Interacting fermions in rotation: chiral symmetry restoration, moment of inertia and thermodynamics

• Published in: The journal of high energy physics Vol. 2017; no. 1; pp. 1 - 32
• Main Authors: Chernodub, M. N., Gongyo, Shinya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.01.2017; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag (Germany)
• Series: Chernodub, M.N. & Gongyo, S. J. High Energ. Phys. (2017) 2017: 136
• Subjects: Boundaries; Boundary conditions; Classical and Quantum Gravitation; Cylinders; Elementary Particles; Fermions; High energy physics; High Energy Physics - Phenomenology; High Energy Physics - Theory; Mathematical analysis; Moments of inertia; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Quantum Field Theories; Quantum Field Theory; Quantum Physics; Regular Article - Theoretical Physics; Relativity Theory; Restoration; String Theory; Symmetry; Chiral Lagrangians; Global Symmetries; Nambu-Jona-Lasinio; Interacting fermions; Rotating systems
• ISSN: 1029-8479; 1029-8479
• DOI: 10.1007/JHEP01(2017)136

A bstract We study rotating fermionic matter at finite temperature in the framework of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. In order to respect causality the rigidly rotating system must be bound by a cylindrical boundary with appropriate boundary conditions that confine the fermions inside the cylinder. We show the finite geometry with the MIT boundary conditions affects strongly the phase structure of the model leading to three distinct regions characterized by explicitly broken (gapped), partially restored (nearly gapless) and spontaneously broken (gapped) phases at, respectively, small, moderate and large radius of the cylinder. The presence of the boundary leads to specific steplike irregularities of the chiral condensate as functions of coupling constant, temperature and angular frequency. These steplike features have the same nature as the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations with the crucial difference that they occur in the absence of both external magnetic field and Fermi surface. At finite temperature the rotation leads to restoration of spontaneously broken chiral symmetry while the vacuum at zero temperature is insensitive to rotation (“cold vacuum cannot rotate”). As the temperature increases the critical angular frequency decreases and the transition becomes softer. A phase diagram in angular frequency-temperature plane is presented. We also show that at fixed temperature the fermion matter in the chirally restored (gapless) phase has a higher moment of inertia compared to the one in the chirally broken (gapped) phase.