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Examining the anomalous nature of chiral effects in thermodynamics

Rémy Larue1, Jérémie Quevillon2, and Diego Saviot2,3

Phys. Rev. D 114, 085017 – Published 20 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/2xrq-l194

Abstract

Quantum anomalies give rise to novel transport phenomena, including the generation of a current in a relativistic fluid due to the presence of magnetic field or vorticity. We present an exclusive and direct computation of the chiral anomaly in the adiabatic regime within the path integral for a massless fermion on a generic electromagnetic and curved background, including local temperature and chemical potential. We identify new quantum-thermodynamical contributions to the breaking of axial symmetry which induce the chiral separation and vortical effects.

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