Search

A covariant relativistic approach based on the Vlasov equation is applied to the study of infinite asymmetric nuclear matter. We use several Walecka-type hadronic models and obtain the dispersion relations for the longitudinal modes. The isovector and isoscalar collective modes are determined for a wide range of densities as a function of isospin asymmetry and momentum transfer within a set of eleven relativistic mean field models with different nuclear matter properties. Special attention is given to beta-equilibrium matter. It is shown that the possible propagation of isoscalar and isovector-like modes depends directly on the density dependence of the symmetric nuclear matter equation of state and of the symmetry energy, with a stiff equation of state favouring the propagation of isoscalar like collective modes at high densities, and a stiff symmetry energy defining the behavior of the isovector like modes which propagate for densities below two times saturation density. The coupling of the nuclear modes to the electron plasmon is also discussed., Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables, submitted to Phys Rev C

Recently, first-order phase transitions have been predicted as an effect of the inclusion of quark anomalous magnetic moment (AMM) in the hot and magnetized Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model (NJL). These transitions appear in the chiral condensate for different combinations of AMM and magnetic fields and could lead to inverse magnetic catalysis. However, in this work, we show that the predicted first-order phase transitions are related to regularization-dependent issues. To show this, we explore, in the context of the vacuum magnetic regularization (VMR) scheme, two different scenarios: when mass-dependent (MD) and mass-independent (MI) terms are present in the subtraction of the divergences. In the MD case, as we increase the AMM value, it is observed the appearance of a nonmassive minimum in the thermodynamical potential, which induces a first-order phase transition from the massive minimum. We argue that the MD terms must be avoided in order to satisfy the predictions of Lattice QCD, and we propose a MI solution that is valid in the limit which the magnetic fields are smaller than the squared of vacuum effective quark mass., Comment: Typos corrected, comments added and new structure. Matches published version

In this work we study the influence of external electric field and temperature on the chiral phase transition of Quantum Chromodynamics. We use the two-flavor Linear Sigma Model coupled with quarks (LSMq) in a thermal and electrized medium to evaluate the effective quark mass and the Schwinger pair production. To this end, we apply one-loop correction to the fermionic sector of the model and the simple tree-level approximation in the mesonic contributions. The electric fields strengthen the partial restoration of the chiral symmetry when applied with finite temperature in a crossover transition. The expected decrease of the pseudocritical temperature as a function of the electric field is observed until electric fields reach $eE\approx 13.5 m_{\pi}^2$. For stronger electric fields, the effect is the opposite, which is in a very good agreement with previous results obtained with four-point non-renormalizable models, showing that this effect is independent of renormalizability issues. We also show the thermal and electric effects on the behavior of the Schwinger pair production.

The Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model is widely used to study strong-interaction phenomena in vacuum and quark matter. Since the model is nonrenormalizable, one needs to work within a specific regularization scheme to obtain finite results. Here we show that a commonly used cutoff regularization scheme leads to unphysical results, such as superluminal speed of sound and wrong high-temperature behavior of the specific heat and other thermodynamical quantities. Such a troublesome feature of the cutoff regularization invalidates the model for temperature and baryon density values relevant to the phenomenology of heavy-ion collisions and compact stars. We show that the source of the problems stems from cutting off momentum modes in finite integrals depending on thermal distribution functions in the grand canonical potential. The problems go away when taking into account the full momentum range of those integrals. Explicit examples are worked out in the SU(2)-flavor version of the model., Comment: Typos corrected, comments added. Matches published version

In this work, we consider the effect of a constant anomalous magnetic moment (AMM) of quarks in the SU(2) Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model in the mean field approximation. To this end, we use the Schwinger {\it ansatz}, which represents a linear magnetic field term in the Lagrangian. A regularization method inspired in the vacuum magnetic regularization (VMR) is adopted to avoid ultraviolet divergences. Our results indicate a smooth decrease of the pseudocritical temperature and quark condensates for magnetic fields $B \leq 0.1$ GeV$^2$ when a sizable AMM is considered. We found only a small window for Inverse Magnetic Catalysis (IMC), in contradiction with NJL predictions made in the literature. For a low value of AMM, we observe for all ranges of magnetic fields considered that the pseudocritical temperature increases with the magnetic field, indicating only Magnetic Catalysis (MC). In our approach, for nonvanishing quark AMM, the chiral symmetry restoration happens always as a smooth crossover and never turns into a first order phase transition., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures

We use a three-flavor Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model to study the thermodynamics of strange quark matter under a strong magnetic field. The model Lagrangian features flavor SU(3) four-quark interactions and six-quark interactions that break the UA(1) symmetry. We incorporate thermomagnetic effects in the four-quark coupling. The model predicts magnetic catalysis at low temperatures and inverse magnetic catalysis at temperatures close to the pseudocritical temperature of the QCD transition, in agreement with lattice QCD results. We compute the pressure at the mean field level and obtain the magnetization of quark matter. We adopt the recently proposed vacuum magnetic regularization (VMR) scheme, in that divergent quark mass independent contributions are not subtracted, thereby avoiding unphysical results for the magnetization. We devote special attention to the renormalized magnetization, a projected quantity that allows for direct comparisons with lattice QCD simulations. Our results are in very good agreement with lattice data indicating a paramagnetic behavior for quark matter., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures

Extending our recently published $SU(2)$ results for zero temperature we now compute the QCD equation of state for finite isospin density within the three flavor Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model in the mean field approximation, motivated by the recently obtained Lattice QCD results for both zero and finite temperatures. Like our previous study, here also we have considered both the commonly used Traditional cutoff Regularization Scheme and the Medium Separation Scheme. Our results are compared with recent high-precision lattice simulations as well as previously obtained results in two-flavor Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. The agreement between the lattice results and the predictions from three-flavor NJL model is very good for low values of $\mu_I$ (for both zero and finite temperatures). For larger values of $\mu_I$, the agreement between lattice data and the two-flavor NJL predictions is surprisingly good and better than with the three-flavor predictions., Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures

The importance of implementing a proper regularization procedure in order to treat thermo and magnetic contributions within nonrenormalizable theories is investigated. Our study suggests that potential divergences should be isolated into the vacuum and purely magnetic contributions and then regularized while the convergent thermomagnetic contributions should be integrated over the full momentum range. This prescription is illustrated by applying the proper time formalism to the two flavor Polyakov--Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model, whose magnetic field dependent coupling has been recently determined. Observables such as the pressure, magnetization, speed of sound squared, and specific heat evaluated within our scheme are compared with results furnished by other three possible prescriptions. We show that these quantities display a thermomagnetic behavior which is physically more consistent when our scheme is adopted. In particular, we demonstrate that naively regulating the (entangled) vacuum, magnetic and thermomagnetic contributions leads to physically inconsistent results especially at the high temperature domain., Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables

We compute the QCD equation of state for zero temperature and finite isospin density within the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model in the mean field approximation, motivated by the recently obtained Lattice QCD results for a new class of compact stars: pion stars. We have considered both the commonly used Traditional cutoff Regularization Scheme and the Medium Separation Scheme, where in the latter purely vacuum contributions are separated in such a way that one is left with ultraviolet divergent momentum integrals depending only on vacuum quantities. We have also compared our results with the recent results from Lattice QCD and Chiral Perturbation Theory., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, replaced with updated version matching the published one

We study the regularization dependence of the Nambu-Jona--Lasinio model (NJL) predictions for some properties of magnetized quark matter at zero temperature (and baryonic density) in the mean field approximation. The model parameter dependence for each regularization procedure is also analyzed in detail. We calculate the average and difference of the quark condensates using different regularization methods and compare with recent lattice results. In this context, the reliability of the different regularization procedures is discussed., Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, replaced with updated version matching the published one

A magnetic field independent regularization scheme (zMFIR) based on the Hurwitz-Riemann zeta function is introduced. The new technique is applied to the regularization of the mean-field thermodynamic potential and mass gap equation within the SU(2) Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model in a hot and magnetized medium. The equivalence of the new and the standard MFIR scheme is demonstrated. The neutral meson pole mass is calculated in a hot and magnetized medium and the advantages of using the new regularization scheme are shown., Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, replaced with updated version matching the published one

In this work we study the electrized quark matter under finite temperature and density conditions in the context of the SU(2) and SU(3) Nambu--Jona-Lasinio models. To this end, we evaluate the effective quark masses and the Schwinger quark-antiquark pair production rate. For the SU(3) NJL model we incorporate in the Lagrangian the 't Hooft determinant and we present a set of analytical expressions more convenient for numerical evaluations. We predict a decrease of the pseudocritical electric field with the increase of the temperature for both models and a more prominent production rate for the SU(3) model when compared to the SU(2).

In this article, we calculate the magnetization and other thermodynamical quantities for strongly magnetized quark matter within the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model at zero temperature. We assume two scenarios, chemically equilibrated charge neutral matter present in the interior of compact stars and zero-strangeness isospin-symmetric matter created in nuclear experiments. We show that the magnetization oscillates with density but in a much more smooth form than what was previously shown in the literature. As a consequence, we do not see the unphysical behavior in the pressure in the direction perpendicular to the magnetic field that was previously found. Finally, we also analyze the effects of a vector interaction on our results., Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, replaced with version matching the one published in the Physical Review C

The pasta phases are calculated for warm stellar matter in a framework of relativistic mean-field models, including the possibility of light cluster formation. Results from three different semiclassical approaches are compared with a quantum statistical calculation. Light clusters are considered as point-like particles, and their abundances are determined from the minimization of the free energy. The couplings of the light-clusters to mesons are determined from experimental chemical equilibrium constants and many-body quantum statistical calculations. The effect of these light clusters on the chemical potentials is also discussed. It is shown that including heavy clusters, light clusters are present until larger nucleonic densities, although with smaller mass fractions., Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Physical review C

The $\pi_0$ neutral meson pole mass is calculated in a strongly magnetized medium using the SU(2) Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model within the random phase approximation (RPA) at zero temperature and zero baryonic density. We employ a magnetic field dependent coupling, $G(eB)$, fitted to reproduce lattice QCD results for the quark condensates. Divergent quantities are handled with a magnetic field independent regularization scheme in order to avoid unphysical oscillations. A comparison between the running and the fixed couplings reveals that the former produces results much closer to the predictions from recent lattice calculations. In particular, we find that the $\pi_0$ meson mass systematically decreases when the magnetic field increases while the scalar mass remains almost constant. We also investigate how the magnetic background influences other mesonic properties such as $f_{{\pi}_0}$ and $g_{\pi_0 q q}$., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, v2 PLB version

We consider the two flavor Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model within the RPA framework to evaluate the masses of the $\sigma$ and $\pi^0$ mesons and the $\pi^0$ decay constant in the presence of a magnetic field at vanishing temperatures and baryonic densities. The present work extends other RPA applications by fully considering the external momenta, which enter the integrals representing the magnetized polarization tensor, so that more accurate results can be obtained in the evaluation of physical quantities containing pionic contributions. As we show, this technical improvement generates results which agree well with those produced by lattice simulations and chiral perturbation theory. Our method may also prove to be useful in future evaluations of quantities such as the shear viscosity and the equation of state of magnetized quark matter with mesonic contributions., Comment: 9 pages; 9 figures. Matches the published version

The cell structure of $\beta$-stable clusters in the inner crust of cold and warm neutron stars is studied within the Thomas-Fermi approach using relativistic mean field nuclear models. The relative size of the inner crust and the pasta phase of neutron stars is calculated, and the effect of the symmetry energy slope parameter, $L$, on the profile of the neutron star crust is discussed. It is shown that while the size of the total crust is mainly determined by the incompressibility modulus, the relative size of the inner crust depends on $L$. It is found that the inner crust represents a larger fraction of the total crust for smaller values of $L$. Finally, it is shown that at finite temperature the pasta phase in $\beta$-equilibrium matter essentially melts above $5-6$ MeV, and that the onset density of the rodlike and slablike structures does not depend on the temperature., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. C

In this work we study the effect of the symmetry energy on several properties of neutron stars. First, we discuss its effect on the density, proton fraction and pressure of the neutron star crust-core transition. We show that whereas the first two quantities present a clear correlation with the slope parameter $L$ of the symmetry energy, no satisfactory correlation is seen between the transition pressure and $L$. However, a linear combination of the slope and curvature parameters at $\rho=0.1$ fm$^{-3}$ is well correlated with the transition pressure. In the second part we analyze the effect of the symmetry energy on the pasta phase. It is shown that the size of the pasta clusters, number of nucleons and the cluster proton fraction depend on the density dependence of the symmetry energy: a small $L$ gives rise to larger clusters. The influence of the equation of state at subsaturation densities on the extension of the inner crust of the neutron star is also discussed. Finally, the effect of the effect of the density dependence of the symmetry energy on the strangeness content of neutron stars is studied in the last part of the work. It is found that charged (neutral) hyperons appear at smaller (larger) densities for smaller values of the slope parameter $L$. A linear correlation between the radius and the strangeness content of a star with a fixed mass is also found., Comment: 18 pages, 17 figures, submitted to EPJA, to the special issue on The Symmetry Energy

The cell structure of clusters in the inner crust of a cold \beta-equilibrium neutron star is studied within a Thomas Fermi approach and compared with other approaches which include shell effects. Relativistic nuclear models are considered. We conclude that the symmetry energy slope L may have quite dramatic effects on the cell structure if it is very large or small. Rod-like and slab-like pasta clusters have been obtained in all models except one with a large slope L., Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures

In this chapter we discuss some possible physical pictures that describe the constitution of the inner crust of compact objects. Different relativistic models both with constant couplings and density dependent ones are used. We calculate the liquid-gas phase transition in asymmetric nuclear matter from the thermodynamic and dynamic instabilities. The equations of state used to describe the crust are related to the crust-core transition properties. Cold and warm pasta phases with and without alpha particles are constructed. The influence of the pasta phase and its internal structure on the diffusion coefficients associated with Boltzman transport equations used to simulate the evolution of protoneutron stars are shown. Finally, the possible existence of bare quark stars and the effects of strong magnetic fields on quark matter are considered. Open questions are pointed out., Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, Chapter from the book "Neutron Star Crust", edited by C.A. Bertulani and J. Piekarewicz