Physics – High Energy Physics – High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Scientific paper
2005-12-02
Phys.Rev.D73:045003,2006
Physics
High Energy Physics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
20 pages, 4 figures; v2: some modifications in Appendix B; references added; version to appear in Phys. Rev. D
Scientific paper
10.1103/PhysRevD.73.045003
At sufficiently high densities, cold dense three-flavor quark matter is in the color-flavor locked (CFL) phase, in which all nine quarks pair in a particularly symmetric fashion. Once the heaviness of the strange quark (mass $m_s$) and the requirements of electric and color neutrality are taken into account, the CFL pattern of color superconductivity requires the pairing of quarks that would, in the absence of pairing, have Fermi momenta that differ by of order $m_s^2/\mu$, with $\mu$ the quark number chemical potential. This means that at sufficiently small $\mu$, the ``stress'' on the pairing is large enough that the system can lower its energy by breaking pairs, resulting in some unconventional color superconductor which includes gapless excitations, spatial inhomogeneity, counter-propagating currents, or all three. In this paper we ask whether there is some less symmetric but still conventional pattern of pairing that can evade the stress. In other words, is there a pattern of pairing in which, once electric and color neutrality are imposed by suitable chemical potentials, pairing only occurs among those quarks whose Fermi momenta would be equal in the absence of pairing? We use graph-theoretical methods to classify 511 patterns of conventional color superconducting pairing, and show that none of them meet this requirement. All feel a stress, and all can be expected to become unstable to gapless modes at a density comparable to that at which the CFL phase becomes unstable.
Rajagopal Krishna
Schmitt Andreas
No associations
LandOfFree
Stressed pairing in conventional color superconductors is unavoidable does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Stressed pairing in conventional color superconductors is unavoidable, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Stressed pairing in conventional color superconductors is unavoidable will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-113509