Baryonic vortices in rotating nuclear matter

TL;DR

This paper explores topological baryonic vortices in rotating nuclear matter, identifying local and global configurations, and demonstrating the physical viability of global vortices due to finite-size effects.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of global baryonic vortices in rotating nuclear matter and shows their energetic relevance, which was previously overlooked.

Findings

Global vortices are regularized by finite-size effects in rotating frames.

There is an energetic competition between local and global vortex states.

Global vortices can significantly influence the topological structure of dense QCD matter.

Abstract

We investigate baryonic vortices as topological excitations in rotating nuclear matter within the framework of chiral perturbation theory. We identify two distinct configurations: local and global vortices, both carrying the baryon number as the topological charge associated with the third homotopy group $\pi_3(S^3)$. For the local vortex, similar to the vortex Skyrmion in a finite isospin chemical potential, charged pions form the condensate on the boundary and have a phase winding, while the neutral pion varies along the rotation axis inside the vortex core. On the other hand, a global vortex is formed by the condensate and phase winding of the neutral pion, while the charged pions vary on the inside along the rotation axis. Crucially, although global vortices are usually discarded in infinite systems due to logarithmic divergence in energy, we demonstrate that the finite-size constraint dictated by causality in a rotating frame regularizes the divergence physically, rendering the global vortex a viable excitation. We reveal an energetic competition between global and local vortex states, under the tunable parameters of rotation, system size, and baryon chemical potential. Our results suggest that the previously overlooked global vortex can play a significant role in the topological structure of rotating dense QCD matter.