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Gapless color-flavor-locked quark matter
Mark Alford1, Chris Kouvaris, Krishna Rajagopal
1Physics Department, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|July 13, 2004
Summary
Dense quark matter transitions to a new gapless phase as density decreases. This phase exhibits unique conductive properties and altered quasiparticle behavior, impacting its low-energy effective theory and astrophysical characteristics.
Area of Science:
- Nuclear Physics
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Quantum Chromodynamics
Background:
- At extremely high densities, neutral cold quark matter forms a color-flavor locked (CFL) phase.
- In the CFL phase, all nine fermionic quasiparticles possess an energy gap (Delta or 2Delta).
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the quantum phase transition from the CFL phase to a new phase as quark matter density decreases.
- Characterize the properties of this novel 'gapless CFL phase'.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical analysis of quark matter under varying density and strange quark mass conditions.
- Examination of quantum phase transitions and quasiparticle behavior.
Main Results:
- A quantum phase transition occurs at a specific density/strange quark mass threshold.
- The new phase, termed 'gapless CFL', has only seven gapped quasiparticles.
- This phase acts as a conductor with gapless quasiquarks and nonzero electron density at zero temperature.
Conclusions:
- The gapless CFL phase possesses qualitatively new low-energy effective theory and astrophysical properties compared to the CFL phase.
- The dispersion relations of gapless quasiparticles exhibit distinct quadratic and linear behaviors at and beyond the transition point.