Novel Lifshitz point for chiral transition in the magnetic field

TL;DR

This paper explores how magnetic fields influence chiral phase transitions in quark matter, revealing a novel Lifshitz point caused by chiral anomaly effects, which can be studied via lattice QCD simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a new Lifshitz point in the phase diagram of chiral transitions induced by magnetic fields and chiral anomaly effects, based on generalized Ginzburg-Landau theory.

Findings

Identification of a Lifshitz point at zero chemical potential.

Chiral anomaly induces inhomogeneous chiral phases.

Potential for lattice QCD to explore these phenomena.

Abstract

Based on the generalized Ginzburg-Landau theory, chiral phase transition is discussed in the presence of magnetic field. Considering the chiral density wave we show chiral anomaly gives rise to an inhomogeneous chiral phase for nonzero quark-number chemical potential. Novel Lifshitz point appears on the vanishing chemical potential line, which may be directly explored by the lattice QCD simulation.