Electromagnetically superconducting phase of QCD vacuum induced by strong magnetic field

TL;DR

This paper proposes that extremely strong magnetic fields can induce a superconducting phase in the QCD vacuum, characterized by anisotropic and inhomogeneous properties similar to type-II superconductors, due to rho meson condensates.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of electromagnetically superconducting QCD vacuum under strong magnetic fields and describes its properties and underlying mechanisms.

Findings

QCD vacuum becomes superconducting above 10^{16} Tesla

Superconductivity is anisotropic and shares features with Abrikosov lattices

Rho meson condensates are responsible for superconductivity

Abstract

In this talk we discuss our recent suggestion that the QCD vacuum in a sufficiently strong magnetic field (stronger than 10^{16} Tesla) may undergo a spontaneous transition to an electromagnetically superconducting state. The possible superconducting state is anisotropic (the vacuum exhibits superconductivity only along the axis of the uniform magnetic field) and inhomogeneous (in the transverse directions the vacuum structure shares similarity with the Abrikosov lattice of an ordinary type-II superconductor). The electromagnetic superconductivity of the QCD vacuum is suggested to occur due to emergence of specific quark-antiquark condensates which carry quantum numbers of electrically charged rho mesons. A Lorentz-covariant generalization of the London transport equations for the magnetic-field-induced superconductivity is given.