Axion electrodynamics and nonrelativistic photons in nuclear and quark matter

Abstract

We argue that the effective theory for electromagnetic fields in spatially varying meson condensations in dense nuclear and quark matter is given by the axion electrodynamics. We show that one of the helicity states of photons there has the nonrelativistic gapless dispersion relation $\omega \sim k^2$ at small momentum, while the other is gapped. This "nonrelativistic photon" may also be realized at the interface between topological and trivial insulators in condensed matter systems.

5 pages; v2: title and abstract modified, references added, minor improvements

References in corpus (7)

• Topological Field Theory of Time-Reversal Invariant Insulators
• Axial anomaly and magnetism of nuclear and quark matter
• Counting rule for Nambu-Goldstone modes in nonrelativistic systems
• Chiral transport of neutrinos in supernovae: Neutrino-induced fluid helicity and helical plasma instability
• Magnetized baryonic matter in holographic QCD
• Meson current in the CFL phase
• Goldstone boson currents in a kaon condensed CFL phase

Cited by in corpus (21)

• Counting Rules of Nambu-Goldstone Modes
• Higher-form symmetries and 3-group in axion electrodynamics
• Global 3-group symmetry and 't Hooft anomalies in axion electrodynamics
• Anomalous effects of dense matter under rotation
• On electrodynamics of chiral matter
• Global 4-group symmetry and 't Hooft anomalies in topological axion electrodynamics
• Anomalous electrodynamics of neutral pion matter in strong magnetic fields
• Counting Nambu-Goldstone modes of higher-form global symmetries
• Spontaneous symmetry breaking and Nambu-Goldstone modes in open classical and quantum systems
• Triangle anomalies and nonrelativistic Nambu-Goldstone modes of generalized global symmetries
• Formation of Chiral Soliton Lattice
• Anomalous low-temperature thermodynamics of QCD in strong magnetic fields
• Radiative instability of quantum electrodynamics in chiral matter
• Rotating Dirac fermions in a magnetic field in 1+2,3 dimensions
• Chiral Cherenkov and chiral transition radiation in anisotropic matter
• Transition radiation as a probe of chiral anomaly
• Anomaly inflow on QCD axial domain-walls and vortices
• Topological mass generation in gapless systems
• Unstable Nambu-Goldstone modes
• Dipole symmetries from the topology of the phase space and the constraints on the low-energy spectrum
• Floquet vacuum engineering: Laser-driven chiral soliton lattice in the QCD vacuum