Spontaneous magnetization of quark matter in the inhomogeneous chiral phase

TL;DR

This paper investigates how inhomogeneous chiral phases in quark matter can spontaneously generate magnetization due to asymmetric Landau levels, potentially explaining strong magnetic fields in pulsars and magnetars.

Contribution

It introduces a mechanism where inhomogeneous chiral condensates induce spontaneous magnetization through Landau level asymmetry in quark matter.

Findings

Asymmetric Landau levels lead to spontaneous magnetization.

The mechanism links chiral anomaly to magnetic field generation.

Potential explanation for magnetic fields in astrophysical objects.

Abstract

Considering the density wave of scalar and pseudoscalar condensates, we study the response of quark matter to a weak external magnetic field. In an external magnetic field, the energy spectrum of the lowest Landau level becomes asymmetric about zero, which is closely related to chiral anomaly, and gives rise to the spontaneous magnetization. This mechanism may be one of candidates for the origin of the strong magnetic field in pulsars and/or magnetars.