Chiral Magnetic effect as the anomaly in the transverse axial vector Ward Identity

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the chiral magnetic effect (CME) originates from the axial anomaly linked to a magnetic-field-induced Dirac structure in the quark propagator, confirming its robustness across various conditions.

Contribution

It establishes a connection between the CME and the axial anomaly via the transverse axial vector Ward identity, supported by both analytical and numerical methods.

Findings

CME conductivity is a universal constant $1/2 ext{π}^2$

The axial anomaly arises from a magnetic-field-induced Dirac structure

Numerical verification using full quark propagator from functional QCD methods

Abstract

Through analyzing the quark propagator under the magnetic field, we establish that the axial anomaly originates from an additional Dirac structure in quark propagator induced by the magnetic field. This Dirac structure also allows one to connect the axial anomaly with the topological properties of the system by checking the axial vector Ward identity. For the tree level propagator, we reproduce the result of the anomalous axial current as in the Dirac Hamiltonian approach and kinetic theory. Particularly, we confirm that the chiral magnetic effect (CME) comes from the same term that is in charge of the axial anomaly, specifically, as the anomaly of the transversal axial vector Ward Identity. The identity guarantees that the CME conductivity $C_{\rm CME}$ is a constant as $C_{\rm CME}=\frac{1}{2\pi^2}$, and is robust against the temperature, chemical potential, magnetic field and also interaction. Finally, we verify this numerically by applying the full quark propagator under magnetic field calculated from the functional QCD methods.