Stress-free BCS pairing in color superconductors is impossible

Journal Article · Tue Feb 27 00:00:00 EST 2007 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2714453· OSTI ID:21056893

Rajagopal, Krishna ^[1]; Schmitt, Andreas ^[2]

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1. Center for Theoretical Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)
2. Department of Physics, Washington University St Louis, MO 63130 (United States)

Cold, asymptotically dense three-flavor quark matter is in the color-flavor locked (CFL) phase, in which all quarks pair in a particularly symmetric fashion. At smaller densities, taking into account a nonzero strange quark mass and electric and color neutrality, the CFL phase requires pairing of quarks with mismatched Fermi momenta. We present a classification of all other possible, less symmetric, pairing patterns and prove that none of them can avoid this mismatch. This result suggests unconventional, e.g., spatially inhomogeneous, superconducting phases for moderate densities.

• OSTI ID: 21056893
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 892, Issue 1; Conference: QCHS7: 7. conference on quark confinement and the hadron spectrum, Ponta Delgada, Acores (Portugal), 2-7 Sep 2006; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2714453; (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
BCS THEORY
COLOR MODEL
FLAVOR MODEL
PAIRING INTERACTIONS
QUANTUM CHROMODYNAMICS
QUARK MATTER
REST MASS
S QUARKS
STRESSES
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
SUPERCONDUCTORS