Analytic multi-Baryonic solutions in the SU(N)-Skyrme model at finite density and a novel transition

We construct explicit analytic solutions of the $SU(N)$-Skyrme model (for generic $N$) suitable to describe different phases of nuclear pasta at finite volume in $(3+1)$ dimensions. The first type are crystals of Baryonic tubes (nuclear spaghetti) while the second type are smooth Baryonic layers (nuclear lasagna). Both the ansatz for the spaghetti and the ansatz for the lasagna phases reduce the complete set of Skyrme field equations to just one integrable equation for the profile within sectors of arbitrary high topological charge. We compute explicitly the total energy of both configurations in terms of the flavor number, the density and the Baryonic charge. Remarkably, our analytic results disclose a novel finite-density transition arising from the competition between the nuclear spaghetti and lasagna phases. Well within the range of validity of the model, one can see that the lasagna phase is energetically favored at high density while the spaghetti is favored at low density. Finally, we briefly discuss the large $N$ limit of our configurations.

Pion crystals hosting topologically stable baryons

We construct analytic (3+1)-dimensional inhomogeneous and topologically non-trivial pion systems using chiral perturbation theory. We discuss the effect of isospin asymmetry with vanishing electromagnetic interactions as well as some particular configurations with non-vanishing electromagnetic interactions. The inhomogeneous configurations of the pion fields are characterized by a non-vanishing topological charge that can be identified with baryons surrounded by a cloud of pions. This system supports a topologically protected persistent superflow. When the electromagnetic field is turned on the superflow corresponds to an electromagnetic supercurrent.

Crystals of superconducting Baryonic tubes in the low energy limit of QCD at finite density

The low energy limit of QCD admits (crystals of) superconducting Baryonic tubes at finite density. We begin with the Maxwell-gauged Skyrme model in (3+1)-dimensions (which is the low energy limit of QCD in the leading order of the large N expansion). We construct an ansatz able to reduce the seven coupled field equations in a sector of high Baryonic charge to just one linear Schrodinger-like equation with an effective potential (which can be computed explicitly) periodic in the two spatial directions orthogonal to the axis of the tubes. The solutions represent ordered arrays of Baryonic superconducting tubes as (most of) the Baryonic charge and total energy is concentrated in the tube-shaped regions. They carry a persistent current (which vanishes outside the tubes) even in the limit of vanishing U(1) gauge field: such a current cannot be deformed continuously to zero as it is tied to the topological charge. Then, we discuss the subleading corrections in the t Hooft expansion to the Skyrme model (called usually mathcal{L}_{6}$, $mathcal{L}_{8}$ and so on). Remarkably, the very same ansatz allows to construct analytically these crystals of superconducting Baryonic tubes at any order in the t Hooft expansion. Thus, no matter how many subleading terms are included, these ordered arrays of gauged solitons are described by the same ansatz and keep their main properties manifesting a universal character. On the other hand, the subleading terms can affect the stability properties of the configurations setting lower bounds on the allowed Baryon density.

Gravitating superconducting solitons in the (3+1)-dimensional Einstein gauged non-linear sigma-model

In this paper, we construct the first analytic examples of (3+1)-dimensional self-gravitating regular cosmic tube solutions which are superconducting, free of curvature singularities and with non-trivial topological charge in the Einstein-SU(2) non-linear sigma-model. These gravitating topological solitons at a large distance from the axis look like a (boosted) cosmic string with an angular defect given by the parameters of the theory, and near the axis, the parameters of the solutions can be chosen so that the metric is singularity free and without angular defect. The curvature is concentrated on a tube around the axis. These solutions are similar to the Cohen-Kaplan global string but regular everywhere, and the non-linear sigma-model regularizes the gravitating global string in a similar way as a non-Abelian field regularizes the Dirac monopole. Also, these solutions can be promoted to those of the fully coupled Einstein-Maxwell non-linear sigma-model in which the non-linear sigma-model is minimally coupled both to the U(1) gauge field and to General Relativity. The analysis shows that these solutions behave as superconductors as they carry a persistent current even when the U(1) field vanishes. Such persistent current cannot be continuously deformed to zero as it is tied to the topological charge of the solutions themselves. The peculiar features of the gravitational lensing of these gravitating solitons are shortly discussed.

Analytic (3+1)-dimensional gauged Skyrmions, Heun and Whittaker-Hill equations and resurgence

We show that one can reduce the coupled system of seven field equations of the (3+1)-dimensional gauged Skyrme model to the Heun equation (which, for suitable choices of the parameters, can be further reduced to the Whittaker-Hill equation) in two non-trivial topological sectors. Hence, one can get a complete analytic description of gauged solitons in (3+1) dimensions living within a finite volume in terms of classic results in the theory of differential equations and Kummers con uent functions. We consider here two types of gauged solitons: gauged Skyrmions and gauged time-crystals (namely, gauged solitons periodic in time, whose time-period is protected by a winding number). The dependence of the energy of the gauged Skyrmions on the Baryon charge can be determined explicitly. The theory of Kummers confluent functions leads to a quantization condition for the period of the time-crystals. Likewise, the theory of Sturm-Liouville operators gives rise to a quantization condition for the volume occupied by the gauged Skyrmions. The present analysis also discloses that resurgent techniques are very well suited to deal with the gauged Skyrme model as well. In particular, we discuss a very nice relation between the electromagnetic perturbations of the gauged Skyrmions and the Mathieu equation which allows to use many of the modern resurgence techniques to determine the behavior of the spectrum of these perturbations.

Black hole and BTZ-black string in the Einstein-SU(2) Skyrme model

We present novel analytic hairy black holes with a flat base manifold in the (3+1)-dimensional Einstein SU(2)-Skyrme system with negative cosmological constant. We also construct (3+1)-dimensional black strings in the Einstein $SU(2)$-non linear sigma model theory with negative cosmological constant. The geometry of these black strings is a three-dimensional charged BTZ black hole times a line, without any warp factor. The thermodynamics of these configurations (and its dependence on the discrete hairy parameter) is analyzed in details. A very rich phase diagram emerges.

Charged black strings and black branes in Lovelock theories

It is well known that the Reissner-Norstrom solution of Einstein-Maxwell theory cannot be cylindrically extended to higher dimension, as with the black hole solutions in vacuum. In this paper we show that this result is circumvented in Lovelock gravity. We prove that the theory containing only the quadratic Lovelock term, the Gauss-Bonnet term, minimally coupled to a $U(1)$ field, admits homogeneous black string and black brane solutions characterized by the mass, charge and volume of the flat directions. We also show that theories containing a single Lovelock term of order $n$ in the Lagrangian coupled to a $(p-1)$-form field admit simple oxidations only when $n$ equals $p$, giving rise to new, exact, charged black branes in higher curvature gravity. For General Relativity this stands for a Lagrangian containing the Einstein-Hilbert term coupled to a massless scalar field, and no-hair theorems in this case forbid the existence of black branes. In all these cases the field equations acquire an invariance under a global scaling scale transformation of the metric. As explicit examples we construct new magnetically charged black branes for cubic Lovelock theory coupled to a Kalb-Ramond field in dimensions $(3m+2)+q$, with $m$ and $q$ integers, and the latter denoting the number of extended flat directions. We also construct dyonic solutions in quartic Lovelock theory in dimension $(4m+2)+q$.