Direct Urca process facilitated by non-Fermi-liquid quantum criticality

Conventional Fermi-liquid theories of dense nuclear matter predict that the direct Urca process requires a proton fraction above a threshold of $Y_p\approx 0.11$–$0.15$, which is rarely reached in low-mass neutron stars. Here we show that this stringent kinematic constraint is drastically relaxed by the non-Fermi liquid behavior arising from superfluid and superconducting quantum criticality in neutron stars. In the non-Fermi-liquid regimes, nucleons have a smooth momentum occupation without a sharp Fermi surface, and their chemical potentials develop a logarithmic temperature dependence. These intrinsic features fundamentally alter the standard $\beta$-equilibrium relation. Consequently, direct Urca neutrino emission can be activated even at low nuclear densities. This modifies the long-standing Urca-threshold paradigm and indicates that direct Urca process has the opportunity to occur in low-mass neutron stars.