Goldstone Bosons in the 3P2 Superfluid Phase of Neutron Matter and Neutrino Emission

Abstract

At the high densities present in the interior of neutron stars, the neutrons are condensed into the 3P2 superfluid phase. While this condensation has little impact on the equation of state, it can have an important role in determining the low-temperature energy-momentum transport properties. The spontaneous breaking of baryon number by the condensate gives rise to the familiar Goldstone boson, but in addition, the spontaneous breaking of rotational invariance by the condensate gives rise to three Goldstone bosons, in general, one for each broken generator of rotations. These Goldstone bosons, which couple to the Z0, provide a new mechanism for neutrino emission. Using a low-energy effective field theory to describe the dynamics of these Goldstone bosons we estimate the neutrino emissivity of dense neutron matter and show that their annihilation is the dominant energy-loss mechanism over a range of temperatures.