Quark-Hadron Continuity beyond the Ginzburg-Landau Paradigm

Area of Science:

• Theoretical Physics
• Quantum Chromodynamics
• Condensed Matter Physics

Background:

• Quark-hadron continuity posits a phase transitionless connection between hadronic matter and color superconductors.
• This continuity is traditionally based on shared symmetry breaking patterns (Landau's phase classification).
• A quantum mechanical treatment is needed to verify this continuity beyond classical Ginzburg-Landau descriptions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate quark-hadron continuity as a quantum phase of matter.
• To explore the topological nature of color superconductors.
• To analyze emergent symmetries in the color-flavor locked phase.

Main Methods:

• Derivation of a dual effective theory for U(1) Nambu-Goldstone bosons and vortices.
• Analysis of the topological BF theory coupled to Nambu-Goldstone bosons.
• Investigation of emergent higher-form symmetries and their implications.

Main Results:

• Fractional statistics for test quarks and vortices were observed.
• An emergent Z_{3} two-form symmetry was identified.
• This emergent symmetry was found to be non-spontaneously broken.

Conclusions:

• The non-breaking of the emergent Z_{3} two-form symmetry supports quark-hadron continuity.
• The findings indicate that quark-hadron continuity remains a consistent quantum scenario.
• This work provides a quantum mechanical foundation for quark-hadron continuity.