibility and as an excited state transition in the electronic excitations. Furthermore, we recover the finite-size scaling typical for excited state quantum phase transitions involving logarithmic divergences and identify a quasi-order parameter.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Effects of electron-electron interactions in suspended graphene

We investigate the problem of dynamical gap generation in suspended graphene by long-range Coulomb interactions at strong coupling with Dyson-Schwinger equations. Including renormalization effects on the Fermi velocity we obtain a critical coupling constant $α_c=2.85$ which is larger than the bare coupling $α_0=2.19$ of suspended graphene. This suggests that at low energies the running of the Fermi velocity prevents the emergence of a gapped phase. Our calculation is thus in agreement with the experimental observation that suspended graphene remains in the semimetal phase.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Effect of short-range interactions on the quantum critical behavior of spinless fermions on the honeycomb lattice

We present a functional renormalization group investigation of an Euclidean three-dimensional matrix Yukawa model with U(N) symmetry, which describes N = 2 Weyl fermions that effectively interact via a short-range repulsive interaction. This system relates to an effective low-energy theory of spinless electrons on the honeycomb lattice and can be seen as a simple model for suspended graphene. We find a continuous phase transition characterized by large anomalous dimensions for the fermions and composite degrees of freedom. The critical exponents define a new universality class distinct from Gross-Neveu type models, typically considered in this context.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

QCD Lambda parameter from Landau-gauge gluon and ghost correlations

We utilise a recently developed minimal MOM scheme to determine the QCD Lambda parameter from the gluon and ghost propagators in lattice Landau gauge. We discuss uncertainties in the analysis and report our preliminary zero and two flavour results, which are r_0*LambdaMS^{(0)}=0.62(1) and r_0*LambdaMS^{(2)}=0.60(3)(2), with the second error due to an extrapolation uncertainty.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2009

't Hooft-Polyakov monopoles in lattice SU(N)+adjoint Higgs theory

We investigate twisted C-periodic boundary conditions in SU(N) gauge field theory with an adjoint Higgs field. We show that with a suitable twist for even N one can impose a non-zero magnetic charge relative to residual U(1) gauge groups in the broken phase, thereby creating a 't Hooft-Polyakov magnetic monopole. This makes it possible to use lattice Monte-Carlo simulations to study the properties of these monopoles in the quantum theory.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2007

Running alpha(s) from Landau-gauge gluon and ghost correlations

We estimate the running coupling constant of the strong interactions within the nonperturbative framework of lattice QCD in Landau gauge. Our calculation is based on the ghost-gluon vertex which in the particular case of Landau gauge allows for a definition of alpha(s) in a MOM scheme solely in terms of the gluon and ghost dressing functions. As a first step we investigate the zero and two-flavour case and report here on preliminary results.

hep-lat↗