Can the MDCDW condensate withstand the heat of a cold neutron star?

Abstract

The correct description of strongly interacting matter at low temperatures and moderately high densities—in particular the conditions realized inside neutron stars—is still unknown. We review some recent results on the magnetic dual chiral density wave (MDCDW) phase, a candidate phase of quark matter for this region of the QCD phase diagram. We highlight the effects of magnetic fields and temperature on the condensate, which can be explored using a high-order Ginzburg-Landau (GL) expansion. We also explain how the condensate’s nontrivial topology, which arises due to the asymmetry in the lowest Landau level modes, affects its physical properties. Finally, we comment on the possible relevance of these results to neutron star applications. Over a wide range of densities and magnetic field strengths, MDCDW is preferred over the chirally symmetric ground state at temperatures consistent with typical cold neutron stars, and in some cases, even hot ones.