Compact stars are natural laboratories that provide extreme densities and strong magnetic fields. In inner parts of such stars, several types of exotic matter can exist. The nature and the physical properties of such matter are not always well understood. This project aims at determining the properties of stellar matter that can affect the observational data in a qualitative way and, therefore, be inferred from such data. In the long term, this study in combination with other theoretical and observational approaches should pave the way to the possible discovery of new forms of stellar matter. The general insights regarding stellar matter, as well as the methods and techniques used, can also be utilized in studies of graphene and trapped gases of cold atoms, both of which are likely to affect future technologies.
One of the important components of the project will be training of graduate students by involving them into a modern research in theoretical nuclear physics. This is in line with the broad mission of the Arizona State University Polytechnic, which is to provide excellent programs in natural and physical sciences, mathematics and engineering through project oriented and problem based learning.
Studies of matter under extreme conditions (e.g., super-high density, or super-high temperature, or super-strong magnetic fields) are of great importance for basic research in nuclear science and beyond. Their outcomes provide deeper understanding of physics underlying the Early Universe, compact stars, and relativistic heavy ion collisions. In addition, similar types of matter appear in a large class of novel materials (e.g., graphene and Dirac semimetals) with unusual electronic properties and a great potential for wide-ranging future applications. The current project produced a number of new theoretical results related to fundamental properties of color-superconducting and normal phases of relativistic matter at high density and/or strong magnetic fields. Among specific outcomes, a new method for treating relativistic matter in a magnetic field was developed and tested in applications to graphene and Dirac semimetals, as well as to dense relativistic matter relevant for neutron stars and heavy-ion collisions. The new knowledge produced by this project helps building a stronger theoretical basis in the search for exotic states of matter in nature and in laboratory. It is expected that the new insights regarding the dynamics in stellar relativistic matter, as well as the methods and techniques developed, will have an impact on studies of microscopic dynamics of several modern materials (e.g., graphene, Dirac and Weyl semimetals, etc.). The project was used as a platform to train undergraduate and graduate students with strong analytical and problem solving skills. In particular, two doctoral-level graduate students worked on the project. Both students gained solid research experience in theoretical nuclear physics, defended their Ph.D. theses and successfully graduated in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Undergraduate students were also involved in elements of research experience via individualized honors projects offered by the Principal Investigator to students in Barrett, the Honors College at the Polytechnic campus of the Arizona State University.
