Anomalous gravitational TTT vertex, temperature inhomogeneity, and pressure anisotropy

The conformal anomaly in curved spacetime generates a nontrivial anomalous vertex, given by the three-point correlation function TTT of the energy-momentum tensor Tμν. We show that a temperature inhomogeneity in a gas of charged massless particles generates, via the TTT vertex, a pressure anisotropy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysics letters. B Vol. 802; p. 135236
Main Authors Chernodub, M.N., Corianò, Claudio, Maglio, Matteo Maria
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 10.03.2020
Elsevier
Subjects
Condensed Matter
Conformal anomaly
Curved spacetime
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
High Energy Physics - Theory
Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Hall Effect
Physics
Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics
Curved spacetime
Conformal anomaly
thermodynamics
conformal anomaly
curved spacetime
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Summary:The conformal anomaly in curved spacetime generates a nontrivial anomalous vertex, given by the three-point correlation function TTT of the energy-momentum tensor Tμν. We show that a temperature inhomogeneity in a gas of charged massless particles generates, via the TTT vertex, a pressure anisotropy with respect to the axis of the temperature variation. This very particular signature may provide an experimental access to the elusive gravitational coefficient b which determines the anomaly contribution of the Weyl tensor to the trace of the energy-momentum tensor in curved spacetime. We present an estimate of the pressure anisotropy both for fermionic quasiparticles in the solid-state environment of Dirac semimetals as well as for a quark-gluon plasma in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. In both cases, the pressure anisotropy is small compared to the mean thermal pressure.
ISSN:0370-2693
1873-2445
DOI:10.1016/j.physletb.2020.135236