In this paper we study a ($1+1$)-dimensional version of the famous Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model of quantum chromodynamics (QCD2) both at zero and at finite baryon density. We use nonperturbative techniques (non-Abelian bosonization and the truncated conformal spectrum approach). When the baryon chemical potential, $\ensuremath{\mu}$, is zero, we describe the formation of fermion three-quark (nucleons and $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}$ baryons) and boson (two-quark mesons, six-quark deuterons) bound states. We also study at $\ensuremath{\mu}=0$ the formation of a topologically nontrivial phase. When the chemical potential exceeds the critical value and a finite baryon density appears, the model has a rich phase diagram which includes phases with a density wave and superfluid quasi-long-range (QLR) order, as well as a phase of a baryon Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (strange metal). The QLR order results in either a condensation of scalar mesons (the density wave) or six-quark bound states (deuterons).
In this paper we study a (1+1)-dimensional version of the famous Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model of quantum chromodynamics (QCD2) both at zero and at finite baryon density. We use nonperturbative techniques (non-Abelian bosonization and the truncated conformal spectrum approach). When the baryon chemical potential, \ensuremathμ, is zero, we describe the formation of fermion three-quark (nucleons and \ensuremathΔ baryons) and boson (two-quark mesons, six-quark deuterons) bound states. We also study at \ensuremathμ=0 the formation of a topologically nontrivial phase. When the chemical potential exceeds the critical value and a finite baryon density appears, the model has a rich phase diagram which includes phases with a density wave and superfluid quasi-long-range (QLR) order, as well as a phase of a baryon Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (strange metal). The QLR order results in either a condensation of scalar mesons (the density wave) or six-quark bound states (deuterons).
Recently, quantum simulators have been constructed to investigate experimentally the most prominent theoretical four-point many-body system described by the Hubbard model. By varying the coupling strength of the four-point interaction in relation to the kinetic term, it is possible to analyze the phase structure of the model. This intriguing fact leads us to ask the question as to whether similar Hamiltonians with four-point interactions can also be studied as a function of their four-point coupling strength. In this paper, we reexamine the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model, regarding it generally beyond the context of quantum chromodynamics. Essentially, it is a model in which particle-antiparticle pairing leads to a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer-like condensate, with the result that chiral symmetry is broken dynamically in the strong-coupling regime, where $G{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}}^{2}$ is larger than a critical value, i.e., $G{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}}^{2}>{G}_{c}{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}}^{2}$. To study the behavior of the system, it is necessary to move from this regime to a hypothetical regime of weak coupling, altering the coupling strength of the interaction arbitrarily. In order to do this, the gap equation must be regarded as complex and its Riemann surface structure must be known. We do this and obtain a continuous quantum phase transition characterized by the development of a complex order parameter (the dynamically generated mass) from the second sheet of the Riemann surface associated with the gap equation, as we move into the weak-coupling regime. The power-law behavior of the order parameter in the vicinity of the phase transition point is demonstrated to be independent of the choice of the regularization scheme with the critical exponent as $\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{\approx}0.55$. At the same time, the isovector pseudoscalar modes retain their feature as Goldstone modes and still have zero mass, while the isoscalar scalar meson follows the behavior of the order parameter and gains a width. Energetically, this mode is not favored over the normal, uncondensed mode but would have to be accessed through an excitation process.
To describe the chiral magnetic effect, the chiral chemical potential μ5 is introduced to imitate the impact of topological charge changing transitions in the quark-gluon plasma under the influence of an external magnetic field. We employ the (1+1) dimensional Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model to study the chiral phase structure and chirality charge density of strongly interacting matter with finite chiral chemical potential μ5 in a quantum simulator. By performing the Quantum imaginary time evolution (QITE) algorithm, we simulate the (1+1) dimensional NJL model on the lattice at various temperature T and chemical potentials μ, μ5 and find that the quantum simulations are in good agreement with analytical calculations as well as exact diagonalization of the lattice Hamiltonian.
A bstract We study one-flavor SU(2) and SU(3) lattice QCD in (1 + 1) dimensions at zero temperature and finite density using matrix product states and the density matrix renormalization group. We compute physical observables such as the equation of state, chiral condensate, and quark distribution function as functions of the baryon number density. As a physical implication, we discuss the inhomogeneous phase at nonzero baryon density, where the chiral condensate is inhomogeneous, and baryons form a crystal. We also discuss how the dynamical degrees of freedom change from hadrons to quarks through the formation of quark Fermi seas.
In this thesis we investigate the phase structure of dense quark matter, the structure and stability of neutron and quark stars, and the phases of ultracold fermions in the presence of an artificial spin-orbit coupling. While spanning an extraordinary twenty orders of magnitude in energy scales, these systems exhibit some remarkable similarities including non-perturbative many-body interactions, perfect fluid behavior, the formation of Cooper pairs, and the possibility of BCS-BEC crossovers between weakly and strongly interacting regimes. Moreover, due to phenomenal advancements in laser cooling techniques and the ability to exert an unprecedented level of control over the interactions of ultracold atomic gases, the possibility of using these systems to simulate the complex behavior of systems not easily realized in the laboratory (e.g., non-Abelian gauge fields, quantum chromodynamics) is becoming increasingly real. Despite the widespread success of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the theory of the strong nuclear force, much remains unknown about the properties of strongly-interacting quark matter. In large part, this continued ignorance is a result of the mathematical intractability of QCD and the limitations of current numerical techniques to very low densities. In the first part of this thesis, in order to gain some insight into the phase structure of dense quark matter we therefore apply an effective field theory which is built upon the symmetries of QCD, the Polyakov–Nambu–Jona-Lasinio (PNJL) model. We construct the QCD phase diagram for two and three quark flavors, giving special attention to the effect of the intermediate strange quark mass on the preferred quark pairing structure at intermediate to high density. In addition, we investigate the impact of the strange quark mass and axial anomaly on a recently proposed low temperature critical point, which may allow for a smooth crossover between hadronic and color superconducting matter. Finally, we investigate the impact of a local color neutrality constraint on phases of asymmetric quark pairing. While the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) continues to probe the QCD phase diagram at ever-higher temperatures and researchers await the completion of the highly anticipated Facility for Antiprotons and Ion Research (FAIR), the only known “laboratories” in which low temperature dense quark matter is encountered are the cores of neutron stars. Fortunately, the structure of these astrophysical objects is highly dependent upon the properties of the dense matter in their cores, and observations of the mass-radius relationship of these stars impose constraints on the quark matter equation of state. In the second part of this thesis we investigate the possibility of realizing massive neutron stars, such as the recently observed PSRs J1614-2230, J0348+0432, and J1311-3430 with masses of two solar masses or larger, by including a flavor-symmetric vector coupling within an NJL model description of quark matter. By extracting the quark matter equation of state we show that in the absence of diquark pairing, a reasonable magnitude vector repulsion can to stabilize neutron stars against gravitational collapse up to 2.34 solar masses. We also investigate the possibility of realizing stable quark stars with densities much higher than those obtained in conventional neutron stars, but find that stars with central densities much greater than ten times nuclear density are always unstable to gravitational collapse. In the third part of this thesis we study the properties of ultracold atomic gases in the presence of artificial gauge fields. While neutral atoms do not naturally couple to the gauge fields in nature (e.g., magnetic fields, the strong nuclear force), recent advancements in laser techniques have led to the realization of synthetic gauge fields in which ultracold atoms behave as if they were charged. Combined with the Feshbach resonance, through which the two-body interactions which dominate these dilute gases can be arbitrarily tuned, these gases can be used to simulate a wide variety of systems, including those that occur naturally and those that do not. We study the phase structure of a two-species mixture of fermions in the presence of Rashba-Dresselhaus (RD) spin-orbit coupling, which is induced by a specific type of non-Abelian gauge field. In particular, we compute the dependence of the superfluid critical temperature on the RD coupling strength and the tunable two-body interaction. We also investigate the effects of the spin-orbit coupling on the crossover between weakly bound (BCS) atomic pairs and strongly bound (BEC) molecules and the effects of fluctuations on the stability of the superfluid phase.
Quantum phases at high chemical potential in 2-flavor matrix-QC2D
We investigate the matrix model of two-color two-flavor QCD (matrix-QCD2,2) in regimes with large baryon (μB), isospin (μI), and/or chiral (c) chemical potentials. In these regimes, the Hamiltonian simplifies considerably, making it possible to investigate the ground state for intermediate and strong Yang-Mills coupling. By diagonalizing the Hamiltonian using the variational techniques, we show that in regimes where μB and c (or μB and μI) dominate, tuning the remaining parameters leads to quantum phase transitions (QPTs). These transitions form a complex web of phases, each of which has a ground state uniquely labelled by baryon number B and isospin I. Several of these phases are LOFF-like, characterized by a ground state carrying non-zero spin and hence spontaneously breaking rotational symmetry. These results are consistent with older effective field theory predictions by Splittorff-Son-Stephanov \cite{Splittorff:2000mm}. The fermionic content of these LOFF-like ground states consists of spin-1 di-(anti-) quarks which are analogous to Cooper pairs. We compute the spin-fraction carried by the quarks and find that it constitutes a significant portion -- in some cases nearly the entirety -- of the total spin.
The nature of charge transport within a correlated background medium can be described by spinless fermions coupled to bosons in the model introduced by Edwards. Combining numerical density matrix renormalization group and analytical projector-based renormalization methods, we explore the ground-state phase diagram of the Edwards model in one dimension. Below a critical boson frequency, any long-range order disappears and the system becomes metallic. If the charge carriers are coupled to slow quantum bosons, the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid is attractive and finally makes room for a phase separated state, just as in the t-J model. The phase boundary separating the repulsive from the attractive Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid is determined from long-wavelength charge correlations, whereas fermion segregation is indicated by a vanishing inverse compressibility. On approaching phase separation, the photoemission spectra develop strong anomalies.