The Photon in Dense Nuclear Matter I: Random Phase Approximation

TL;DR

This paper investigates the behavior of photons in cold, dense nuclear matter using the random phase approximation, accounting for particle correlations, screening, damping, and collective excitations in a relativistic framework.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive, pedagogic analysis of photon properties in dense nuclear matter, including electromagnetic and strong interaction effects within the RPA.

Findings

Detailed understanding of screening effects and damping in dense nuclear matter

Systematic study of collective excitations in a relativistic setting

Implications for dark photon production and propagation

Abstract

We present a comprehensive and pedagogic discussion of the properties of photons in cold and dense nuclear matter based on the resummed one-loop photon self energy. Correlations between electrons, muons, protons and neutrons in beta equilibrium that arise due to electromagnetic and strong interactions are consistently taken into account within the random phase approximation. Screening effects and damping as well as collective excitations are systematically studied in a fully relativistic setup. Our study is relevant to linear response theory of dense nuclear matter, calculations of transport properties of cold dense matter and to investigations of the production and propagation of hypothetical vector bosons such as the dark photons.