Chiral Condensate Research Articles

Magnetic Field as an Important Tool in Exploring the Strongly Correlated Fermi Systems and Their Particle–Hole and Time-Reversal Asymmetries

In this review, we consider the impact of magnetic field on the properties of strongly correlated heavy-fermion compounds such as heavy-fermion metals and frustrated insulators with quantum spin liquid. Magnetic field B can be considered a universal tool, allowing the exploration of the physics controlling the remarkable properties of heavy-fermion compounds. These vivid properties are T/B scaling, exhibited under the application of magnetic field B and at fixed temperature T, and the emergence of Landau Fermi liquid behavior under the application of magnetic field. We analyze the influence of quasiparticle–hole asymmetry on the properties of heavy-fermion (HF) compounds such as the universal scaling behavior of the thermopower S/T exhibited under the application of magnetic field B. We show that universal scaling is demonstrated by different HF compounds such as β-YbAlB4, YbRh2Si2, and strongly correlated layered cobalt oxide [BiBa0.66K0.36O2]CoO2. Analyzing YbRh2Si2, we show that the T/B scaling behavior of S/T is violated at the antiferromagnetic phase (AF) transition. The residual resistivity ρ0 and the density of states N0 experience jumps at the AF transition, causing two jumps in the thermopower and its sign reversal. Our consideration is based on the flattening of the single-particle spectrum that strongly affects ρ0 and N0 and leads to the violation of particle–hole symmetry. The particle–hole asymmetry generates the asymmetrical part Δσd(V) of tunneling differential conductivity σd(V), Δσd(V)=σd(V)−σd(−V), where V is the voltage bias. We demonstrate that in the presence of magnetic field, the quasiparticle–hole asymmetry vanishes, the LFL behavior is restored, and the asymmetry disappears. Our calculations of the mentioned properties of HF compounds, based on the fermion condensation theory, are in good agreement with the experiment and support our conclusion that the fermion condensation theory is capable of describing the properties of HF compounds, including those exhibited under the application of magnetic field.

Influence of gauge boson mass on dynamical mass generation and chiral phase transition in thermal QED3

In this work, we quantitatively explore how a finite gauge boson mass affects dynamical mass generation and the chiral phase transition in thermal QED3. To this end, we numerically solve the Dyson–Schwinger equations by considering the contributions coming from the wave function renormalization and the spatial part of the boson propagator at first and then compute the chiral condensate and some of thermodynamic quantities. It is found that the wave function renormalization and the spatial part of the boson propagator are crucial for the numerical solutions of the dressing functions and the value of critical temperature. The behaviors of the thermodynamic quantities and the chiral condensate as a function of temperature consistently imply that the chiral phase transition is none other than a second order one. That critical temperature decreases with increasing gauge boson mass verifies that the gauge boson mass will weaken the interactions between fermions and so suppress dynamical mass generation.

Quasicrystals in QCD

We study the ground state of the low energy dense QCD with the assumption of chiral condensates of quarks. Under an external magnetic field, mesons could form soliton lattices via the chiral anomaly. For such scenarios, we present a unified description of pions and η meson with a U(2) field in the framework of the chiral perturbation theory. Our result shows the ground state is a mixture of the magnetized domain walls formed by neutral pion π0 and η meson when they coexist. The winding number of the ground state would alter according to the strength of the magnetic field. When the magnetic field is strong or the chemical potential is large, the proportion of the mixture is determined by the decay constants and the contributions to the anomalous action of π0 and η meson. The resulting configuration is either a mixed soliton lattice or a quasicrystal which could be dubbed a “chiral soliton quasicrystal”.

Hadronic structure on the light front. VII. Pions and kaons and their partonic distributions

This work is a continuation in our series of papers, that addresses quark models of hadronic structure on the light front, motivated by the QCD vacuum structure and lattice results. The spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry on the light front, is shown to parallel that in the rest frame, where the non-local instanton induced $^\prime$t Hooft interaction plays a central role. By rewriting this interaction solely in terms of the good component of the fermionic field, a scalar chiral condensate emerges in the mean-field approximation, which is identical to the one obtained in the rest frame. The pions and kaons emerge as deeply bound Goldstone modes in the chiral limit, with the scalar-isoscalar sigma meson mode as a threshold state with zero binding. We explicitly derive the light front distribution amplitudes (DAs) and partonic functions (PDFs) for these mesons. The DAs and PDFs are in good agreement with those extracted from the QCD instanton vacuum in the rest frame, using the large momentum effective theory (LaMET). The QCD evolved DAs and PDFs compare well with available measurements, as well as recent lattice results.

Magnetic catalysis in the ( 2+1 )-dimensional Gross-Neveu model

We study the Gross-Neveu model in $2+1$ dimensions in an external magnetic field $B$. We first summarize known mean-field results, obtained in the limit of large flavor number $N_\mathrm{f}$, before presenting lattice results using the overlap discretization to study one reducible fermion flavor, $N_\mathrm{f}=1$. Our findings indicate that the magnetic catalysis phenomenon, i.e., an increase of the chiral condensate with the magnetic field, persists beyond the mean-field limit for temperatures below the chiral phase transition and that the critical temperature grows with increasing magnetic field. This is in contrast to the situation in QCD, where the broken phase shrinks with increasing $B$ while the condensate exhibits a non-monotonic $B$-dependence close to the chiral crossover, and we comment on this discrepancy. We do not find any trace of inhomogeneous phases induced by the magnetic field.

Comment on "Magic Gap Ratio for Optimally Robust Fermionic Condensation and Its Implications for High-T_{c} Superconductivity".

Received 13 September 2022Accepted 6 April 2023DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.199701© 2023 American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasBEC-BCS crossoverMagnetic susceptibilitySpecific heatSuperconducting gapSuperconducting phase transitionSuperfluid densityPhysical SystemsCupratesCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Finite-momentum instability of a dynamical axion insulator

Due to the chiral anomaly, Weyl semimetals can exhibit a signature topological magnetoelectric response known as an axion term which is determined by the microscopic band structure. In the presence of strong interactions Weyl fermions may form a chiral condensate, with the intrinsic dynamics and fluctuations of the associated condensate phase producing a dynamical contribution to the axion response. Here we show that an imbalance in the density of right- and left-handed electrons drives an instability of the chiral condensate towards finite momentum and leads to strong fluctuations in the axion response. We derive a long-wavelength theory of Lifschitz type governing the dynamics of the Goldstone mode and use this to characterize its associated spatial fluctuations, which manifest as an inhomogeneous anomalous Hall effect. We show that these fluctuations produce signatures in inelastic light-scattering experiments across a broad spectrum of frequencies, and can be used to determine the structure factor for the axionic collective mode.

QCD thermodynamics and neutral pion in a uniform magnetic field: Finite volume effects

We address finite volume effects of lattice QCD calculations in background magnetic fields. Using chiral perturbation theory at next-to-leading order, volume effects are calculated for thermodynamic quantities: the chiral condensate, pressure anisotropy, and magnetization. The neutral pion effective action in a finite volume is additionally derived. For these charge neutral observables, volume and source averaging are shown to capitalize on magnetic periodicity, which is the remnant translational invariance of the finite-volume theory. For a fixed magnetic field strength, certain volume and source averaged quantities are independent of the size of the lattice transverse to the magnetic field. Despite this simplifying feature, finite volume corrections to the magnetic field dependence of the chiral condensate and neutral pion magnetic polarizability can be non-negligible. The pressure anisotropy at fixed magnetic flux, moreover, appears acutely sensitive to the lattice volume.

Effect of mesonic off-shell correlations in the PNJL equation of state

We study the meson contribution to the equation of state of the 2-flavor PNJL model, including the full momentum dependence of the meson polarization loops. Within the Beth-Uhlenbeck approach, we demonstrate that the contribution from the quark-antiquark continuum excitations in the spacelike region $\omega^2 - q^2 < 0$, i.e. the Landau damping, leads to an increase of the pressure for temperatures $\gtrsim 0.8\,T_c^\chi$ and a significant meson momentum cut-off dependence in the mesonic pressure and the QCD trace anomaly. We investigate the dependence of the results on the choice of the Polyakov-loop potential parameter $T_0$. From the dependence of the mesonic pressure on the current quark mass, by means of the Feynman-Hellmann theorem, we evaluate the contribution of the pion quasiparticle gas and Landau damping to the chiral condensate.

Quark condensate and magnetic moment in a strong magnetic field

This paper studies the quark condensate, magnetic moment, magnetic polarization, and magnetic susceptibility in a strong external magnetic field by employing the Dyson–Schwinger equations (DSE). The results show these physical quantities as functions of the magnetic field. We note that the quark’s spin polarizations are approximately proportional to the magnetic field magnitude. For comparison, we investigate the magnetic moments and susceptibility of the nucleon in the constituent quark model framework and demonstrate that both these quantities increase as the magnetic field rises.

Dimensional reduction and the generalized pion in a magnetic field within the NJL model

In this work, the mass of the neutral pion is investigated in the presence of background magnetic fields in the framework of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. Taking into account the anisotropic four-fermion interactions, a tensor current arises in the magnetized QCD system, which forms an anomalous magnetic moment (AMM) coupling in the Dirac equation for the quarks. By solving the gap equations, we find that the sign of the dynamically generated AMM is opposite to the sign of the quark's charge and its magnitude is definitely smaller than the constituent mass. We construct two generalized Nambu-Goldstone pions, which emerge as combinations of the quantum fluctuations around the conventional scalar and the emergent tensor chiral condensates. We analytically demonstrate that the Goldstone nature has been spoiled by the dimensional reduction in the two-particle state and the corresponding decreasing mass of the lighter generalized pionic mode is a remnant of the infrared dynamics.

Gross-Neveu model with O(2)L×O(2)R chiral symmetry: Duality with Zakharov-Mikhailov model and large N solution

The two-flavor Gross-Neveu model with ${\mathrm{U}(2)}_{L}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\mathrm{U}(2{)}_{R}$ chiral symmetry in $1+1$ dimensions is used to construct a novel variant of four-fermion theories with ${\mathrm{O}(2)}_{L}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\mathrm{O}(2{)}_{R}$ chiral symmetry. The spontaneous breaking of the group O(2), a continuous group with two connected components (rotations and reflections), gives rise to new phenomena. It is ideally suited to describe a situation where two distinct kinds of condensation compete, in particular chiral symmetry breaking (particle-hole condensation) and Cooper pairing (particle-particle condensation). After solving the O(2) chiral Gross-Neveu model in detail, we demonstrate that it is dual to another classically integrable model due to Zakharov and Mikhailov. The duality enables us to solve the quantum version of this model in the large $N$ limit with semiclassical methods, supporting its integrability at the quantum level. The resulting model is the unique four-fermion theory sharing the full Pauli-G\"ursey symmetry with free, massless fermions (``perfect Gross-Neveu model'') and provides us with a solvable model for competing chiral and Cooper pair condensates, including explicit soliton dynamics and the phase diagram.

Equation of state for strange quark matter: Linking the Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model to perturbative QCD

Neutron star constraints and {\it ab initio} pQCD evaluations require the EoS representing cold quark matter to be stiff at intermediate baryonic densities and soft at high-$n_B$. Here, I suggest that the three flavor NJL model with a density dependent repulsive coupling, $G_V(\mu)$, can generate an EoS which interpolates between these two regimes. Such an interpolation requires repulsion to start decreasing with the chemical potential just after chiral transition takes place. The conjecture behind this mechanism is that repulsion should be necessary only as long as the quark condensates, which dress the effective masses, have non-vanishing values. This assumption guarantees that an initially hard EoS suffers a conspicuous change of slope at ${\cal E} \simeq 0.7 \,{\rm GeV fm^{-3}}$ converging to the pQCD results at higher energy densities. Then, the speed of sound naturally reaches a non-conformal maximum at $n_B = 3.23 \, n_0 = 0.52 \, {\rm fm}^{-3}$ while the trace anomaly remains positive for all densities, in agreement with recent investigations. These non-trivial results {\it cannot} be simultaneously obtained when $G_V$ vanishes or has a fixed value. Therefore, the simple model proposed here is able to link the (non-perturbative) region of intermediate densities to the region where pQCD becomes reliable.

Generating the electro-weak scale by vector-like quark condensation

We show that vector-like quarks in the fundamental or higher-dimensional representations of QCD can generate the electro-weak scale in a phenomenologically viable way by chiral symmetry breaking condensates. The thereby generated scales are determined by numerically solving the Dyson-Schwinger equation and these scales are sizable, because they grow with the hard vector-like mass. Communicating such a scale to the Standard Model via a conformally invariant scalar sector can dynamically generate the electro-weak scale without a naturalness problem, because all non-dynamical mass scales are protected by chiral symmetry. We present a minimal setup which requires only a new neutral scalar with mass not too far above the electro-weak scale, as well as vector-like quarks at the (multi-)TeV scale. Both are consistent with current bounds and are attractive for future experimental searches at the LHC and future colliders. Depending on the hypercharge of the vector-like quarks, hadrons made of them are color-neutral bound states which would be interesting Dark Matter candidates.

Gauge dependence of the quark gap equation: An exploratory study

We study the gauge dependence of the quark propagator in quantum chromodynamics by solving the gap equation with a nonperturbative quark-gluon vertex which is constrained by longitudinal and transverse Slavnov-Taylor identities, the discrete charge conjugation and parity symmetries and which is free of kinematic singularities in the limit of equal incoming and outgoing quark momenta. We employ gluon propagators in renormalizable $R_\xi$ gauges obtained in lattice QCD studies. We report the dependence of the nonperturbative quark propagator on the gauge parameter, in particular we observe an increase, proportional to the gauge-fixing parameter, of the mass function in the infrared domain, whereas the wave renormalization decreases within the range $0 \leq \xi \leq 1$ considered here. The chiral quark condensate reveals a mild gauge dependence in the region of $\xi$ investigated. We comment on how to build and improve upon this exploratory study in future in conjunction with generalized gauge covariance relations for QCD.

Behavior of a chiral condensate around astrophysical-mass Schwarschild and Reissner-Nordström black holes

In this work, we develop a perturbative method to describe the behavior of a chiral condensate around a spherical black hole whose mass is astrophysically realistic. We use the inverse mass as the expansion parameter for our perturbative series. We test this perturbative method in the case of a Schwarzschild black hole, and we find that it agrees well with previous numerical results. For an astrophysical-mass Schwarzschild black hole, the leading order contribution to the condensate is much larger (in most of space) than the next-to-leading order contribution, providing further evidence for the validity of the perturbative approach. The size of the bubble of restored chiral symmetry is directly proportional to the size of the black hole.Next, we apply this perturbative method to a Reissner-Nordström (RN) black hole. We find that, as the charge-to-mass ratio increases, the bubble of restored chiral symmetry becomes larger relative to the black hole. This effect is particularly pronounced for near-extremal RN black holes. The case of an extremal RN black hole provides an interesting counterexample to the standard thermal explanation for the formation of a bubble of restored chiral symmetry around a black hole.

Dirac sea effects on heavy quarkonia decay widths in magnetized matter: A field theoretical model of composite hadrons

We study the partial decay widths of charmonium (bottomonium) states to $D\bar D (B\bar B)$ mesons in magnetized (nuclear) matter using a field theoretic model of composite hadrons with quark (and antiquark) constituents. These are computed from the mass modifications of the decaying and produced mesons, including the nucleon Dirac sea effects within a chiral effective model. The Dirac sea contributions are observed to lead to an rise (drop) in the quark condensates as the magnetic field is increased, an effect called the (inverse) magnetic catalysis. In the presence of a magnetic field, there are mixings of spin 0 (pseudoscalar) and spin 1 (vector) states (PV mixing) The nucleon Dirac sea effects are observed to be significant and the anomalous magnetic moments (AMMs) of the nucleons are observed to play an important role. For $\rho_B$=0, there is observed to be magnetic catalysis (MC) without and with AMMs, whereas, for $\rho_B=\rho_0$, the inverse magnetic catalysis (IMC) is observed when the AMMs are taken into account, contrary to MC, when the AMMs are ignored. The magnetic field effects on the heavy quarkonium decay widths should have observable consequences on the production of the hidden and open heavy flavour mesons from ultra-relativistic peripheral heavy ion collision experiments, at RHIC and LHC, where the produced magnetic fields are extremely large.

Thermalization and prethermalization in the soft-wall AdS/QCD model

The real-time dynamics of chiral phase transition is investigated in a two-flavor ($N_f=2$) soft-wall AdS/QCD model. To understand the dynamics of thermalization, we quench the system from initial states deviating from the equilibrium states. Then, we solve the nonequilibrium evolution of the order parameter (chiral condensate $\langle \sigma\equiv\bar{q}q\rangle$). It is shown that the system undergoes an exponential relaxation at temperatures away from the critical temperature $T_c$. The relaxation time diverges at $T_c$, presenting a typical behavior of critical slowing down. Numerically, we extract the dynamic critical exponent $z$, and get $z\approx 2$ by fitting the scaling behavior $\sigma\propto t^{-\beta/(\nu z)}$, where the mean-field static critical exponents (order parameter critical exponent $\beta=1/2$, correlation length critical exponent $\nu=1/2$ ) have been applied. More interestingly, it is remarked that, for a large class of initial states, the system would linger over a quasi-steady state for a certain period of time before the thermalization. It is suggested that the interesting phenomenon, known as prethermalization, has been observed in the framework of holographic models. In such prethermal stage, we verify that the system is characterized by a universal dynamical scaling law and described by the initial-slip exponent $\theta=0$.

Hadron spectra and pion form factor in dynamical holographic QCD model with anomalous 5D mass of scalar field* *Supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (12235016, 12221005, 11725523, 11735007, 12275108), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB34030000, XDPB15), the start-up funding from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), and the

The simplest version of the dynamical holographic QCD model is described by adding the KKSS model action on a dilaton-graviton coupled background, in which the AdS metric is deformed by the gluon condensation and further deformed by the chiral condensation. In this framework, both the chiral symmetry breaking and linear confinement can be realized. The light-flavor hadron spectra and the pion form factor were investigated, but it was difficult to reconcile the light-flavor hadron spectra and pion form factor. By considering the anomalous 5-dimension mass correction of the scalar field from QCD running coupling, it is found that the light flavor hadron spectra and pion form factor can be described well simultaneously. In particular, the ground state and lower excitation states of the scalar, pseudo scalar, and axial vector meson spectra are improved. However, the vector meson spectra are not sensitive to the anomalous 5-dimension mass correction of the scalar field.

Compact stellar structures in Weyl geometric gravity

We consider the structure and physical properties of specific classes of neutron, quark, and Bose-Einstein condensate stars in the conformally invariant Weyl geometric gravity theory. The basic theory is derived from the simplest conformally invariant action, constructed, in Weyl geometry, from the square of the Weyl scalar, the strength of the Weyl vector, and a matter term, respectively. The action is linearized in the Weyl scalar by introducing an auxiliary scalar field. To keep the theory conformally invariant the trace condition is imposed on the matter energy-momentum tensor. The field equations are derived by varying the action with respect to the metric tensor, Weyl vector field and scalar field. By adopting a static spherically symmetric interior geometry, we obtain the field equations, describing the structure and properties of stellar objects in Weyl geometric gravity. The solutions of the field equations are obtained numerically, for different equations of state of the neutron and quark matter. More specifically, constant density stellar models, and models described by the stiff fluid, radiation fluid, quark bag model, and Bose-Einstein condensate equations of state are explicitly constructed numerically in both general relativity and Weyl geometric gravity, thus allowing an in depth comparison between the predictions of these two gravitational theories. As a general result it turns out that for all the considered equations of state, Weyl geometric gravity stars are more massive than their general relativistic counterparts. As a possible astrophysical application of the obtained results we suggest that the recently observed neutron stars, with masses in the range of $2{M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$ and $3{M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$, respectively, could be in fact conformally invariant Weyl geometric neutron or quark stars.