1194392
Bose novae as squeezing of the vacuum by condensate dynamics
We propose an explanation of the phenomena of Bose Novae, the controlled collapse of a Bose-Einstein condensate described in the experiment of Donley et al [1], as a consequence of the squeezing and amplification of the quantum fluctuations above the condensate by the condensate dynamics. In analyzing the changing amplitude and particle contents of these excitations, our simple physical picture provides excellent quantitative fits with experimental data on the scaling behavior of the collapse time and the amount of particles emitted in the jets. Bose Novae are observed when a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) [2] in a cold (3nK) gas of Rubidium atoms is rendered unstable by a sudden inversion of the sign of the interaction between atoms. After a waiting time tcollapse, the condensate implodes, and a fraction of the condensate atoms are seen to oscillate within the magnetic trap which contains the gas (see below and [1]). These atoms are said to belong to a “burst”. In the experiments described by Donley et al., the interaction is again suddenly turned off after a time τevolve. For a certain range of values of τevolve, new emissions of atoms from the condensate are observed, the so-called “jets”. Jets are distinct from bursts: they are colder, weaker, and have a characteristic disk-like shape. To date, the most comprehensive theoretical approach to Bose Novae is based on the Gross-Pitaevsky equation with explicitly time-dependent nonlinear terms. Loss mechanisms are incorporated by adding imaginary terms to the Hamiltonian [3]. This approach is analyzed in ref. [4]. There is some experimental evidence that atom recombination into molecules cannot fully explain the observed behavior [5]. We claim, in contrast to the emphasis placed on the dynamics of the condensate alone or the kinet-
22366791
Noise kernel in stochastic gravity and stress energy bitensor of quantum fields in curved spacetimes
The noise kernel is the vacuum expectation value of the (operator-valued) stress-energy bi-tensor which describes the fluctuations of a quantum field in curved spacetimes. It plays the role in stochastic semiclassical gravity based on the Einstein-Langevin equation similar to the expectation value of the stress-energy tensor in semiclassical gravity based on the semiclassical Einstein equation. According to the stochastic gravity program, this two point function (and by extension the higher order correlations in a hierarchy) of the stress energy tensor possesses precious statistical mechanical information of quantum fields in curved spacetime and, by the self-consistency required of Einstein's equation, provides a probe into the coherence properties of the gravity sector (as measured by the higher order correlation functions of gravitons) and the quantum nature of spacetime. It reflects the low and medium energy (referring to Planck energy as high energy) behavior of any viable theory of quantum gravity, including string theory. It is also useful for calculating quantum fluctuations of fields in modern theories of structure formation and for backreaction problems in cosmological and black holes spacetimes. 
We discuss the properties of this bi-tensor with the method of point-separation, and derive a regularized expression of the noise-kernel for a scalar field in general curved spacetimes. One collorary of our finding is that for a massless conformal field the trace of the noise kernel identically vanishes. We outline how the general framework and results derived here can be used for the calculation of noise kernels for Robertson-Walker and Schwarzschild spacetimes.
17830761
Correlation entropy of an interacting quantum field and H theorem for the O(N) model
Following the paradigm of Boltzmann-BBGKY we propose a correlation entropy (of the nth order) for an interacting quantum field, obtained by `slaving' (truncation with causal factorization) of the higher (n+1 th) order correlation functions in the Schwinger-Dyson system of equations. This renders an otherwise closed system effectively open where dissipation arises. The concept of correlation entropy is useful for addressing issues related to thermalization. As a small yet important step in that direction we prove an H-theorem for the correlation entropy of a quantum mechanical O(N) model with a Closed Time Path Two Particle Irreducible Effective Action at the level of Next-to-Leading-Order large N approximation. This model may be regarded as a field theory in $0$ space dimensions.
18511662
Noise and fluctuations in semiclassical gravity.
We continue our earlier investigation of the back reaction problem in semiclassical gravity with the Schwinger-Keldysh or closed-time-path (CTP) functional formalism using the language of the decoherent history formulation of quantum mechanics. Making use of its intimate relation with the Feynman-Vernon influence functional method, we examine the statistical mechanical meaning and show the interrelation of the many quantum processes involved in the back reaction problem, such as particle creation, decoherence, and dissipation. We show how noise and fluctuation arise naturally from the CTP formalism. We derive an expression for the CTP effective action in terms of the Bogoliubov coefficients and show how noise is related to the fluctuations in the number of particles created. In so doing we have extended the old framework of semiclassical gravity, based on the mean field theory of Einstein equation with a source given by the expectation value of the energy-momentum tensor, to that based on a Langevin-type equation, where the dynamics of the fluctuations of spacetime is driven by the quantum fluctuations of the matter field. This generalized framework is useful for the investigation of quantum processes in the early Universe involving fluctuations, vacuum instability, and phase transition phenomena as well as the nonequilibrium thermodynamics of black holes. It is also essential to an understanding of the transition from any quantum theory of gravity to classical general relativity.
119407258
Quantum statistical processes in the early universe
We show how the concept of quantum open system and the methods in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics can be usefully applied to studies of quantum statistical processes in the early universe. We first sketch how noise, fluctuation, dissipation and decoherence processes arise in a wide range of cosmological problems. We then focus on the origin and nature of noise in quantum fields and spacetime dynamics. We introduce the concept of geometrodynamic noise and suggest a statistical mechanical definition of gravitational entropy. We end with a brief discussion of the theoretical appropriateness to view the physical universe as an open system.
118267306
Cosmology as `Condensed Matter' Physics
We note that in general there exist two basic aspects in any branch of physics, including cosmology - one dealing with the attributes of basic constituents and forces of nature, the other dealing with how structures arise from them and how they evolve. Current research in quantum and superstring cosmology is directed mainly towards the first aspect, even though a viable theory of the underlying interactions is lacking. We call the attention to the development of the second aspect, i.e., on the organization and processing of the basic constituents of matter (in classical cosmology) and spacetime (in quantum cosmology). Many newly developed concepts and techniques in condensed matter physics stemming from the investigation of disordered, dynamical and complex systems can guide us in asking the right questions and formulating new solutions to existing and developing cosmological issues, thereby broadening our view of the universe both in its formative and present state.
119260706
Parametrized modified gravity constraints after Planck
We constrain $f(R)$ and chameleon-type modified gravity in the framework of the Berstchinger-Zukin parametrization using the recent released Planck data, including both CMB temperature power spectrum and lensing potential power spectrum. Some other external data sets are included, such as BAO measurements from the 6dFGS, SDSS DR7 and BOSS DR9 surveys, HST $H_0$ measurement and supernovae from Union2.1 compilation. We also use WMAP9yr data for consistency check and comparison. For $f(R)$ gravity, WMAP9yr results can only give quite a loose constraint on the modified gravity parameter $B_0$, which is related to the present value of the Compton wavelength of the extra scalar degree of freedom, $B_0<3.37$ at $95\% {\rm C.L.}$ We demonstrate that this constraint mainly comes from the late ISW effect. With only Planck CMB temperature power-spectrum data, we can improve the WMAP9yr result by a factor $3.7$ ($B_0<0.91$ at $95\% {\rm C.L.}$). If the Planck lensing potential power-spectrum data are also taken into account, the constraint can be further strenghtened by a factor $5.1$ ($B_0<0.18$ at $95\% {\rm C.L.}$). This major improvement mainly comes from the small-scale lensing signal. Furthermore, BAO, HST and supernovae data could slightly improve the $B_0$ bound ($B_0<0.12$ at $95\% {\rm C.L.}$).For the chameleon-type model, we find that the data set which we used cannot constrain the Compton wavelength $B_0$ and the potential index $s$ of chameleon field, but can give a tight constraint on the parameter $\beta_1=1.043^{+0.163}_{-0.104}$ at $95\% {\rm C.L.}$ ($\beta_1=1$ in general relativity), which accounts for the non-minimal coupling between the chameleon field and the matter component. In addition, we find that both modified gravity models we considered favor a relatively higher Hubble parameter than the concordance LCDM model in general relativity.
123110822
Corrections to scaling for period doubling
We have studied a multiple scaling which describes corrections to scaling. For the period doubling in one-dimensional dissipative maps, two-dimensional areapreserving maps, and four-dimensional symplectic maps, the multiple scaling is seen to be well-obeyed, and new scaling factors have been found. The multiple scaling is also seen to be a very powerful tool for searching for scaling behavior.
119185851
Timelike vector field dynamics in the early universe
We study the dynamics of a timelike vector field when the background spacetime is in an accelerating phase in the early universe. With a timelike vector field, an inflationary phase is shown to be difficult to realize, so we investigate the evolution of a vector field within a scalar field-driven inflation model. Also, we calculate the power spectrum of the vector field without considering the metric perturbations. While the time component of the vector field perturbations provides a scale invariant spectrum when ζ = 0, where ζ is a nonminimal coupling parameter, both the longitudinal and the transverse perturbations give a scale invariant spectrum when ζ = 1/6 in the absence of the coupling terms. The deviation of the power spectrum due to the coupling terms is calculated by use of the Greens’ function.
120428117
Crossover phenomena in the multifractal behavior of invariant circles
Abstract The singularity spectrum f(α) and the generalized dimension Dq of the critical invariant circle in an area-preserving twist map with a variable degree of inflection z is studied. The scaling behavior is found to depend on z, and there is a crossover from the simple fixed point to the standard fixed point when z varies from 2 to 3. Thus z plays a role quite similar to that of dimensionality in phase transition, with z = 2 and 3 corresponding to the lower and upper critical dimensions respectively.
118510249
Effects of Symmetry Energy in the Reaction 40Ca+124Sn at 140 MeV/nucleon
The density-dependent symmetry energy is a hot topic in nuclear physics. Many laboratories over the world are planning to perform related experiments to probe the symmetry energy. Based on the semiclassical Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (BUU) transport model, we study the effects of nuclear symmetry energy in the central reaction 40Ca+124Sn at 140MeV/nucleon in the laboratory system. It is found that the rapidity distribution of free nucleon's neutron-to-proton ratio is sensitive to the symmetry energy, especially at large rapidities. The free neutron-to-proton ratios at small or large rapidities may reflect high or low density behavior of nuclear symmetry energy. To probe the density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy, it is better to give the kinetic distribution and the rapidity distribution of emitted nucleons at the same time.