Explore the vast range of titles available.

We investigate the effects of temperature on the properties of the inner crust of a non-accreting neutron star. To this aim, we employ two different treatments: the compressible liquid drop model (CLDM) and the temperature-dependent extended Thomas–Fermi (TETF) method. Our systematic comparison shows an agreement between the two methods on their predictions for the crust thermodynamic properties. We find that the CLDM description can also reproduce reasonably well the TETF composition especially if the surface energy is optimized on the ETF calculation. However, the neglect of neutron skin in CLDM leads to an overestimation of the proton radii.

A bstract The collective dynamics around the second-order O (4) chiral phase transition in QCD with two massless quark flavors can be understood by appealing to universality. We present a novel formulation of the real-time functional renormalization group (FRG) that describes the stochastic hydrodynamic equations of motion for systems in the same dynamic universality class, which corresponds to Model G in the Halperin-Hohenberg classification. Our approach preserves all relevant symmetries of such systems with reversible mode couplings, which establishes the real-time FRG as a valuable tool complementary to classical-statistical simulations. As a first application we show that our approach is consistent with dynamic scaling relations and reproduces the non-trivial value z = d/ 2 for the dynamic critical exponent in d spatial dimensions. Moreover, we extract a novel dynamic scaling function that describes the universal momentum and temperature dependence of the diffusion coefficient of iso-(axial-)vector charge densities in the symmetric phase.

A bstract The equation of state of neutron-star cores can be constrained by requiring a consistent connection to the perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) calculations at high densities. The constraining power of the QCD input depends on uncertainties from missing higher-order terms, the choice of the unphysical renormalization scale, and the reference density where QCD calculations are performed. Within a Bayesian approach, we discuss the convergence of the perturbative QCD series, quantify its uncertainties at high densities, and present a framework to systematically propagate the uncertainties down to neutron-star densities. We find that the effect of the QCD input on the neutron-star inference is insensitive to the various unphysical choices made in the uncertainty estimation.

A bstract We utilize the top-down holographic QCD model, the Witten-Sakai-Sugimoto model, in a hybrid setting with the SLy4, soft chiral EFT and stiff chiral EFT equations of state to describe neutron stars with high precision. In particular, we employ a calibration that bootstraps the nuclear matter by fitting the Kaluza-Klein scale and the ’t Hooft coupling such that the physical saturation density and physical symmetry energy are achieved. We obtain static stable neutron star mass-radius data via the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkov equations that yield sufficiently large maximal masses of neutron stars to be compatible with the recently observed PSR-J0952-0607 data as well as all other known radius and tidal deformation constraints.

A bstract The holographic Witten-Sakai-Sugimoto model is often employed to describe strongly-coupled baryonic and isospin-asymmetric matter, for example in the context of neutron stars. Here we consider the case of vanishing baryon chemical potential, where detailed comparisons to data from lattice QCD are possible. To this end, we extend previous works by including a realistic pion mass and pion condensation into the decompactified limit of the model and evaluate the system for arbitrary isospin chemical potentials and temperatures. After suitably fixing the 3 parameters of the model, we find that the overall phase structure is in excellent agreement with lattice results. This also holds for observables at low temperatures in the strongly coupled regime, while we discover and discuss some discrepancies at large temperatures. Our findings give reassurance for the validity of previous and future applications of this model and highlight the aspects where improvements are needed.

A bstract The ground state of QCD with two flavors at a finite baryon chemical potential under rapid rotation is a chiral soliton lattice (CSL) of the η meson, consisting of a stack of sine-Gordon solitons carrying a baryon number, due to the anomalous coupling of the η meson to the rotation. In a large parameter region, the ground state becomes a non-Abelian CSL, in which due to the neutral pion condensation each η soliton decays into a pair of non-Abelian sine-Gordon solitons carrying S 2 moduli originated from Nambu-Goldstone (NG) modes localized around it, corresponding to the spontaneously broken vector symmetry SU(2) V . There, the S 2 modes of neighboring solitons are anti-aligned, and these modes should propagate in the transverse direction of the lattice due to the interaction between the S 2 modes of neighboring solitons. In this paper, we calculate excitations including gapless NG modes and excited modes around non-Abelian and Abelian ( η ) CSLs, and find three gapless NG modes with linear dispersion relations (type-A NG modes): two isospinons ( S 2 modes) and a phonon corresponding to the spontaneously broken vector SU(2) V and translational symmetries around the non-Abelian CSL, respectively, and only a phonon for the Abelian CSL because of the recovering SU(2) V . We also find in the deconfined phase that the dispersion relation of the isospinons becomes of the Dirac type, i.e. linear even at large momentum.

A bstract The Nambu–Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model has been widely studied for investigating the chiral phase structure of strongly interacting matter. The study of the thermodynamics of field theories within the framework of Lattice Field Theory is limited by the sign problem, which prevents Monte Carlo evaluation of the functional integral at a finite chemical potential. Using the quantum imaginary time evolution (QITE) algorithm, we construct a quantum simulation for the (1 + 1) dimensional NJL model at finite temperature and finite chemical potential. We observe consistency among digital quantum simulation, exact diagonalization and analytical solution, indicating further applications of quantum computing in simulating QCD thermodynamics.

A bstract We derive analytic results for scalar massless bosonic vacuum sum-integrals at two loops. Building upon a recent factorization proof of massive two-loop vacuum integrals, we are able to solve the corresponding Matsubara sums and map the result onto one-loop structures, thereby proving factorization also in the sum-integral setting. Analytic results are provided for generic integer-valued propagator- and numerator-powers of the class of sum-integrals under consideration, allowing to eliminate them from any perturbative expansion, dramatically simplifying the evaluation of some observables encountered e.g. in hot QCD.

A bstract We analyze various two-point correlation functions of fermionic bilinears in a rotating finite-size cylinder at finite temperatures, with a focus on susceptibility functions. Due to the noninvariance of radial translation, the susceptibility functions are constructed using the Dirac propagator in the Fourier-Bessel basis instead of the plane-wave basis. As a specific model to demonstrate the susceptibility functions in an interacting theory, we employ the two-flavor Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. We show that the incompatibility between the mean-field analysis and the Fourier-Bessel basis is evaded under the local density approximation, and derive the resummation formulas of susceptibilities with the help of a Ward-Takahashi identity. The resulting formulation reveals the rotational effects on meson, baryon number, and topological susceptibilities, as well as the moment of inertia. Our results may serve a useful benchmark for future lattice QCD simulations in rotating frames.

A bstract We study how light scalar fields can change the stellar landscape by triggering a new phase of nuclear matter. Scalars coupled to nucleons can develop a non-trivial expectation value at finite baryon density. This sourcing of a scalar reduces the nucleon mass and provides an additional energy density and pressure source. Under generic conditions, a new ground state of nuclear matter emerges, with striking implications for the configuration of stellar remnants. Notably, neutron stars in the new ground state can be significantly heavier than QCD equations of state currently predict. We also find hybrid stellar compositions and stable self-bound objects with sizes as small as the Compton wavelength of the scalar. We discuss several specific realizations of this scenario: the QCD axion and lighter generalizations thereof and linearly or quadratically coupled scalar fields effectively equivalent to a class of scalar-tensor modification of gravity. Lastly, we explore phenomenological signatures relevant to electromagnetic and gravitational wave observations of neutron stars, such as atypical compactness and instability gaps in radii.