Search results for " Cosmology"
showing 10 items of 1486 documents
Do we Observe Quantum Gravity Effects at Galactic Scales?
2005
The nonperturbative renormalization group flow of Quantum Einstein Gravity (QEG) is reviewed. It is argued that there could be strong renormalization effects at large distances, in particular a scale dependent Newton constant, which mimic the presence of dark matter at galactic and cosmological scales.
Effective interactions in Ricci-Based Gravity below the non-metricity scale
2020
We show how minimally-coupled matter fields of arbitrary spin, when coupled to Ricci-Based Gravity theories, develop non-trivial effective interactions that can be treated perturbatively only below a characteristic high-energy scale $\Lambda_Q$. Our results generalize to arbitrary matter fields those recently obtained for spin 1/2 fields in \cite{Latorre:2017uve}. We then use this interactions to set bounds on the high-energy scale $\Lambda_Q$ that controls departures of Ricci-Based Gravity theories from General Relativity. Particularly, for Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity we obtain the strong bound $ |\kappa|<3.5 \times 10^{-14} \text{ m}^5 \text{kg}^{-1}\text{s}^{-2} $.
Lensing and dynamics of ultracompact bosonic stars
2017
Spherically symmetric bosonic stars are one of the few examples of gravitating solitons that are known to form dynamically, via a classical process of (incomplete) gravitational collapse. As stationary solutions of the Einstein--Klein-Gordon or the Einstein--Proca theory, bosonic stars may also become sufficiently compact to develop light rings and hence mimic, in principle, gravitational-wave observational signatures of black holes (BHs). In this paper, we discuss how these horizonless ultra-compact objects (UCOs) are actually distinct from BHs, both phenomenologically and dynamically. In the electromagnetic channel, the light ring associated phenomenology reveals remarkable lensing patter…
On the current status of Modified Gravity
2014
We revisit the cosmological viability of the Hu $\&$ Sawicki modified gravity scenario. The impact of such a modification on the different cosmological observables, including gravitational waves, is carefully described. The most recent cosmological data, as well as constraints on the relationship between the clustering parameter $\sigma_8$ and the current matter mass-energy density $\Omega_m$ from cluster number counts and weak lensing tomography, are considered in our numerical calculations. The strongest bound we find is $|f_{R0}| < 3.7 \times 10^{-6}$ at $95\%$~CL. Forthcoming cluster surveys covering 10,000 deg$^2$ in the sky, with galaxy surface densities of $\mathcal{O}(10)$~arcmin$^{…
The Power Spectrum in de Sitter Inflation, Revisited
2008
We find that the amplitude of quantum fluctuations of the invariant de Sitter vacuum coincides exactly with that of the vacuum of a comoving observer for a massless scalar (inflaton) field. We propose redefining the actual physical power spectrum as the difference between the amplitudes of the above vacua. An inertial particle detector continues to observe the Gibbons-Hawking temperature. However, although the resulting power spectrum is still scale-free, its amplitude can be drastically reduced since now, instead of the Hubble's scale at the inflationary period, it is determined by the square of the mass of the inflaton fluctuation field.
Evolution of coupled scalar and spinor particles in classical field theory
2006
We study the evolution of mixed scalar as well as spinor fields within the context of the classical field theory. The initial condition problem is solved and the fields distributions, exactly accounting for the initial conditions, are obtained for both scalar and spinor fields. In the system of two coupled fields we consider the special case of the initial conditions which are rapidly oscillating functions. It is demonstrated that the energy densities of the scalar fields and the intensities of the spinor fields coincide with the usual transition and survival probabilities of neutrino flavor oscillations in vacuum.
Novel mechanism for CMB modulation in the Standard Model
2020
We demonstrate that light spectator fields can source sizeable CMB anisotropies through modulated reheating even in the absence of direct couplings to the inflaton. The effect arises when the phase space of the inflaton decay is modulated by the spectator which generates masses for the decay products. We call the mechanism \textit{indirect modulation} and show that it can source perturbations even four orders of magnitude larger than the observed. Importantly, the indirect mechanism is present in the Standard Model extended with right-handed neutrinos. For a minimally coupled Higgs boson this leads to a novel lower bound on the quartic coupling and constrains the neutrino Yukawas below unit…
Feynman integrals for binary systems of black holes
2022
The initial phase of the inspiral process of a binary black-hole system can be described by perturbation theory. At the third post-Minkowskian order a two-loop double box graph, known as H-graph, contributes. In this talk we report how all master integrals of the H-graph with equal masses can be expressed up to weight four in terms of multiple polylogarithms. We also discuss techniques for the unequal mass case. The essential complication (and the focus of the talk) is the occurrence of several square roots.
Double copies of fermions as only gravitational interacting matter
2016
Inspired by the recent progress in the field of scattering amplitudes, we discuss hypothetical particles which can be characterised as the double copies of fermions -- in the same way gravitons can be viewed as double copies of gauge bosons. As the gravitons, these hypothetical particles interact only through gravitational interactions. We present two equivalent methods for the computation of the relevant scattering amplitudes. The hypothetical particles can be massive and non-relativistic.
Particles and energy fluxes from a CFT perspective
2004
We analyze the creation of particles in two dimensions under the action of conformal transformations. We focus our attention on Mobius transformations and compare the usual approach, based on the Bogolubov coefficients, with an alternative but equivalent viewpoint based on correlation functions. In the latter approach the absence of particle production under full Mobius transformations is manifest. Moreover, we give examples, using the moving-mirror analogy, to illustrate the close relation between the production of quanta and energy.