Exploding Bose-Einstein condensates and collapsing neutron stars driven by critical magnetic fields

TL;DR

This paper explores how strong magnetic fields can induce Bose-Einstein condensation and collapse phenomena in relativistic neutral vector boson gases, with implications for neutron stars and laboratory condensates.

Contribution

It introduces a model of a relativistic neutral vector boson gas with magnetic moments, analyzing its instability and self-magnetization under critical magnetic fields.

Findings

Self-magnetization occurs due to Bose-Einstein-like condensation.

The system becomes more unstable and prone to transverse collapse under strong magnetic fields.

Analogies are drawn between astrophysical neutron star cores and laboratory Bose-Einstein condensates.

Abstract

The problem of a condensate of a relativistic neutral vector boson gas constituted of particles bearing a magnetic moment is discussed. Such a vector boson system is expected to be formed either by parallel spin-pairing of neutrons in a sufficiently strong magnetic field, or by neutral atoms under specific conditions of magnetic field strength and density. A strong self-magnetization arises due to a Bose-Einstein-like condensation. Then the system, which may resemble the superfluid said to exist in the core of neutron stars, becomes more unstable under transverse collapse than the ordinary fermion gas. In the nonrelativistic limit of laboratory conditions, an analogy with the behavior of exploding Bose-Einstein condensates for critical values of magnetic field strength and particle density; reported by several authors, is briefly discussed.