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  • Open Access

Chiral effects and Joule heating in hot and dense matter

Srimoyee Sen1,* and Varun Vaidya2,†

  • *Contact author: srimoyee08@gmail.com
  • †Contact author: Varun.Vaidya@usd.edu
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Phys. Rev. D 113, 043017 – Published 9 February, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/4hch-nm2m

Abstract

Initial states of dense matter with nonzero electron chiral imbalance could potentially give rise to strong magnetic fields through chiral plasma instability. Previous work indicated that unless chiral chemical potential is as large as the electron vector chemical potential, the growth of magnetic fields due to the instability is washed out by chirality flipping rate enabled by electron mass. We reexamine this claim in a broader range of parameters and find that at higher temperatures the hierarchy is reversed supporting a growing magnetic field for an initial electron chiral chemical potential much smaller than the electron vector chemical potential. Further, we identify a qualitatively new effect relevant for magnetized hot and dense medium where chiral magnetic effect (CME) sourced by density fluctuation acts as a powerful source of Joule heating. Remarkably, even modest chiral chemical potentials (keV) in such environment can deposit energy densities set by the QCD scale in a relatively short time of the order of a few milliseconds or seconds. We speculate how this mechanism makes CME-driven Joule heating a potentially critical ingredient in the dynamics of turbulent density fluctuation of supernovae and neutron star mergers.

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 043017– Published 9 February, 2026
  • Received 14 October 2025
  • Accepted 9 January 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

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