Research in Quantum Field Theory: Anomalous Properties of Chiral Matter

物质在极端密度和温度下的性质在核物理学中引起了极大的兴趣。在早期宇宙的原始等离子体中，在重离子对撞机产生的火球中，以及在中子星的内部，都实现了相应的极端条件。这种形式的物质是相对论性的，因为它们的组成粒子以接近光速的速度运动。更重要的是，这些粒子具有一种称为手征性的量子特征，可以产生非常不寻常的物质宏观性质。在这个项目中，PI将研究相对论物质的广泛手性特性背后的基本物理学。研究结果也将与最近发现的狄拉克和外尔材料有关，这些材料具有伪相对论性电荷载流子，并为新技术带来了巨大的希望。该项目将是一个培训本科生和研究生的平台，他们将获得物理和数学的深入知识，以及宝贵的分析和解决问题的技能，这将有助于他们进入未来知识型经济的受过高等教育的劳动力。在这个项目中，PI和他的合作者将研究相对论和伪相对论形式物质的广泛手性性质。一个特别的重点将放在寻找宏观签名的手征异常引起的可观的。使用第一原理量子场理论方法和技术，并补充手性动力学理论和流体力学方法，PI将研究以下主题：（i）手征（伪）相对论等离子体的各种区域中集体模的性质及其异常特征，（ii）手征等离子体中不均匀流动和不均匀性的作用及其对早期宇宙演化的影响，（iii）手征动力学理论的局限性和利用量子场论规避它们的方法;（iv）手征不对称性和手征效应在Dirac和Weyl材料中的可观察后果。该项目的成果将有助于更深入地理解量子异常的理论含义，以及它们的宏观可观察效应。

The properties of matter at extreme densities and temperatures are of great interest in nuclear physics. The corresponding extreme conditions are realized in the primordial plasma of the early Universe, in the fireballs produced by heavy-ion colliders, as well as in the interiors of neutron stars. Such forms of matter are relativistic because their constituent particles move with speeds close to the speed of light. More importantly, the particles carry a quantum characteristic, called chirality, that can give rise to very unusual macroscopic properties of matter. In this project, the PI will study the underlying physics behind a wide range of chiral properties of relativistic matter. The research outcomes will be relevant also for recently discovered Dirac and Weyl materials that have pseudorelativistic charge carriers and hold a great promise for new technologies. The project will be a platform for training undergraduate and graduate students, who will acquire deep knowledge of physics and mathematics, as well as invaluable analytical and problem solving skills that will help them upon entering the highly educated workforce of the future knowledge-based economy. In this project, the PI and his collaborators will study a wide range of chiral properties of relativistic and pseudorelativistic forms of matter. A special emphasis will be placed on finding macroscopic signature observables that are induced by the chiral anomaly. Using first-principle quantum-field theoretical methods and techniques, and supplementing them with methods of chiral kinetic theory and hydrodynamics, the PI will investigate the following topics: (i) the properties of collective modes and their anomalous features in various regimes of chiral (pseudo-)relativistic plasmas, (ii) the role of nonuniform flow and inhomogeneities in chiral plasmas and their implications for the evolution of the early Universe, (iii) the limitations of the chiral kinetic theory and the ways of circumventing them by using quantum field theory, and (iv) the observable consequences of the chiral asymmetry and chiral effects in Dirac and Weyl materials. The outcomes of this project will contribute to a deeper understanding of theoretical implications of quantum anomalies, as well as of their macroscopic observable effects.