123078369
Quantum effects in the early universe. II. Effective action for scalar fields in homogeneous cosmologies with small anisotropy
The one-loop contributions of conformally invariant scalar fields to the effective action are calculated for homogeneous cosmological models with small anisotropy. The dynamical equations which determine the classical geometry are displayed and the matrix elements of the stress-energy tensor between the initial and final vacuums are determined.
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.
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.
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.
117090129
Universality in Commensurate-Incommensurate Phase Transitions
To investigate the problem of universality in commensurate-incommensurate phase transitions, we have studied certain generalized Frenkel-Kontorova models with different interparticle and external potentials. Many new and interesting features have been found.
118679381
Dynamical scalar degree of freedom in Horava-Lifshitz gravity
We investigate the linear cosmological perturbations of Horcava-Lifshitz gravity in a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe without any matter. Our results show that a new gauge-invariant dynamical scalar mode emerges, due to the gauge transformation under the "foliation-preserving" diffeomorphism and "projectability condition," and it can produce a scale invariant power spectrum. In the infrared regime with lambda=1, the dynamical scalar degree of freedom turns to be a nondynamical one at the linear order level.
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.
120701054
Renormalization group study of the one dimensional quantum mechanical XY model
The one dimensional quantum mechanical XY model is studied by the renormalization group method. To second order in the cumulant expansion, no non-trivial fixed points are found. The calculated free energy is in excellent agreement with that of the exact solution.
118426631
Acoustic signatures in the Cosmic Microwave Background bispectrum from primordial magnetic fields
Using the full radiation transfer function, we numerically calculate the CMB angular bispectrum seeded by the compensated magnetic scalar density mode. We find that, for the string inspired primordial magnetic fields characterized by index nB = −2.9 and mean-field amplitude Bλ = 9nG, the angular bispectrum is dominated by two primordial magnetic shapes. The first magnetic shape looks similar to the one from local-type primordial curvature perturbations, so both the amplitude and profile of the Komatsu-Spergel estimator (reduced bispectrum) seeded by this shape are almost the same as those of the primary CMB anisotropies. However, for different parameter sets (l1,l2), this ``local-type'' reduced bispectrum oscillates around different asymptotic values in the high-l3 regime because of the effect of the Lorentz force, which is exerted by the primordial magnetic fields on the charged baryons. This feature is different from the standard case where all modes approach to zero asymptotically in the high-l limit. On the other hand, the second magnetic shape appears only in the primordial magnetic field model. The amplitude of the Komatsu-Spergel estimator sourced by the second shape diverges in the low-l regime because of the negative slope of shape. In the high-l regime, this amplitude is approximately equal to that of the first estimator, but with a reversal phase.