Loading...
research article
SPHALERONS AND AXION DYNAMICS IN HIGH TEMPERATURE QCD
1991
We consider the effects of sphaleronlike transitions in the high-temperature QCD plasma. Because of the chiral anomaly, these imply rapid chirality change, and strongly influence the dynamics of any axionic fields that may couple to the topological winding number of QCD. We derive a coupled set of equations describing the evolution of the axion field and chiral fermion density at high temperatures. The unsuppressed sphaleronlike transitions result in the damping of coherent axionic oscillations. The implications of this phenomenon for axion fields in early Universe cosmology is discussed. © 1991 The American Physical Society.
Type
research article
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-0000423853
Authors
Publication date
1991
Published in
Volume
43
Start page
2027
End page
2035
Peer reviewed
REVIEWED
EPFL units
Available on Infoscience
September 7, 2010
Use this identifier to reference this record