Negative off-diagonal conductivities in a weakly coupled quark-gluon plasma at the leading-log order
Journal
Physical Review
Journal Volume
D88
Journal Issue
8
Pages
085039
Date Issued
2013-08
Author(s)
Abstract
We calculate the conductivity matrix of a weakly coupled quark-gluon plasma at the leading-log order. By setting all quark chemical potentials to be identical, the diagonal conductivities become degenerate and positive, while the off-diagonal ones become degenerate but negative (or zero when the chemical potential vanishes). This means a potential gradient of a certain fermion flavor can drive backward currents of other flavors. A simple explanation is provided for this seemingly counterintuitive phenomenon. It is speculated that this phenomenon is generic even beyond the leading-log order, and it is most easily measured in cold atom experiments.
Type
journal article