Published April 2010 | Version v1
Journal article

Response functions of cold neutron matter: Density fluctuations

  • 1. Institute for Theoretical Physics, J. W. Goethe University, D-60438 Frankfurt-am-Main (Germany)

Description

We compute the finite temperature density response function of nonrelativistic cold fermions with an isotropic condensate. The pair-breaking contribution to the response function is evaluated in the limit of small three-momentum transfers q within an effective theory which exploits series expansion in powers of small q/pF, where pF is the Fermi momentum. The leading order O(q2) contribution is universal and depends only on two fundamental scales, the Fermi energy and the pairing gap. The particle-hole Landau Fermi-liquid interaction contributes first at the next-to-leading-order O(q4). The scattering contribution to the polarization tensor is nonperturbative (in the above sense) and is evaluated numerically. The spectral functions of density fluctuations are constructed and the relevance of the q2 scaling for the pair-breaking neutrino emission from neutron stars is discussed.

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics
Journal Volume
81
Journal Issue
4
Journal Page Range
p. 045806-045806.9
ISSN
0556-2813
CODEN
PRVCAN

Optional Information

Notes
(c) 2010 The American Physical Society