Thomas Schaefer

Inequalities for Light Nuclei in the Wigner Symmetry Limit

Using effective field theory we derive inequalities for light nuclei in the Wigner symmetry limit. This is the limit where isospin and spin degrees of freedom can be interchanged. We prove that the energy of any three-nucleon state is bounded below by the average energy of the lowest two-nucleon and four-nucleon states. We show how this is modified by lowest-order terms breaking Wigner symmetry and prove general energy convexity results for SU(N). We also discuss the inclusion of Wigner-symmetric three- and four-nucleon force terms.

Nuclear lattice simulations with chiral effective field theory

We study nuclear and neutron matter by combining chiral effective field theory with nonperturbative lattice methods. In our approach, nucleons and pions are treated as point particles on a lattice. This allows us to probe larger volumes, lower temperatures, and greater nuclear densities than in lattice QCD. The low-energy interactions of these particles are governed by chiral effective theory, and operator coefficients are determined by fitting to zero temperature few-body scattering data. The leading dependence on the lattice spacing can be understood from the renormalization group and absorbed by renormalizing operator coefficients. In this way, we have a realistic simulation of many-body nuclear phenomena with no free parameters, a systematic expansion, and a clear theoretical connection to QCD. We present results for hot neutron matter at temperatures 20-40 MeV and densities below twice the nuclear matter density.

Toward Picard-Lefschetz Theory of Path Integrals, Complex Saddles and Resurgence

We show that the semi-classical analysis of generic Euclidean path integrals necessarily requires complexification of the action and measure, and consideration of complex saddle solutions.We demonstrate that complex saddle points have a natural interpretation in terms of the Picard–Lefschetz theory. Motivated in part by the semi-classical expansion of QCD with adjoint matter on

Focus on strongly correlated quantum fluids: from ultracold quantum gases to QCD plasmas

\mathbb{R}^3 \times S^1

The CFL phase and m_s: An effective field theory approach

, we study quantum-mechanical systems with bosonic and fermionic (Grassmann) degrees of freedom with harmonic degenerate minima, as well as (related) purely bosonic systems with harmonic nondegenerate minima. We find exact finite action non-BPS bounce and bion solutions to the holomorphic Newton equations. We find not only real solutions, but also complex solution with non-trivial monodromy, and finally complex multi-valued and singular solutions. Complex bions are necessary for obtaining the correct nonperturbative structure of these models. In the supersymmetric limit the complex solutions govern the ground state properties, and their contribution to the semiclassical expansion is necessary to obtain consistency with the supersymmetry algebra. The multi-valuedness of the action is either related to the hidden topological angle or to the resurgent cancellation of ambiguities. We also show that in the approximate multi-instanton description the integration over the complex quasi-zero mode thimble produces the most salient features of the exact solutions. While exact complex saddles are more difficult to construct in quantum field theory, the relation to the approximate thimble construction suggests that such solutions may be underlying some remarkable features of approximate bion saddles in quantum field theories.

The RHIC gold rush

The last few years have witnessed a dramatic convergence of three distinct lines of research concerned with different kinds of extreme quantum matter. Two of these involve new quantum fluids that can be studied in the laboratory, ultracold quantum gases and quantum chromodynamics (QCD) plasmas. Even though these systems involve vastly different energy scales, the physical properties of the two quantum fluids are remarkably similar. The third line of research is based on the discovery of a new theoretical tool for investigating the properties of extreme quantum matter, holographic dualties. The main goal of this focus issue is to foster communication and understanding between these three fields. We proceed to describe each in more detail. Ultracold quantum gases offer a new paradigm for the study of nonperturbative quantum many-body physics. With widely tunable interaction strength, spin composition, and temperature, using different hyperfine states one can model spin-1/2 fermions, spin-3/2 fermions, and many other spin structures of bosons, fermions, and mixtures thereof. Such systems have produced a revolution in the study of strongly interacting Fermi systems, for example in the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) to Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) crossover region, where a close collaboration between experimentalists and theorists—typical in this field—enabled ground-breaking studies in an area spanning several decades. Half-way through this crossover, when the scattering length characterizing low-energy collisions diverges, one obtains a unitary quantum gas, which is universal and scale invariant. The unitary gas has close parallels in the hydrodynamics of QCD plasmas, where the ratio of viscosity to entropy density is extremely low and comparable to the minimum viscosity conjecture, an important prediction of AdS/CFT (see below). Exciting developments in the thermodynamic and transport properties of strongly interacting Fermi gases are of broad interdisciplinary appeal and include new studies of high temperature superfluidity, viscosity, spin-transport, spin-imbalanced mixtures, and three-component gases, this last having a close parallel to color superconductivity. Another system important for the field of strongly-interacting quantum fluids was revealed by analysis of data from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Despite naive expectations based on asymptotic freedom that the deconfinement of quarks and gluons at high temperatures would lead to a weakly-interacting quark gluon plasma (QGP), the system appeared to be quite strongly coupled. Subsequent estimates of the viscosity-to-entropy ratio suggest that the system is tantalizingly close to the postulated bound from AdS/CFT calculations. The field is quite dynamic at the moment; new measurements are expected from upgraded detectors at RHIC, and an entirely new energy regime is being opened up by heavy ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. On the theoretical side, much work remains to be done to extract the precise values of the transport coefficients, and to characterize the nature of quasi-particle excitations in the plasma. Finally, holographic dualities such as anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory (AdS/CFT) have opened a new theoretical window on strongly correlated fluids. Holography relates strongly-interacting quantum many-body systems to weakly-coupled semi-classical gravitational systems, replacing quasiparticles with geometry and translating various difficult questions about quantum fluids into simple and calculable geometric exercises. Already, some of the earliest lessons of holography, such as the conjectural bound on the viscosity-to-entropy ratio, have had a considerable impact on the theoretical and experimental study of strongly correlated fluids, from RHIC to ultracold atoms. More recently, the study of holographic superconductors, non-Fermi liquids and unitary quantum gases has touched off a flurry of interest in holography as a toolkit for studying strongly-correlated many-body systems more generally. Holography also allows us to use results from quantum fluids to study classical and quantum gravity; for example, the phase structure of a quantum many-body system translates into a rich classification of black holes in the dual space–time. Given both the rapid progress in applied holography and the exciting developments in ultracold quantum gases and QCD plasmas discussed above, the time is ripe for new collaborations across traditional lines of specialization. This focus issue explores the convergence between three heretofore separate areas of physics. Over forty research groups have contributed original work, and there will be a review article which complements these advances, overviewing them and presenting them in the context of all three fields and their interconnections. The review concludes with a list of open questions. This sets the tone for the present focus issue; namely, interdisciplinary dialog, openness, innovation, and possibility, an emphasis for which New Journal of Physics, an open-access journal of the highest quality, is especially fitted.

Instantons and Monte Carlo Methods in Quantum Mechanics

We study the phase diagram of dense quark matter with an emphasis on the role of the strange quark mass. Our approach is based on two effective field theories (EFTs). The first is an EFT that describes quark quasi-particles near the Fermi surface. This EFT is valid at energies small compared to the chemical potential. The second is an EFT for the Goldstone modes in the paired phase. We find that in response to a non-zero strange quark mass the CFL phase first undergoes a transition to a kaon condensed phase, and then to a gapless phase with a non-zero Goldstone boson current.

Bose-Einstein condensates in neutron stars

What happens to ordinary matter as you heat it to higher and higher temperatures, or compress it to greater and greater densities? This simple question underpins a major effort to create extreme conditions in the lab, which has recently taken the shape of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). This machine has been colliding gold nuclei since 2000, and has produced tantalizing hints that a new state of matter – the quark–gluon plasma – is created in the reactions. But it has also sparked surprises that are sending researchers back to the drawing board.