Anyonic particle-vortex statistics and the nature of dense quark matter

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that high-density quark matter exhibits unique topological features, such as $ ext{Z}_3$ braiding phases and fractional angular momentum, which can distinguish it from lower-density hadronic matter.

Contribution

It reveals the presence of $ ext{Z}_3$ particle-vortex braiding phases and angular momentum fractionalization in dense quark matter, highlighting topological distinctions in QCD phases.

Findings

$ ext{Z}_3$ braiding phases are present in high-density quark matter.

Orbital angular momentum is quantized in units of $rac{ ext{hbar}}{3}$ in certain excitations.

Absence of these features in lower-density matter suggests a phase transition between regimes.

Abstract

We show that $\mathbb{Z}_3$-valued particle-vortex braiding phases are present in high density quark matter. Certain mesonic and baryonic excitations, in the presence of a superfluid vortex, have orbital angular momentum quantized in units of $\hbar/3$. Such non-local topological features can distinguish phases whose realizations of global symmetries, as probed by local order parameters, are identical. If $\mathbb{Z}_3$ braiding phases and angular momentum fractionalization are absent in lower density hadronic matter, as is widely expected, then the quark matter and hadronic matter regimes of dense QCD must be separated by at least one phase transition.