34547458
Open quantum system approach to the Gibbons-Hawking effect of de Sitter space-time.
We analyze, in the paradigm of open quantum systems, the reduced dynamics of a freely falling two-level detector in de Sitter space-time in weak interaction with a reservoir of fluctuating quantized conformal scalar fields in the de Sitter-invariant vacuum. We find that the detector is asymptotically driven to a thermal state at the Gibbons-Hawking temperature, regardless of its initial state. Our discussion, therefore, shows that the Gibbons-Hawking effect of de Sitter space-time can be understood as a manifestation of thermalization phenomena that involves decoherence and dissipation in open quantum systems.
115459673
LIGHTCONE FLUCTUATIONS AND EXTRA DIMENSIONS
120986058
Quantum thermal aspects of uniformly accelerating charged black holes
119090796
Fulling–Davies–Unruh effect and spontaneous excitation of an accelerated atom interacting with a quantum scalar field
Abstract We investigate, from the point of view of a coaccelerated frame, the spontaneous excitation of a uniformly accelerated two-level atom interacting with a scalar field in a thermal state at a finite temperature T and show that the same spontaneous excitation rate for the uniformly accelerated atom in the Minkowski vacuum obtained in the inertial frame can only be recovered in the coaccelerated frame assuming a thermal bath at the Fulling–Davies–Unruh temperature T FDU = a / 2 π for what appears to be the Minkowski vacuum to the inertial observer. Our discussion provides another example of a physical process different from those examined before in the literature to better understand the Fulling–Davies–Unruh effect.
118525095
Lamb shift for static atoms outside a Schwarzschild black hole
We study, by separately calculating the contributions of vacuum fluctuations and radiation reaction to the atomic energy level shift, the Lamb shift of a static two-level atom interacting with real massless scalar fields in the Boulware, Unruh, and Hartle-Hawking vacuums outside a Schwarzschild black hole. We find that in the Boulware vacuum, the Lamb shift gets a correction arising as a result of the backscattering of vacuum field modes off the space-time curvature, which is reminiscent of the correction to the Lamb shift induced by the presence of cavities. However, when the Unruh and Hartle-Hawking vacua are concerned, our results show that the Lamb shift behaves as if the atom were irradiated by a thermal radiation or immersed in a thermal bath at the Hawking temperature, depending on whether the scalar field is in the Unruh or the Hartle-Hawking vacuum. Remarkably, the thermal radiation is always backscattered by the space-time geometry.
119124346
Unruh effect and entanglement generation for accelerated atoms near a reflecting boundary
We study, in the framework of open systems, the entanglement generation of two independent uniformly accelerated atoms in interaction with the vacuum fluctuations of massless scalar fields subjected to a reflecting plane boundary. We demonstrate that, with the presence of the boundary, the accelerated atoms exhibit distinct features from static ones in a thermal bath at the corresponding Unruh temperature in terms of the entanglement creation at the neighborhood of the initial time. In this sense, accelerated atoms in vacuum do not necessarily have to behave as if they were static in a thermal bath at the Unruh temperature.
123559303
DIGITAL ORIGIN OF COSMIC INFLATION
Assuming our physical universe processes and registers information to determine its dynamical evolution, one can put serious constraints on the cosmology that our universe can bear, in particular, the origin of cosmic inflation. The universe evolves to gain her computation capacity which is linear in time t. On the other hand, the growth in content of degrees of freedom (i.e. by integrating in more galaxies) is as t3/2 through expansion. When the in flux of degrees of freedom of the universe grows beyond some value, the computation capacity of the universe becomes insufficient to determine its evolution, the universe fixes its Hubble radius and inflates away its degrees of freedom within its horizon to regain dynamical evolution. The length of inflation is determined by the communication time required by the universe to become aware of the dropping in the degrees of freedom below some critical value by inflation and is proportional to its Hubble radius. We predict that there can be multiple cosmic inflations. The next inflation era will stop after inflating for a period of 1019 sec if the past inflation period of our universe was 10-33 sec.
118458603
Thermal relics in hidden sectors
Dark matter may be hidden, with no standard model gauge interactions. At the same time, in WIMPless models (WIMP: weakly interacting massive particles) with hidden matter masses proportional to hidden gauge couplings squared, the hidden dark matter's thermal relic density may naturally be in the right range, preserving the key quantitative virtue of WIMPs. We consider this possibility in detail. We first determine model-independent constraints on hidden sectors from big bang nucleosynthesis and the cosmic microwave background. Contrary to conventional wisdom, large hidden sectors are easily accommodated. A flavour-free version of the standard model is allowed if the hidden sector is just 30% colder than the observable sector after reheating. Alternatively, if the hidden sector contains a one-generation version of the standard model with characteristic mass scale below 1 MeV, even identical reheating temperatures are allowed. We then analyse hidden sector freeze-out in detail for a concrete model, solving the Boltzmann equation numerically and explaining the results from both observable and hidden sector points of view. We find that WIMPless dark matter does indeed obtain the correct relic density for masses in the range . The upper bound results from the requirement of perturbativity, and the lower bound assumes that the observable and hidden sectors reheat to the same temperature, and is raised to the MeV scale if the hidden sector is ten times colder. WIMPless dark matter therefore generalizes the WIMP paradigm to the largest mass range possible for viable thermal relics and provides a unified framework for exploring dark matter signals across nine orders of magnitude in dark matter mass.
119222434
Quantum Modifications to Gravity Waves in de Sitter Spacetime
We treat a model in which tensor perturbations of de Sitter spacetime, represented as a spatially flat model, are modified by the effects of the vacuum fluctuations of a massless conformally invariant field, such as the electromagnetic field. We use the semiclassical theory of gravity with the expectation value of the conformal field stress tensor as a source. We first study the stability of de Sitter spacetime by searching for growing, spatially homogeneous modes, and conclude that it is stable within the limits of validity of the semiclassical theory. We next examine the modification of linearized plane gravity waves by the effects of the quantum stress tensor. We find a correction term which is of the same form as the original wave, but displaced in phase by {pi}/2, and with an amplitude which depends upon an initial time. The magnitude of this effect is proportional to the change in scale factor after this time. We discuss alternative interpretations of this time, but pay particular attention to the view that this is the beginning of inflation. So long as the energy scale of inflation and the proper frequency of the mode at the beginning of inflation are well below the Planckmore » scale, the fractional correction is small. However, modes which are trans-Planckian at the onset of inflation can undergo a significant correction. The increase in amplitude can potentially have observable consequences through a modification of the power spectrum of tensor perturbations in inflationary cosmology. This enhancement of the power spectrum depends upon the initial time, and is greater for shorter wavelengths.« less
119123919
Fermion Mass Hierarchy and Proton Stability from Non-anomalous U(1)(F) in SUSY SU(5)
We present a realistic supersymmetric SU(5) model combined with a nonanomalous U(1){sub F} symmetry. We find a set of U(1){sub F} charges which automatically lead to the realistic mass hierarchy and mixing patterns for quarks, leptons, and neutrinos. All gauge anomalies, including the [U(1){sub F}]{sup 3} anomaly, are canceled in our model without invoking the Green-Schwarz mechanism or having exotic fields. Proton decay mediated by dimension-5 operators is automatically suppressed in our model, because the scale set by the largest right-handed neutrino mass is much less than the GUT scale.
43002203
Black holes and Rindler superspace: Classical singularity and quantum unitarity
Canonical quantization of spherically symmetric initial data appropriate to classical interior black hole solutions in four dimensions is solved exactly without gauge fixing the remaining kinematic Gauss law constraint. The resultant mini-superspace manifold is two dimensional, of signature (+, -), nonsingular, and can be identified with the first Rindler wedge. The associated Wheeler-DeWitt equation with evolution in intrinsic superspace time is a free massive Klein-Gordon equation, and the Hamilton-Jacobi semiclassical limit of plane wave solutions can be matched to the interiors of Schwarzschild black holes. Classical black hole horizons and singularities correspond to the boundaries of the Rindler wedge. Exact wave functions of the Dirac equation in superspace are also considered. Precise correspondence between Schwarzschild black holes and free-particle mechanics in superspace is noted. Despite the presence of classical singularities, Hermiticity of the Dirac Hamiltonian operator, and thus unitarity of the quantum theory, is equivalent to an appropriate boundary condition which must be satisfied by the quantum states. This boundary condition holds for quite generic quantum wave packets of energy eigenstates, but fails for the usual Rindler fermion modes which are eigenstates with zero uncertainty in energy.