Description
We introduce a novel approach for understanding how electromagnetic fields interact with quantum
matter, giving rise to macroscopically observable quantum mechanical effects. This method is useful for
systematically studying complex phenomena involving strong magnetic fields, with applications to a wide variety of
physics subfields including condensed matter, nuclear, and astrophysics. Specific applications include the study of
Dirac and Weyl semimetals, electroweak plasmas, heavy ion collisions, and neutron stars.
We focus specifically on magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) with an Adler-Bell-Jackiw (ABJ) anomaly (also known as the
triangle anomaly or chiral anomaly). This new framework allows us to consolidate various effects, like the chiral
magnetic effect, electric separation effect, and much more, into a single comprehensive model. As a testable
prediction, we explore a new type of chiral wave that we term the chiral magnetic electric separation wave. This
prediction is emphatically distinct from the previously-predicted chiral magnetic wave which we show fails to exist in
the presence of dynamical electromagnetic fields. Finally, we introduce a simplified model to investigate the outcome
of the well-known chiral instability and comment on a potential application to neutron stars.
