Search results for "classical"
showing 10 items of 2294 documents
Caustics for spherical waves
2016
We study the development of caustics in shift-symmetric scalar field theories by focusing on simple waves with an $SO(p)$-symmetry in an arbitrary number of space dimensions. We show that the pure Galileon, the DBI-Galileon, and the extreme-relativistic Galileon naturally emerge as the unique set of caustic-free theories, highlighting a link between the caustic-free condition for simple $SO(p)$-waves and the existence of either a global Galilean symmetry or a global (extreme-)relativistic Galilean symmetry.
Astrophysical constraints on extended gravity models
2015
We investigate the propagation of gravitational waves in the context of fourth order gravity nonminimally coupled to a massive scalar field. Using the damping of the orbital period of coalescing stellar binary systems, we impose constraints on the free parameters of extended gravity models. In particular, we find that the variation of the orbital period is a function of three mass scales which depend on the free parameters of the model under consideration; we can constrain these mass scales from current observational data.
The 1-loop effective potential for the Standard Model in curved spacetime
2018
The renormalisation group improved Standard Model effective potential in an arbitrary curved spacetime is computed to one loop order in perturbation theory. The loop corrections are computed in the ultraviolet limit, which makes them independent of the choice of the vacuum state and allows the derivation of the complete set of $\beta$-functions. The potential depends on the spacetime curvature through the direct non-minimal Higgs-curvature coupling, curvature contributions to the loop diagrams, and through the curvature dependence of the renormalisation scale. Together, these lead to significant curvature dependence, which needs to be taken into account in cosmological applications, which i…
The damped harmonic oscillator in deformation quantization
2005
We propose a new approach to the quantization of the damped harmonic oscillator in the framework of deformation quantization. The quantization is performed in the Schr\"{o}dinger picture by a star-product induced by a modified "Poisson bracket". We determine the eigenstates in the damped regime and compute the transition probability between states of the undamped harmonic oscillator after the system was submitted to dissipation.
Flavour mixing transport theory and resonant leptogenesis
2021
We derive non-equilibrium quantum transport equations for flavour-mixing fermions. We develop the formalism mostly in the context of resonant leptogenesis with two mixing Majorana fermions and one lepton flavour, but our master equations are valid more generally in homogeneous and isotropic systems. We give a hierarchy of quantum kinetic equations, valid at different approximations, that can accommodate helicity and arbitrary mass differences. In the mass-degenerate limit the equations take the familiar form of density matrix equations. We also derive the semiclassical Boltzmann limit of our equations, including the CP-violating source, whose regulator corresponds to the flavour coherence d…
Electromagnetic Duality Anomaly in Curved Spacetimes
2016
The source-free Maxwell action is invariant under electric-magnetic duality rotations in arbitrary spacetimes. This leads to a conserved classical Noether charge. We show that this conservation law is broken at the quantum level in presence of a background classical gravitational field with a non-trivial Chern-Pontryagin invariant, in a parallel way to the chiral anomaly for massless Dirac fermions. Among the physical consequences, the net polarization of the quantum electromagnetic field is not conserved.
Semiclassical geons at particle accelerators
2014
We point out that in certain four-dimensional extensions of general relativity constructed within the Palatini formalism stable self-gravitating objects with a discrete mass and charge spectrum may exist. The incorporation of nonlinearities in the electromagnetic field may effectively reduce their mass spectrum by many orders of magnitude. As a consequence, these objects could be within (or near) the reach of current particle accelerators. We provide an exactly solvable model to support this idea.
Ricci-Based Gravity theories and their impact on Maxwell and nonlinear electromagnetic models
2019
Abstract We extend the correspondence between metric-affine Ricci-Based Gravity the- ories and General Relativity (GR) to the case in which the matter sector is represented by linear and nonlinear electromagnetic fields. This complements previous studies focused on fluids and scalar fields. We establish the general algorithm that relates the matter fields in the GR and RBG frames and consider some applications. In particular, we find that the so-called Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity theory coupled to Maxwell electromag- netism is in direct correspondence with GR coupled to Born-Infeld electromagnetism. We comment on the potential phenomenological implications of this relation.
Einstein, Planck and Vera Rubin: Relevant Encounters Between the Cosmological and the Quantum Worlds
2021
In Cosmology and in Fundamental Physics there is a crucial question like: where the elusive substance that we call Dark Matter is hidden in the Universe and what is it made of? that, even after 40 years from the Vera Rubin seminal discovery [1] does not have a proper answer. Actually, the more we have investigated, the more this issue has become strongly entangled with aspects that go beyond the established Quantum Physics, the Standard Model of Elementary particles and the General Relativity and related to processes like the Inflation, the accelerated expansion of the Universe and High Energy Phenomena around compact objects. Even Quantum Gravity and very exotic Dark Matter particle candid…
Black Hole Entropy Quantization
2006
Ever since the pioneer works of Bekenstein and Hawking, black hole entropy has been known to have a quantum origin. Furthermore, it has long been argued by Bekenstein that entropy should be quantized in discrete (equidistant) steps given its identification with horizon area in (semi-)classical general relativity and the properties of area as an adiabatic invariant. This lead to the suggestion that black hole area should also be quantized in equidistant steps to account for the discrete black hole entropy. Here we shall show that loop quantum gravity, in which area is {\it not} quantized in equidistant steps can nevertheless be consistent with Bekenstein's equidistant entropy proposal in a s…