Non-stationary measurements of Chiral Magnetic Effect

•Asymmetry in the response function for vector currents of massless fermions in the magnetic field is computed.•Asymmetry caused by axial chemical potential is practically indistinguishable from the one caused by non-stationarity.•The CME current is non-dissipative in the stationary case and dissipative in the non-stationary case.•Importance of studies of P-odd signatures in central collisions is emphasized.

We discuss the Chiral Magnetic Effect from the quantum theory of measurements point of view for non-stationary measurements. The effect of anisotropy for fluctuations of electric currents in a magnetic field is addressed. It is shown that anisotropy caused by nonzero axial chemical potential is indistinguishable in this framework from anisotropy caused by finite measurement time or finite lifetime of the magnetic field, and in all cases it is related to abelian triangle anomaly. Possible P-odd effects in central heavy-ion collisions (where the Chiral Magnetic Effect is absent) are discussed in this context. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Professor Mikhail Polikarpov (1952–2013).