arXiv subjects

Laura Tolos

Publications and source records attributed to Laura Tolos.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

The width of the $ω$ meson in dense matter

We obtain the width of the $ω$ meson in dense nuclear matter by taking into account (i) the free decay of the $ω$ into three pions, which is dominated by $ρπ$ mode, (ii) the processes induced by a vector-baryon interaction dominated by vector meson exchange, and (iii) the $ω\to K \bar K$ mechanism in matter. The $ω$ meson develops an important width in matter, coming from the dominant $ω\to ρπ$ decay mode, with a value of $121 \pm 10$ MeV at normal nuclear matter density for an $ω$ at rest. At finite momentum, the width of the $ω$ meson increases moderately with values of 200 MeV at 600 MeV/c.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2013

Strange and heavy mesons in hadronic matter

We present selected results on the properties of strange and heavy-flavoured mesons in a hot and dense nuclear medium, with emphasis in selfconsistent coupled-channel approaches based on the chiral Lagrangian. In the strangeness sector, we discuss how the enhanced reactivity of light strange vectors at FAIR conditions can be tied to in-medium effects on their predominant decay modes (e.g. $\bar K^*\to\bar K π$) and to the excitation of strange baryons in vector-meson nucleon interactions. In the heavy-flavour sector, we focus on recent determinations of the transport coefficients of charmed and bottomed mesons in a hadron gas at vanishing baryonic chemical potential. We comment on the role of microscopic transport simulations to establish a connection between theoretical models and experimental observables from heavy-ion collisions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

D-meson diffusion in hadronic matter

We present effective-field-theory results with unitarized interactions on the D-meson transport coefficients in a gas populated by light mesons and baryons at finite temperature and baryochemical potential. The Fokker-Planck equation is used to compute the drag force, the relaxation time and the diffusion coefficients of D mesons for collisions at FAIR. At finite baryochemical potential, the combined effect of net baryonic density and sizable meson-baryon interaction makes the D mesons to relax more efficiently than in the case at zero baryochemical potential. We also describe the connection with the quark-gluon plasma phase in adiabatic trajectories on the phase diagram at both zero and finite baryochemical potential.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

N and $Δ$ hidden-charm resonances with heavy-quark spin symmetry

We study N and $Δ$ hidden-charm baryon resonances that are generated dynamically from the s-wave interaction of pseudoscalar and vector mesons with $1/2^+$ and $3/2^+$ baryons. We use a unitary coupled-channels model that fulfills heavy-quark spin symmetry and respects spin-flavor symmetry in the light sector. We predict seven N-like and five $Δ$-like states with masses around 4 GeV, most of them as bound states. Some of these states form heavy-quark spin multiplets, which are almost degenerate in mass.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

D-meson propagation in hot dense matter

The drag force and diffusion coefficients for a D meson are calculated in hot dense matter composed of light mesons and baryons, such as it is formed in heavy-ion collisions. We use a unitarized approach based on effective models for the interaction of a D meson with hadrons, which are compatible with chiral and heavy quark symmetries. We study the propagation of the D meson in the hadron matter in two distinct cases. On the one hand, we analyze the propagation of D mesons in matter at vanishing baryochemical potential, which is relevant for high-energetic collisions at LHC or RHIC. On the other hand, we show the propagation of D mesons in the hadronic medium following isentropic trajectories, appropiate at FAIR and NICA heavy-ion experiments. We find a negligible baryon contribution to the transport coefficients at vanishing chemical potential. However at finite baryochemical potential we obtain a large correction to the transport coefficients with the inclusion of nucleons and Delta baryons. The relaxation time for D mesons is reduced a factor 2-3 in the later case, producing a more thermalized D meson-spectrum for FAIR physics than for the typical LHC energies. We finally present results for the spatial diffusion coefficient of a D meson in hadronic matter and the possible existence of a minimum near the phase transition to the quark-gluon plasma at zero and finite baryochemical potential.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Charming mesons with baryons and nuclei

The properties of charmed mesons in nuclear matter and nuclei are reviewed. Different frameworks are discussed paying a special attention to unitarized coupled-channel approaches which incorporate heavy-quark spin symmetry. Several charmed baryon states with negative parity are generated dynamically by the s-wave interaction between pseudoscalar and vector meson multiplets with $1/2^+$ and $3/2^+$ baryons. These states are compared to experimental data. Moreover, the properties of open-charm mesons in matter are analyzed. The in-medium solution accounts for Pauli blocking effects, and for the meson self-energies in a self-consistent manner. The behavior in the nuclear medium of the rich spectrum of dynamically-generated baryon states is studied as well as their influence in the self-energy and, hence, the spectral function of open charm. The possible experimental signatures of the in-medium properties of open charm are finally addressed, such as the formation of charmed nuclei, in connection with the future FAIR facility.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2013

Shear viscosity and the r-mode instability window in superfluid neutron stars

We analyze how recent computations of the shear viscosity $η$ in the core of superfluid neutron stars affect the r-mode instability window. We first analyze the contribution of superfluid phonons to the viscosity, both in their hydrodynamical and ballistic regime. We also consider the recent computation of $η$ arising from the collisions of electrons with electrons and protons by Shternin and Yakovlev, and discuss how the interactions among superfluid phonons and electrons might contribute to the shear viscosity. For assessing the r-mode instability window we compare the shear viscosity due to phonons in the hydrodynamical regime with respect to the shear viscosity due to electron collisions. Only at high temperatures the superfluid phonon contribution to $η$ starts to dominate the process of r-mode damping. While our results for the instability window are preliminary, as other dissipative processes should be taken into account as well, they differ from previous evaluations of the r-mode damping due to the shear viscosity in superfluid neutron stars.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

Bulk viscosity coefficients due to phonons in superfluid neutron stars

We calculate the three bulk viscosity coefficients as arising from the collisions among phonons in superfluid neutron stars. We use effective field theory techniques to extract the allowed phonon collisional processes, written as a function of the equation of state of the system. The solution of the dynamical evolution of the phonon number density allows us to calculate the bulk viscosity coefficients as function of the phonon collisional rate and the phonon dispersion law, which depends on the neutron pairing gap. Our method of computation is rather general, and could be used for different superfluid systems, provided they share the same underlying symmetries. We find that the behavior with temperature of the bulk viscosity coefficients is dominated by the contributions coming from the collinear regime of the $2\leftrightarrow3$ phonon processes. For typical star radial pulsation frequencies of $ω\sim 10^{4} s^{-1}$, we obtain that the bulk viscosity coefficients at densities $n \gtrsim 4n_0$ are within 10% from its static value for $T \lesssim 10^9 K$ and for the case of strong neutron superfluidity in the core with a maximum value of the $^3P_2$ gap above 1 MeV, while, otherwise, the static solution is not a valid approximation to the bulk viscosity coefficients. Compared to previous results from Urca and modified Urca reactions, we conclude that at $T\sim 10^9$K phonon collisions give the leading contribution to the bulk viscosities in the core of the neutron stars, except for $n \sim 2n_0$ when the opening of the Urca processes takes place.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2013

Phonon contribution to the shear viscosity of a superfluid Fermi gas in the unitarity limit

We present a detailed analysis of the contribution of small-angle Nambu-Goldstone boson (phonon) collisions to the shear viscosity, $η$, in a superfluid atomic Fermi gas close to the unitarity limit. We show that the experimental values of the shear viscosity coefficient to entropy ratio, $η/s$, obtained at the lowest reached temperature can be reproduced assuming that phonons give the leading contribution to $η$. The phonon contribution is evaluated considering $1 \leftrightarrow 2$ processes and taking into account the finite size of the experimental system. In particular, for very low temperatures, $T \lesssim 0.1 T_F$, we find that phonons are ballistic and the contribution of phonons to the shear viscosity is determined by the processes that take place at the interface between the superfluid and the normal phase. This result is independent of the detailed form of the phonon dispersion law and leads to two testable predictions: the shear viscosity should correlate with the size of the optical trap and it should decrease with decreasing temperature. For higher temperatures the detailed form of the phonon dispersion law becomes relevant and, within our model, we find that the experimental data for $η/s$ can be reproduced assuming that phonons have an anomalous dispersion law.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2013

Heavy-quark spin symmetry for charmed and strange baryon resonances

We study charmed and strange baryon resonances that are generated dynamically by a unitary baryon-meson coupled-channels model which incorporates heavy-quark spin symmetry. This is accomplished by extending the SU(3) Weinberg-Tomozawa chiral Lagrangian to SU(8) spin-flavor symmetry plus a suitable symmetry breaking. The model generates resonances with negative parity from the s-wave interaction of pseudoscalar and vector mesons with 1/2+ and 3/2+ baryons in all the isospin, spin, and strange sectors with one, two, and three charm units. Some of our results can be identified with experimental data from several facilities, such as the CLEO, Belle, or BaBar Collaborations, as well as with other theoretical models, whereas others do not have a straightforward identification and require the compilation of more data and also a refinement of the model.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Review of low-energy interaction of strange and charm hadrons with nucleons and nuclei

The properties of strange and charm mesons in nuclear matter and nuclei are reviewed. Different frameworks are presented and discussed paying a special attention to unitarized coupled-channel approaches. Possible experimental signatures of the in-medium properties of these mesons are also addressed, in particular in connection with the future FAIR facility at GSI.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2012

Shear viscosity in a superfluid cold Fermi gas at unitarity

We analyze the contributions of Nambu-Goldstone modes to the shear viscosity of a superfluid atomic Fermi gas close to unitarity. We show that the low temperature experimental values of the shear viscosity to entropy ratio, $η/s$, are reproduced considering an effective shear viscosity which takes into account the collisions among Nambu-Goldstone bosons and the finite size of the optical trap. We predict that, for $T \lesssim 0.1 T_F$, $η/s$ should correlate with the size of the trap and linearly decrease with decreasing temperature. For $T \gtrsim 0.1 T_F$, we find agreement with the experimental data assuming that the Nambu-Goldstone modes have an anomalous dispersion law.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2012

Strangeness and Charm in Nuclear Matter

The properties of strange ($K$, $\bar K$ and $\bar K^*$) and open-charm ($D$, $\bar D$ and $D^*$) mesons in dense matter are studied using a unitary approach in coupled channels for meson-baryon scattering. In the strangeness sector, the interaction with nucleons always comes through vector-meson exchange, which is evaluated by chiral and hidden gauge Lagrangians. For the interaction of charmed mesons with nucleons we extend the SU(3) Weinberg-Tomozawa Lagrangian to incorporate spin-flavor symmetry and implement a suitable flavor symmetry breaking. The in-medium solution for the scattering amplitude accounts for Pauli blocking effects and meson self-energies. On one hand, we obtain the $K$, $\bar K$ and $\bar K^*$ spectral functions in the nuclear medium and study their behaviour at finite density, temperature and momentum. We also make an estimate of the transparency ratio of the $γA \to K^+ K^{*-} A^\prime$ reaction, which we propose as a tool to detect in-medium modifications of the $\bar K^*$ meson. On the other hand, in the charm sector, several resonances with negative parity are generated dynamically by the s-wave interaction between pseudoscalar and vector meson multiplets with $1/2^+$ and $3/2^+$ baryons. The properties of these states in matter are analyzed and their influence on the open-charm meson spectral functions is studied. We finally discuss the possible formation of $D$-mesic nuclei at FAIR energies.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2012

Soft nuclear equation-of-state from heavy-ion data and implications for compact stars

Measurements of kaon production at subthreshold energies in heavy-ion collisions point to a soft nuclear equation-of-state for densities up to 2-3 times nuclear matter saturation density. We apply these results to study the implications on compact star properties, especially in the context of the recent measurement of the two solar mass pulsar PSR J1614-2230. The implications are two-fold: Firstly, the heavy-ion results constrain nuclear matter at densities relevant to light neutron stars. Hence, a radius measurement could provide information about the density dependence of the symmetry energy which is a crucial quantity in nuclear physics. Secondly, the information on the nucleon potential obtained from the analysis of the heavy-ion data can be combined with restrictions from causality on the nuclear equation-of-state. From this we can derive a limit for the highest allowed compact star mass of three solar masses.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2012

Shear viscosity in superfluid neutron stars

The phonon contribution to the shear viscosity $η$ in superfluid neutron stars is calculated by assuming neutron pairing in a $^1S_0$ channel. The shear viscosity is obtained by means of variational methods for the solution of the Boltzmann equation amended by a collision term which takes into account the binary collisions of phonons. Effective field theory techniques are used to extract the phonon scattering rates in terms of the equation of state (EoS) of the system. We find that $η\propto 1/T^5$, the proportionality factor depending on the EoS of the system. Our results indicate that the phonon contribution to $η$ might have important effects for the different oscillation modes of the star.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2011

Shear viscosity due to phonons in superfluid neutron stars

We compute the contribution of phonons to the shear viscosity $η$ in superfluid neutron stars, assuming neutron pairing in a $^1S_0$ channel. We use a Boltzmann equation amended by a collision term that takes into account the binary collisions of phonons. We use effective field theory techniques to extract the phonon scattering rates, written as a function of the equation of state (EoS) of the system. Our formulation is rather general, and can be used to extract the shear viscosity due to binary collisions of phonons for other superfluids, such as the cold Fermi gas in the unitarity limit. We find that $η\propto 1/T^5$, the proportionality factor depending on the EoS of the system. Our results indicate that the phonon contribution to $η$ cannot be ignored and might have relevant effects in the dynamics of the different oscillation modes of the star.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2010

Heavy mesons in dense matter

Charmed mesons in dense matter are studied within a unitary coupled-channel approach which takes into account Pauli-blocking effects and meson self-energies in a self-consistent manner. We obtain the open-charm meson spectral functions in this dense medium, and discuss their implications on hidden charm and charm scalar resonances and on the formation of D-mesic nuclei.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2010

$\bar K^*$ meson in nuclear matter

The properties of the $\bar K^*$ meson in dense matter are studied using a unitary approach in coupled channels within the framework of the local hidden gauge formalism. We obtain the $\bar K^*$ spectral function in the nuclear medium and we found that the $\bar K^*$ develops an in-medium width up to five times bigger than in free space. We also estimate the transparency ratio of the $γA \to K^+ K^{*-} A^\prime$ reaction, which we propose as a feasible experimental scenario to detect in-medium modifications of the $\bar K^*$ meson.

nucl-th↗