Nuclear Theory·nucl-th
10 papers—6 primary·4 cross-listed
J. Barea🇨🇱 · J. Kotila🇫🇮 · F. Iachello🇺🇸
Nuclear matrix elements (NME) for exchange of arbitrary mass neutrinos are calculated in the interacting boson model (IBM-2). By combining the NME with the phase space factors (PSF), expected half-lives for neutrinos of mass and coupling are estimated. Limits on sterile neutrinos with masses in the eV, keV, MeV-GeV, and TeV range are given.
Gernot Eichmann🇩🇪 · Christian S. Fischer🇩🇪 · Christian A. Welzbacher🇩🇪
The location of the critical end point of QCD has been determined in previous studies of and dynamical quark flavors using a (truncated) set of Dyson-Schwinger equations for the quark and gluon propagators of Landau-gauge QCD. A source for systematic errors in these calculations has been the omission of terms in the quark-gluon interaction that can be parametrized in terms of baryonic degrees of freedom. These have a potentially large dependence on chemical potential and therefore may affect the location of the critical end point. In this exploratory study we estimate the effects of these contributions, both in the vacuum and at finite temperature and chemical potential. We find only a small influence of baryonic contributions on the location of the critical end point. We estimate the robustness of this result by parameterizing further dependencies on chemical potential.
Alessandro Drago🇮🇹 · Andrea Lavagno🇮🇹 · Giuseppe Pagliara🇮🇹 · Daniele Pigato🇮🇹
We present several arguments which favor the scenario of two coexisting families of compact stars: hadronic stars and quark stars. Besides the well known hyperon puzzle of the physics of compact stars, a similar puzzle exists also when considering delta resonances. We show that these particles appear at densities close to twice saturation density and must be therefore included in the calculations of the hadronic equation of state. Such an early appearance is strictly related to the value of the L parameter of the symmetry energy that has been found, in recent phenomenological studies, to lie in the range MeV. We discuss also the threshold for the formation of deltas and hyperons for hot and lepton rich hadronic matter. Similarly to the case of hyperons, also delta resonances cause a softening of the equation of state which makes it difficult to obtain massive hadronic stars. Quark stars, on the other hand, can reach masses up to as predicted by perturbative QCD calculations. We then discuss the observational constraints on the masses and the radii of compact stars. The tension between the precise measurements of high masses and the indications of the existence of very compact stellar objects (with radii of the order of km) is relieved when assuming that very massive compact stars are quark stars and very compact stars are hadronic stars. Finally, we discuss recent interesting measurements of the eccentricities of the orbits of millisecond pulsars in low mass X-ray binaries. The high values of the eccentricities found in some cases could be explained by assuming that the hadronic star, initially present in the binary system, converts to a quark star due to the increase of its central density.
Alessandro Drago🇮🇹 · Giuseppe Pagliara🇮🇹
We will follow the two-families scenario described in the accompanying paper, in which compact stars having a very small radius and masses not exceeding about 1.5 are made of hadrons, while more massive compact stars are quark stars. In the present paper we discuss the dynamics of the transition of a hadronic star into a quark star. We will show that the transition takes place in two phases: a very rapid one, lasting a few milliseconds, during which the central region of the star converts into quark matter and the process of conversion is accelerated by the existence of strong hydrodynamical instabilities, and a second phase, lasting about ten seconds, during which the process of conversion proceeds till the surface of the star via production and diffusion of strangeness. We will show that these two steps play a crucial role in the phenomenological implications of the model. We will discuss the possible implications of this scenario both for long and for short Gamma Ray Bursts, using the proto-magnetar model as the reference frame of our discussion. We will show that the process of quark deconfinement can be connected to specific observed features of the GRBs. In the case of long GRBs we will discuss the possibility that quark deconfinement is at the origin of the second peak present in quite a large fraction of bursts. Also we will discuss the possibility that long GRBs can take place in binary systems without being associated with a SN explosion. Concerning short GRBs, quark deconfinement can play the crucial role in limiting their duration. Finally we will shortly revisit the possible relevance of quark deconfinement in some specific type of Supernova explosions, in particular in the case of very massive progenitors.
first authorsco-authorsvia INSPIRE