Perturbative predictions for color superconductivity on the lattice

Abstract

We develop a new method to investigate color superconductivity (CSC) on the lattice based on the Thouless criterion, which amounts to solving the linearized gap equation without imposing any ansatz on the structure of the Cooper pairs. We perform explicit calculations at the one-loop level with the staggered fermions on a $8^3 \times 128$ lattice and the Wilson fermions on a $4^3 \times 128$ lattice, which enables us to obtain the critical $\beta(=6/g^2)$ as a function of the quark chemical potential $\mu$, below which the CSC phase is expected to appear. The obtained critical $\beta$ has sharp peaks at the values of $\mu$ corresponding to the discretized energy levels of quarks similarly to what was observed in previous studies on simplified effective models. From the solution to the linearized gap equation, one can read off the flavor and spatial structures of the Cooper pairs at the critical $\beta$. In the case of massless staggered fermion, in particular, we find that the chiral $\mathrm{U}(1)$ symmetry of the staggered fermions is spontaneously broken by the condensation of the Cooper pairs.