# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

In a recent interesting paper  the quantities appearing in the effective action that we had proposed  for the description of the massless modes in the color-flavor-locking (CFL) phase of QCD  have been evaluated in the perturbative limit of very high density. Furthermore an evaluation of the pseudoscalar masses generated from nonvanishing quark masses in the QCD lagrangian has been given.

First let us discuss the expected scaling of the pseudoscalar masses with quark masses in the new phase. We know the standard arguments at zero density giving the square mass of the pseudoscalar as proportional to to quark mass times the condensate $`\overline{\psi }\psi `$. However, in the CFL phase, for massless quarks, there is a discrete symmetry $`Z_{2L}`$ (a change of sign for the left-handed quarks) which requires the condensate to be zero . When we add the symmetry breaking induced by the quark masses the previous statement is no longer valid. Nevertheless we can still think of the condensate vanishing with the quark masses.

This leads to the idea that higher dimension operators should be considered, leading to a quadratic dependence of the pseudogoldstone masses on the quark masses. However, also the mechanism discussed above, that is the usual Adler-Dashen theory, when implemented with the idea of a condensate vanishing for massless quarks, can give the quadratic dependence.

In fact, in ref.  it has been shown that starting from the mass term in the QCD lagrangian

$$_m=\psi _L^{}M\psi _R+\mathrm{h}.\mathrm{c}.$$
(1)   
and considering a mass matrix proportional to the identity matrix $`M=m1_3`$, one gets at very high density a shift of the vacuum energy given by

$$\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{vac}}=\frac{9\mu ^2}{8\pi }m^2+\mathrm{h}.\mathrm{c}.$$
(2)   
with $`\mu `$ the chemical potential (the calculation is made perturbatively since we are considering the limit of very high density). This shows that for such a mass matrix the condensate is given by

$$\underset{u,d,s}{}\psi _R^{}\psi _L=\frac{9\mu ^2}{8\pi }m$$
(3)   
Therefore, at the level of the effective action of the pseudogoldstones, one can expect that there are different contributions to the masses. One contribution from the usual Adler-Dashen mechanism, plus others coming from higher dimension operators. One higher dimension operator is explicitly constructed in ref. . An important role is played by the $`U(1)_A`$ symmetry. Such a symmetry is effectively restored  at large values of $`\mu `$.

In this note we will show that there is another term in the effective lagrangian, which gives rise to a pseudoscalar mass pattern of the usual hierarchical type, and it still respects all the needed symmetries.

Most importantly, this new term solves a problem present in the paper . In fact the operator considered in  turns out to give that all pseudoscalar masses continue to vanish for $`m_u=m_d=0`$ even when $`m_s0`$. This result would be very puzzling. A symmetry breaking term ($`m_s0`$) in the fundamental lagrangian would have no effect in the effective action. We cannot expect that, when an explicit strange quark mass is introduced, all the massless goldstones, of the situation where all quarks were massless, do remain massless. We must expect that those which are no longer goldstones aquire a mass. As we shall see the additional invariant that we will construct gives pseudoscalar masses which all vanish only when the strange quark mass mass vanishes. This avoids the puzzle.

## 2 The effective theory

We shortly review the effective action for the color-flavor locked (CFL) phase of QCD introduced in . The symmetry breaking pattern is 

$$G=SU(3)_cSU(3)_LSU(3)_RU(1)H=SU(3)_{c+L+R}$$
(4)   
from dynamical condensates

$$\psi _{ai}^L\psi _{bj}^L=\psi _{ai}^R\psi _{bj}^R=\gamma _1\delta _{ai}\delta _{bj}+\gamma _2\delta _{aj}\delta _{bi}$$
(5)   
($`\psi _{ai}^{L(R)}`$ are Weyl spinors and spinor indices are summed). The indices $`a,b`$ and $`i,j`$ refer to $`SU(3)_c`$ and to $`SU(3)_L`$ (or $`SU(3)_R`$) respectively. To be precise $`H`$ contains an additional $`Z_2`$, which plays an essential role.

The effective lagrangian describes the CFL phase for momenta smaller than the energy gap (existing estimates range between 10 and 100 $`MeV`$). Before gauging $`SU(3)_c`$ we need 17 goldstones. We define coset matrix fields $`X`$ ($`Y`$) transforming under $`G`$ as a left-handed (right-handed) quark. We require

$$Xg_cXg_L^T,Yg_cYg_R^T$$
(6)   
with $`g_cSU(3)_c,g_LSU(3)_L,g_RSU(3)_R`$. $`X`$ and $`Y`$ are $`SU(3)`$ matrices, breaking respectively $`SU(3)_cSU(3)_L`$ and $`SU(3)_cSU(3)_R`$. An additional goldstone is related to the breaking of baryon number. It corresponds to a $`U(1)`$ factor transforming under $`G`$ as

$$Ug_{U(1)}U,g_{U(1)}U(1)$$
(7)   
We define the anti-hermitian and traceless currents

$$J_X^\mu =X^\mu X^{},J_Y^\mu =Y^\mu Y^{},J_\varphi =U^\mu U^{}$$
(8)   
which transform under $`G`$ as

$$J_X^\mu g_cJ_X^\mu g_c^{},J_Y^\mu g_cJ_Y^\mu g_c^{},J_\varphi ^\mu J_\varphi ^\mu $$
(9)   
At finite density Lorentz invariance is broken. Barring WZW terms (see ref.  for a brief discussion), the most general $`O(3)`$ symmetric lagrangian invariant under $`G`$, with at most two derivatives, is

$``$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{F_T^2}{4}}Tr[(J_X^0J_Y^0)^2]\alpha _T{\displaystyle \frac{F_T^2}{4}}Tr[(J_X^0+J_Y^0)^2]{\displaystyle \frac{f_T^2}{2}}(J_\varphi ^0)^2`$ (10)   
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{F_S^2}{4}}Tr[(\stackrel{}{J}_X\stackrel{}{J}_Y)^2]+\alpha _S{\displaystyle \frac{F_S^2}{4}}Tr[(\stackrel{}{J}_X+\stackrel{}{J}_Y)^2]+{\displaystyle \frac{f_S^2}{2}}(\stackrel{}{J}_\varphi )^2`$   
We have required invariance under parity (symmetry under $`XY`$).

With the parametrization

$$X=e^{i\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Pi }}_X^aT_a},Y=e^{i\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Pi }}_Y^aT_a},U=e^{i\stackrel{~}{\varphi }},a=1,\mathrm{}8$$
(11)   
(the $`SU(3)`$ matrices $`T_a`$ satisfy $`Tr[T_aT_b]=\frac{1}{2}\delta _{ab}`$) and by defining

$$\mathrm{\Pi }_X=\sqrt{\alpha _T}\frac{F_T}{2}(\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Pi }}_X+\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Pi }}_Y),\mathrm{\Pi }_Y=\frac{F_T}{2}(\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Pi }}_X\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Pi }}_Y),\varphi =f_T\stackrel{~}{\varphi }$$
(12)   
the kinetic term is

$$_{\mathrm{kin}}=\frac{1}{2}(\dot{\mathrm{\Pi }}_{X}^{}{}_{}{}^{a})^2+\frac{1}{2}(\dot{\mathrm{\Pi }}_{Y}^{}{}_{}{}^{a})^2+\frac{1}{2}(\dot{\varphi })^2\frac{v_X^2}{2}|\stackrel{}{}\mathrm{\Pi }_X^a|^2\frac{v_Y^2}{2}|\stackrel{}{}\mathrm{\Pi }_Y^a|^2\frac{v_\varphi ^2}{2}|\stackrel{}{}\varphi |^2$$
(13)   
where

$$v_X^2=\frac{\alpha _SF_S^2}{\alpha _TF_T^2},v_Y^2=\frac{F_S^2}{F_T^2},v_\varphi ^2=\frac{f_S^2}{f_T^2}$$
(14)   
The three types of goldstones satisfy linear dispersion relations $`E=vp`$, with different velocities,

For local $`SU(3)_c`$ invariance we make the derivatives covariant

$$_\mu XD_\mu X=_\mu Xg_\mu X,_\mu YD_\mu Y=_\mu Yg_\mu Y,g_\mu \mathrm{Lie}SU(3)_c$$
(15)   
The currents become

$$J_X^\mu =X^\mu X^{}+g^\mu ,J_Y^\mu =Y^\mu Y^{}+g^\mu $$
(16)   
giving for the lagrangian

$``$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{F_T^2}{4}}Tr[(X^0X^{}Y^0Y^{})^2]\alpha _T{\displaystyle \frac{F_T^2}{4}}Tr[(X^0X^{}+Y^0Y^{}+2g^0)^2]`$ (17)   
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{f_T^2}{2}}(J_\varphi ^0)^2+\mathrm{spatial}\mathrm{terms}\mathrm{and}\mathrm{kinetic}\mathrm{part}\mathrm{for}g^\mu `$   
We introduce

$$g_\mu =ig_s\frac{T_a}{2}g_\mu ^a$$
(18)   
where $`g_s`$ is the QCD coupling constant. The gluon field becomes massive. This can be easily seen in the unitary gauge $`X=Y^{}`$, where

$$\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Pi }}_X=\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Pi }}_Y$$
(19)   
or

$$\mathrm{\Pi }_X=0,\mathrm{\Pi }_Y=F_T\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Pi }}_X$$
(20)   
The gluon mass (for the expected velocities of order one) is

$$m_g^2=\alpha _Tg_s^2\frac{F_T^2}{4}$$
(21)   
The $`XY`$ symmetry, in this gauge, implies $`\mathrm{\Pi }_Y\mathrm{\Pi }_Y`$.

The gluon kinetic term can be neglected for energies much smaller than the gluon mass. The lagrangian (17) is then the hidden gauge symmetry version of the chiral QCD lagrangian (except for the field $`\varphi `$). In fact, in this limit, the gluon field becomes auxiliary and can be eliminated through its equation of motion

$$g_\mu =\frac{1}{2}(X_\mu X^{}+Y_\mu Y^{})$$
(22)   
obtaining

$$=\frac{F_T^2}{4}Tr[(X^0X^{}Y^0Y^{})^2]\frac{f_T^2}{2}(J_\varphi ^0)^2+\mathrm{spatial}\mathrm{terms}$$
(23)   
or

$$=\frac{F_T^2}{4}\left(Tr[\dot{\mathrm{\Sigma }}\dot{\mathrm{\Sigma }}^{}]v_Y^2tr[\stackrel{}{}\mathrm{\Sigma }\stackrel{}{}\mathrm{\Sigma }^{}]\right)\frac{f_T^2}{2}\left((J_\varphi ^0)^2v_\varphi ^2|\stackrel{}{J}_\varphi |^2\right)$$
(24)   
where $`\mathrm{\Sigma }=Y^{}X`$ transforms under the group $`SU(3)_cSU(3)_LSU(3)_R`$ as $`\mathrm{\Sigma }g_R^{}\mathrm{\Sigma }g_L^T`$. The goldstone $`\varphi `$ could be interpreted as a particularly light dibaryon state, $`(udsuds)`$, considered by R. Jaffe . After the breaking of color, one has the massless photon and 9 physical goldstones transforming as $`1+8`$ under the unbroken SU(3).

In our previous paper  we did not consider the pseudogoldstone mode associated to the $`U(1)_A`$ symmetry since it is not massless. However, in the present context it plays an important role. Its kinetic term can be introduced in complete analogy with what we have done for the mode associated to the vector $`U(1)`$. The contribution to the lagrangian is given by

$$\frac{f_A^2}{2}((J_\theta ^0)^2v_\theta ^2|\stackrel{}{J}_\theta |^2)$$
(25)   
where

$$J_\theta ^\mu =V^\mu V^{},V=e^{i\stackrel{~}{\theta }}$$
(26)   
and, for the correct normalization of the kinetic term, one has to define the field

$$\theta =\frac{1}{f_A}\stackrel{~}{\theta }$$
(27)   
Under a $`U(1)_A`$ transformation all the fields are invariant except for

$$Ve^{i\alpha }V,e^{i\alpha }U(1)_A$$
(28)   
An equivalent description can be obtained by including the $`U(1)`$ fields into $`X`$ and $`Y`$ fields belonging to $`U(3)`$, but we will stay with the formalism just described.

## 3 Mass terms

We are now in the position of discussing the mass terms for the pseudogoldstones.

The quark mass term in the QCD lagrangian is given by

$$_m=\psi _L^{}M\psi _R+\mathrm{h}.\mathrm{c}.$$
(29)   
By thinking of $`M`$ as a set of external fields, the QCD lagrangian preserves all its symmetries if we require that under the global group $`SU(3)_LSU(3)_RU(1)U(1)_A`$ the fields $`M`$ transform as

$$Me^{2i\alpha }g_LMg_R^{}$$
(30)   
As said before, we insist on keeping the $`U(1)_A`$  (in the CFL phase this symmetry is restored at very high density). The effective lagrangian must respect this symmetry extended to the external fields. In ref.  it has been observed that an invariant term is given by

$$\mathrm{\Delta }_1=cdet(M)Tr(M^{1T}\mathrm{\Sigma })V^4+\mathrm{h}.\mathrm{c}.$$
(31)   
(this term differs in form from the one of ref.  because, as explained above, our $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ field is invariant under $`U(1)_A`$).

The main observation of the present paper is to notice that at the order $`M^2`$ another invariant term exists. It reproduces the mass mechanism of the usual low density chirally broken phase. In the present case however the condensate has a dependence on the quark masses. In fact, we notice that the quantity

$$\mathrm{\Delta }_2=f(Tr(M^{}M))Tr[M^{}\mathrm{\Sigma }]V^2+\mathrm{h}.\mathrm{c}.$$
(32)   
is invariant, for any choice of the function $`f`$, since the transformation of $`V`$ (see eq. (28)) under $`U(1)_A`$ compensates the change in $`M`$. For an evaluation at high density of the constant $`c`$ and of the function $`f`$ we make use of the results of ref.  for the region of very high densities. We can then match the shift of the vacuum energy in QCD to that of the effective theory. For a mass matrix proportional to the unit matrix $`M=m1_3`$, and for $`M=\mathrm{diag}(0,0,m_s)`$, one has in QCD, respectively

$$\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{vac}}=\frac{9\mu ^2}{8\pi }m^2,\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{vac}}=\frac{3\mu ^2}{8\pi }m_s^2$$
(33)   
where $`\mu `$ is the chemical potential. Since $`\mathrm{\Delta }_1`$ vanishes for $`m_d=m_u=0`$, it follows that

$$f(Tr(M^{}M))=\frac{3\mu ^2}{8\pi }\sqrt{Tr(M^{}M)}$$
(34)   
Then, choosing the case $`M=m1_3`$, we get

$$c=\frac{9(1\sqrt{3})}{8\pi }\mu ^2$$
(35)   
The invariant $`\mathrm{\Delta }_2`$ in the effective lagrangian solves the puzzle discussed in the introduction. The pseudogoldstone masses do no longer vanish for $`m_u=m_d=0`$ and for a massive strange quark. Notice that the invariant $`\mathrm{\Delta }_2`$ gives a mass pattern identical to the usual one of zero density, except for the factor arising from the function $`f`$, that is $`\sqrt{m_u^2+m_d^2+m_s^2}`$. This is what one would expect from an Adler-Dashen type mechanism, except that in the present case one has to think of a condensate which vanishes with the quark masses due to the $`Z_2`$ invariance, as iscussed in the Introduction. The invariant $`\mathrm{\Delta }_2`$ gives also a contribution to the mass of the pseudogoldstone $`\theta `$ associated to the axial symmetry and to its mixings with $`\pi ^0`$ and $`\eta `$. On the other hand it does not contribute to the mass of the pseudogoldstone $`\varphi `$ associated to the barionic number. We notice that in the phenomenological situation, where $`m_u,m_dm_s`$, the invariant $`\mathrm{\Delta }_2`$ dominates the pseudogoldstone masses.

Using the results of ref.  one finds that the pseudogoldstone masses are completely determined by the quark masses. In fact, in our notations, from ref.  we get

$$F_T^2=(218\mathrm{ln}2)\frac{\mu ^2}{9\pi ^2},f_T^2=\frac{9\mu ^2}{\pi ^2}f_A^2$$
(36)   
Since the pseudogoldstone masses scale as the inverse of the square of the decay constants, one finds that they do not depend on the chemical potential.

As a last observation we notice that for $`m_u=m_d=0`$ and $`m_s0`$, the mass pattern is the same as in the chiral phase (except for a multiplicative constant). Therefore the pions $`\pi ^\pm `$ and $`\pi ^0`$ remain massless, whereas all the other pseudogoldstones become massive (excluding the $`\varphi `$ particle). Then, as expected, there are 3 massless Goldstone bosons coming from the breaking of

$$SU(3)_cSU(2)_LSU(2)_RSU(2)$$
(37)   
(notice that 8 goldstones are eaten up by the gluons). Since it has been shown that for two flavors at high density the symmetry breaking pattern differs from the one in eq. (37) , we see that some interesting phenomenon has to happen in the transition between the case of two and three flavors.

## 4 Conclusions

In this note we have discussed the pattern of the masses of the pseudogoldstones of the color-flavor-locked phase of QCD at high density when quark masses are considered. We have examined the different mass terms that have to be introduced in the effective lagrangian. A previous puzzling feature, of all goldstones remaining massless for $`m_u=m_d=0`$ and $`m_s0`$ was due to neglection of a mass invariant, whose structure reminds, in a properly modified way, of the Adler-Dashen mechanism of the chirally broken phase at low densities. The pseudogoldstone mass pattern is then completely understood.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Krishna Rajagopal for an enlightening exchange of correspondence on the subject.