Zero modes and anomalies in superconducting strings

Journal Article · Thu Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 1988 · Phys. Rev. D; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.38.1684· OSTI ID:6763253

Widrow, L M

Superconductivity in cosmic strings occurs when electrically charged fermions are trapped as massless particles (Jackiw-Rossi zero modes) in the core of a string. Currents are generated when an electric field is applied along the string, or more realistically, when the string moves through a cosmic magnetic field. In realistic models (e.g., those inspired by grand unified theories), the fermion-vortex systems that arise can be quite complicated and the question of whether or not superconductivity occurs is very model dependent. For example, in certain models, mixing between right- and left-moving zero modes gives rise to an effective mass for the fermions on the string. The currents in this case, at least for reasonable values for cosmic magnetic fields, are uninterestingly small. In this paper, we present a simple method for determining the number of true zero modes in a special class of fermion-vortex systems. These results are then applied to a particular particle-physics model based on the gauge group E/sub 6/. We also consider the possibility that summation/sub left movers/q/sup 2/not =summation/sub right movers/q/sup 2/ where q is the electromagnetic charge of a zero mode. In this situation, which occurs in ''frustrated'' as well as global strings, there is a gauge anomaly (and therefore charge nonconservation) in the effective (1+1)-dimensional theory for the fermion-string system. In the presence of an electric field, the string acquires both charge and current. Charge nonconservation on the string is accounted for by an inflow of charge from the world outside the string. However, both charge and current can be screened, either by polarization of the vacuum or by the surrounding plasma.

• Research Organization: Department of Physics, Enrico Fermi Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637
• OSTI ID: 6763253
• Journal Information: Phys. Rev. D; (United States), Vol. 38:6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
FERMIONS
STRING MODELS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
COSMOLOGY
DIRAC EQUATION
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
GRAND UNIFIED THEORY
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MASSLESS PARTICLES
SCALAR FIELDS
SYMMETRY BREAKING
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
U-1 GROUPS
UNIVERSE
VACUUM POLARIZATION
YUKAWA POTENTIAL
COMPOSITE MODELS
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EQUATIONS
EXTENDED PARTICLE MODEL
FIELD THEORIES
LIE GROUPS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NUCLEAR POTENTIAL
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PARTICLE MODELS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POTENTIALS
QUARK MODEL
SYMMETRY GROUPS
U GROUPS
UNIFIED GAUGE MODELS
UNIFIED-FIELD THEORIES
WAVE EQUATIONS
645300* - High Energy Physics- Particle Invariance Principles & Symmetries
645400 - High Energy Physics- Field Theory
640106 - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Cosmology