Nonzero Baryon Research Articles

Non-thermal baryogenesis from MSSM flat direction

Abstract We study an inflection point inflation scenario where a flat direction of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) is identified with the inflaton. We focus on the case where the flat direction (inflaton) has non-zero baryon number, and consider a non-thermal baryogenesis scenario where the decay of the inflaton at the reheating directly generates baryon asymmetry of the Universe. Specifically, we consider a udd flat direction that is lifted by a superpotential operator of dimension 6, and show that inflection point inflation with the udd flat direction can be compatible with cosmological observations and can account for the baryon asymmetry of the Universe.

Models of accidental dark matter with a fundamental scalar

We consider models of accidental dark matter, namely models in which the dark matter is a composite state that is stable thanks to an accidental symmetry of the theory. The fundamental constituents are vectorlike fermions, taken to be fragments of representations of the grand unifying gauge group SU(5), as well as a scalar singlet. All the new fields are charged under a new confining gauge group, which we take to be SU(N), leading to models with complex dark matter. We analyse the models in the context of SU(5) grand unification with a non-standard approach recently proposed in the literature. The advantage of including the scalar mainly resides in the fact that it allows several undesired accidental symmetries to be broken, leading to a larger set of viable models with respect to previous literature, in which only fermions (or only scalars) were considered. Moreover these models present distinct novelties, namely dark states with non-zero baryon and lepton number and the existence of composite hybrid states of fermions and scalars. We identify phenomena that are specific to the inclusion of the scalar and discuss possibilities to test this setup.

Dense QCD2 with matrix product states

We study one-flavor SU(2) and SU(3) lattice QCD in (1 + 1) dimensions at zero temperature and finite density using matrix product states and the density matrix renormalization group. We compute physical observables such as the equation of state, chiral condensate, and quark distribution function as functions of the baryon number density. As a physical implication, we discuss the inhomogeneous phase at nonzero baryon density, where the chiral condensate is inhomogeneous, and baryons form a crystal. We also discuss how the dynamical degrees of freedom change from hadrons to quarks through the formation of quark Fermi seas.

Chiral condensate and the equation of state at nonzero baryon density from the hadron resonance gas model with a repulsive mean field

We study the QCD equation of state and the chiral condensate using the hadron resonance gas model with repulsive mean-field interactions. We find that the repulsive interactions improve the agreement with the lattice results on the derivatives of the pressure with respect to the baryon chemical potential up to eighth order. From the temperature dependence of the chiral condensate we estimate the crossover temperature as a function of baryon chemical potential, Tpc(μB). We find that the chiral crossover line starts to deviate significantly from the chemical freeze-out line already for μB>400MeV. Furthermore, we find that the chiral pseudocritical line can be parametrized as Tpc(μB)/Tpc(0)=1−κ2[μB/Tpc(0)]2−κ4[μB/Tpc(0)]4 with κ2=0.0150(2) and κ4=3.1(6)×10−5, which are in agreement with lattice QCD results for small values of μB. For the first time we find a tiny but nonzero value of κ4 in our study. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

QCD equation of state at nonzero baryon density in an external magnetic field

This paper is devoted to the study of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) equation of state in external magnetic field and nonzero baryon density. Our study is carried out by means of lattice simulation with 2+1 dynamical staggered quarks at the physical masses. The simulation is conducted at imaginary baryon chemical potential what allowed us to overcome the sign problem. We expand the pressure in the baryon imaginary chemical potential and study three leading nonzero coefficients in this expansion. These coefficients were calculated for the following values of magnetic field: eB=0.3, 0.6, 1.2 GeV2 with the lattice sizes 8×323, 10×403, 12×483. Using these data we take continuum limit for the coefficients. Our results indicate considerable enhancement of the expansion coefficients by the magnetic field. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Can rooted staggered fermions describe nonzero baryon density at low temperatures?

Research on the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) phase diagram with lattice field theory methods is dominated by the use of rooted staggered fermions, as they are the computationally cheapest discretization available. We show that rooted staggered fermions at a nonzero baryochemical potential μB predict a sharp rise in the baryon density at low temperatures and μB≳3mπ/2, where mπ is the Goldstone pion mass. We elucidate the nature of the nonanalyticity behind this sharp rise in the density by a comparison of reweighting results with a Taylor expansion of high order. While at first sight this nonanalytic behavior becomes apparent at the same position where the pion condensation transition takes place in the phase-quenched theory, the nature of the nonanalyticity in the two theories appears to be quite different: While at nonzero isospin density the data are consistent with a genuine thermodynamic (branch-point) singularity, the results at nonzero baryon density point to an essential singularity at μB=0. The effect is absent for four flavors of degenerate quarks, where rooting is not used. For the two-flavor case, we show numerical evidence that the magnitude of the effect diminishes on finer lattices. We discuss the implications of this technical complication on future studies of the QCD phase diagram. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Thermal dilepton production in heavy-ion collisions at beam-energy-scan (BES) energies

The lepton pair production rate at finite temperature and at nextto-leading-order (NLO) is calculated for quark-gluon plasma at non-zero net baryon density. Yields are obtained using a (3+1)D multicomponent simulation capable of reproducing hadronic observables measured in the RHIC Beam Energy Scan (BES). Spectra of intermediate invariant mass dileptons are compared with measurements from the STAR collaboration. The result of a study where the temperature information obtained from the dilepton spectrum from heavyion collisions performed at different energies and centralities is presented.

Properties of kaon at non-zero temperature and baryon chemical potential

Properties of kaon at non-zero temperature and baryon chemical potential

Baryogenesis in f(R,Lm) gravity

This paper aims to recreate the gravitational baryogenesis epoch in the framework of the $f(R,L_m)$ theory of gravity, where $R$ and $L_m$ are the curvature scalar and the matter Langragian, respectively. In particular, we examine the model, $f(R,L_m) = \frac{R}{2} + L_m ^{\alpha} + \zeta$, under the supposition that the universe is saturated with dark energy and perfect fluid, with a non-zero baryon to entropy ratio during a radiation dominance era. We confine the model with the gravitational baryogenesis scenario, emphasizing the appropriate values of model parameters compatible with the baryon-to-entropy ratio observation data. Our study found that $f(R,L_m)$ gravity can considerably and steadily make a contribution to the phenomenon of gravitational baryogenesis.

Far-off-equilibrium expansion trajectories in the QCD phase diagram

We consider the hydrodynamic evolution of a quark-gluon gas with nonzero quark masses and net baryon number in its phase diagram. For far-off-equilibrium initial conditions the expansion trajectories appear to violate simple rules based on the second law of thermodynamics that were previously established for ideal or weakly dissipative fluids. For Bjorken flow we present a detailed analysis within kinetic theory that provides a full microscopic understanding of these macroscopic phenomena and establishes their thermodynamic consistency. We point out that, for certain far-off-equilibrium initial conditions, the well-known phenomenon of ``viscous heating'' turns into ``viscous cooling'' where, driven by dissipative effects, the temperature decreases faster than in adiabatic expansion.

Comprehensive simulation of heavy-ion collisions at nonzero baryon chemical potential

We present results of hydrodynamic modelling of Au-Au collisions from $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 7.7 to 200 GeV. Our simulations have three novel components. Firstly, we use a Linear EXtrapolation of Ultrarelativistic nucleon-nucleon Scattering to nucleus-nucleus collisions (LEXUS) inspired Monte-Carlo initial state model. Secondly, we use a crossover equation of state at finite baryon densities without a critical point. Finally, we use departure functions derived from the quasiparticle theory of transport coefficients for hadronic matter at non-zero baryon densities.

The θ-angle and axion physics of two-color QCD at fixed baryon charge

We analyze the impact of the θ-angle and axion dynamics for two-color (in fact any Sp(2N )) QCD at nonzero baryon charge and as a function of the number of matter fields on the vacuum properties, the pattern of chiral symmetry breaking as well as the spectrum of the theory. We show that the vacuum acquires a rich structure when the underlying CP violating topological operator is added to the theory. We discover novel phases and analyse the order of their transitions characterizing the dynamics of the odd and even number of flavours. We further determine the critical chemical potential as function of the θ angle separating the normal from the superfluid phase of the theory. Our results will guide numerical simulations and novel tests of the model’s dynamics. The results are also expected to better inform phenomenological applications of the model ranging from composite Higgs physics to strongly interacting massive dark matter models featuring number changing interactions. In the companion work [1] we repurpose and upgrade the approach to determine the impact of the θ-angle and axion physics on non-perturbative near conformal dynamics related to the fixed baryon charge sector.

Lepton pair production from a hot and dense QCD medium in the presence of an arbitrary magnetic field

In this article, we have explored the very important quantity of lepton pair production from a hot and dense QCD medium in presence of an arbitrary external magnetic field for simultaneous nonzero values of both the parallel (along the direction of the external field) and perpendicular (lying on the transverse plane to the external field) components of the dilepton momentum. As opposed to the zero magnetic field case (the so-called Born rate) or the lowest Landau level approximated rate, where only the annihilation process contributes, here we observe contributions also arising out of the quark and antiquark decay processes. We found the encouraging result of considerable enhancement of lepton pair production in presence of an arbitrary magnetic field. We decompose the total rate into different physical processes and discuss their behaviors for both zero and nonzero baryon density. The whole analysis is then subjected to an effective model treatment, where we have incorporated the magnetic field induced novel effects of magnetic catalysis (MC) and inverse MC (IMC) through a medium dependent scalar coupling, which leads to some further interesting observations.

Baryon asymmetry from Barrow entropy: theoretical predictions and observational constraints

We investigate the generation of baryon asymmetry from the corrections brought about in the Friedman equations due to Barrow entropy. In particular, by applying the gravity-thermodynamics conjecture one obtains extra terms in the Friedmann equations that change the Hubble function evolution during the radiation-dominated epoch. Hence, even in the case of standard coupling between the Ricci scalar and baryon current they can lead to a non-zero baryon asymmetry. In order to match observations we find that the Barrow exponent should lie in the interval 0.005lesssim Delta lesssim 0.008, which corresponds to a slight deviation from the standard Bekenstein–Hawking entropy. The upper bound is tighter than the one of other observational constraints, however the interesting feature is that in the present analysis we obtain a non-zero lower bound. Nevertheless this lower bound would disappear if the baryon asymmetry in Barrow-modified cosmology is generated by other mechanisms, not related to the Barrow modification.

First-Order General-Relativistic Viscous Fluid Dynamics

We present the first generalization of Navier-Stokes theory to relativity that satisfies all of the following properties: (a) the system coupled to Einstein’s equations is causal and strongly hyperbolic; (b) equilibrium states are stable; (c) all leading dissipative contributions are present, i.e., shear viscosity, bulk viscosity, and thermal conductivity; (d) nonzero baryon number is included; (e) entropy production is non-negative in the regime of validity of the theory; (f) all of the above hold in the nonlinear regime without any simplifying symmetry assumptions. These properties are accomplished using a generalization of Eckart’s theory containing only the hydrodynamic variables, so that no new extended degrees of freedom are needed as in Müller-Israel-Stewart theories. Property (b), in particular, follows from a more general result that we also establish, namely, sufficient conditions that when added to stability in the fluid’s rest frame imply stability in any reference frame obtained via a Lorentz transformation All of our results are mathematically rigorously established. The framework presented here provides the starting point for systematic investigations of general-relativistic viscous phenomena in neutron star mergers.Received 9 October 2020Revised 18 January 2022Accepted 15 February 2022DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.12.021044Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasFluids & classical fields in curved spacetimeGeneral relativityGeneral relativity equations & solutionsTechniquesRelativistic hydrodynamicsGravitation, Cosmology & AstrophysicsFluid Dynamics

The Phase Structure of Two Color QCD and Charged Pion Condensation Phenomenon

The phase structure of dense quark matter in the two color case has been investigated with nonzero baryon $${{\mu }_{{\text{B}}}}$$ , isospin $${{\mu }_{{\text{I}}}}$$ and chiral isospin $${{\mu }_{{{\text{I5}}}}}$$ chemical potentials. It has been shown in the mean-field approximation that there exist three dualities, one of them between phases with spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking and condensation of charged pions, found in the three color case. The other two dual symmetries between the phase with condensation of charged pions and the phase with diquark condensation and between chiral symmetry breaking and diquark condensation phenomena. It has been demonstrated that due to the duality properties the phase diagram is extremely symmetric and the whole phase diagram in two color case can be obtained just by dualities from the phase structure of three color case. This shows that the dualities are rather usefull tool. It is shown that chiral imbalance generates charged pion condensation phenomenon in conditions of matter in neutron stars, i. e. electrically neutral and $$\beta $$ -equilibrated dense quark matter. And that diquark condensation does not prohibit the generation of the charged PC phase by chiral imbalance at least in the two color case.

Polyakov loop models in the large N limit: Phase diagram at finite density

The 't Hooft-Veneziano limit of various U(N) and SU(N) Polyakov loop models is constructed at finite temperature and non-zero baryon chemical potential. In this paper we calculate the free energy, its derivatives, the Polyakov loop expectation values and the baryon density. The phase diagram is described in details.

Shedding light on thermal photon and dilepton production

Electromagnetic radiation from the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) is an important observable to be considered in heavy ion collision experiments. I will provide an update on recent advancements from perturbation theory and quenched lattice simulations. The resummed next-to-leading order (NLO) emission rate has recently been decomposed into transverse and longitudinal components, and extended to non-zero baryon chemical potential. The associated spectral function has also been tested against the Euclidean correlator, for continuum-extrapolated lattice data (at μB = 0).

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., qrightarrow q +gamma and {bar{q}}rightarrow {bar{q}} +gamma , 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 gamma ) also contributes to the photon production, but its contribution remains relatively small for a wide range of temperatures and chemical potentials investigated.

Symmetry, pattern formation, and finite-density QCD

A longstanding issue in the study of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is its behavior at nonzero baryon density, which has implications for many areas of physics. The path integral has a complex integrand when the quark chemical potential is nonzero and therefore has a sign problem, but it also has a generalized symmetry. We review some new approaches to -symmetric field theories, including both analytical techniques and methods for lattice simulation. We show that -symmetric field theories with more than one field generally have a much richer phase structure than their Hermitian counterparts, including stable phases with patterning behavior. The case of a -symmetric extension of a φ4 model is explained in detail. The relevance of these results to finite density QCD is explained, and we show that a simple model of finite density QCD exhibits a patterned phase in its critical region.