Solidifying vacuum: phase structure of the electroweak model in a strong magnetic field

Giovedì 29 febbraio 2024, con inizio alle ore 10:00, presso la Sala Conferenze del DFA e online a questo link, il Prof. Maxim Chernodub (Institut Denis Poisson, Universities Tours and Orléans, France) terrà un seminario dal titolo Solidifying vacuum: phase structure of the electroweak model in a strong magnetic field.

Modera il Dott. Gabriele Parisi (Dottorando in Fisica, 38° ciclo).

Il seminario appartiene al ciclo degli Highlights in Frontier Physics, nell'ambito delle attività del Dottorato di ricerca in Fisica.

Tutte le persone interessate sono invitate a partecipare.

Abstract. Using first-principle numerical simulations, we demonstrate for the first time that the vacuum subjected to a strong magnetic field becomes a disordered solid made of vortices parallel to the magnetic field. The emergence of the vortex phase also points to the fascinating possibility that the vacuum becomes a superconductor and, simultaneously, a superfluid. Our simulations also reveal that at an even higher magnetic field, the solid state of the vacuum melts down (at zero temperature) and disappears: the vacuum enters a new, symmetry-restored phase. While these phases were conjectured about, respectively, thirty and fifty years ago, they remained a pure analytical hypothesis before our first-principle calculation. Astrophysical estimations suggest that the magnetic field of the relevant strength can be produced above the horizons of the magnetized black holes, indicating that the exotic superconducting-superfluid-solid state of the vacuum might exist in our Universe even today.