Relaxation of the chiral imbalance in dense matter of a neutron star

TL;DR

This paper investigates how electron helicity flips occur in neutron star matter, considering electroweak interactions, and derives a kinetic equation for chiral imbalance, comparing it with previous models.

Contribution

It provides a detailed quantum field theory calculation of electron helicity flips in dense neutron star matter, incorporating electroweak interactions and deriving a new kinetic equation for chiral imbalance.

Findings

Electroweak interactions significantly affect helicity flip rates.

Derived kinetic equation aligns with some previous models but offers new insights.

Quantitative estimates of helicity flip probabilities in neutron star conditions.

Abstract

Using the quantum field theory methods, we calculate the helicity flip of an electron scattering off protons in dense matter of a neutron star. The influence of the electroweak interaction between electrons and background nucleons on the helicity flip is examined. We also derive the kinetic equation for the chiral imbalance. The derived kinetic equation is compared with the results obtained by other authors.