Color-flavor locked superconductor in a magnetic field

TL;DR

This paper investigates how moderate magnetic fields influence color-flavor locked quark matter, revealing oscillations in energy gaps and magnetization, which could lead to magnetic inhomogeneities in magnetar cores.

Contribution

It demonstrates the magnetic field-induced oscillations in energy gaps and magnetization within the color-flavor locked phase using the NJL model, suggesting potential magnetic domain formation.

Findings

Magnetization oscillates with magnetic field strength.

Homogeneous quark matter can become metastable under certain conditions.

Potential for magnetic inhomogeneities in magnetar cores.

Abstract

We study the effects of moderately strong magnetic fields on the properties of color-flavor locked color superconducting quark matter in the framework of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. We find that the energy gaps, which describe the color superconducting pairing as well as the magnetization, are oscillating functions of the magnetic field. Also, we observe that the oscillations of the magnetization can be so strong that homogeneous quark matter becomes metastable for a range of parameters. We suggest that this points to the possibility of magnetic domains or other types of magnetic inhomogeneities in the quark cores of magnetars.