Half-Skyrmions, tensor forces, and symmetry energy in cold dense matter

Abstract

In a previous article, the four-dimensional (4D) half-Skyrmion (or five-dimensional dyonic salt) structure of dense baryonic matter described in crystalline configuration in the large N(c) limit was shown to have nontrivial consequences on how antikaons behave in compressed nuclear matter with a possible implication for the "ice-9" phenomenon of deeply bound kaonic matter and condensed kaons in compact stars. We extend the analysis to make a further prediction on the scaling properties of hadrons that have a surprising effect on the nuclear tensor forces, the symmetry energy, and hence on the phase structure at high density. We treat this problem, relying on certain topological structures of chiral solitons. Combined with what can be deduced from hidden local symmetry for hadrons in a dense medium and the "soft" dilatonic degree of freedom associated with the trace anomaly of QCD, we uncover a novel structure of chiral symmetry in the "supersoft" symmetry energy that can influence the structure of neutron stars.