1,157 research outputs found
Haloes of k-Essence
We study gravitationally bound static and spherically symmetric
configurations of k-essence fields. In particular, we investigate whether these
configurations can reproduce the properties of dark matter haloes. The classes
of Lagrangians we consider lead to non-isotropic fluids with barotropic and
polytropic equations of state. The latter include microscopic realizations of
the often-considered Chaplygin gases, which we find can cluster into dark
matter halo-like objects with flat rotation curves, while exhibiting a dark
energy-like negative pressure on cosmological scales. We complement our studies
with a series of formal general results about the stability and initial value
formulation of non-canonical scalar field theories, and we also discuss a new
class of de Sitter solutions with spacelike field gradients.Comment: 34pages, single column double spacing, 7 figures, 3 Tables, RevTex4.
Additional references and minor clarifications. To be submitted to JCA
General conditions for scale-invariant perturbations in an expanding universe
We investigate the general properties of expanding cosmological models which
generate scale-invariant curvature perturbations in the presence of a variable
speed of sound. We show that in an expanding universe, generation of a
super-Hubble, nearly scale-invariant spectrum of perturbations over a range of
wavelengths consistent with observation requires at least one of three
conditions: (1) accelerating expansion, (2) a speed of sound faster than the
speed of light, or (3) super-Planckian energy density.Comment: 4 pages, RevTe
Phase separation versus supersolid behavior in frustrated antiferromagnets
We investigate the competition between spin-supersolidity and phase
separation in a frustrated spin-half model of weakly coupled dimers. We start
by considering systems of hard-core bosons on the square lattice, onto which
the low-energy physics of the herein investigated spin model can be mapped, and
devise a criterion for gauging the interplay between supersolid order and
domain wall formation based on strong coupling arguments. Effective bosonic
models for the spin model are derived via the contractor renormalization (CORE)
algorithm and we propose to combine a self-consistent cluster mean-field
solution with our criterion for the occurrence of phase separation to derive
the phase diagram as a function of frustration and magnetic field. In the limit
of strong frustration, the model is shown to be unstable toward phase
separation, in contradiction with recently published results. However, a region
of stable supersolidity is identified for intermediate frustration, in a
parameter range not investigated so far and of possible experimental relevance.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures. Published versio
Can We See Lorentz-Violating Vector Fields in the CMB?
We investigate the perturbation theory of a fixed-norm, timelike
Lorentz-violating vector field. After consistently quantizing the vector field
to put constraints on its parameters, we compute the primordial spectra of
perturbations generated by inflation in the presence of this vector field. We
find that its perturbations are sourced by the perturbations of the inflaton;
without the inflaton perturbation the vector field perturbations decay away
leaving no primordial spectra of perturbations. Since the inflaton perturbation
does not have a spin-1 component, the vector field generically does not
generate any spin-1 ``vector-type'' perturbations. Nevertheless, it will modify
the amplitude of both the spin-0 ``scalar-type'' and spin-2 ``tensor-type''
perturbation spectra, leading to violations of the inflationary consistency
relationship.Comment: 36 pages, 1 fig, RevTex4, Submitted to PR
Near Scale Invariance with Modified Dispersion Relations
We describe a novel mechanism to seed a nearly scale invariant spectrum of
adiabatic perturbations during a non-inflationary stage. It relies on a
modified dispersion relation that contains higher powers of the spatial
momentum of matter perturbations. We implement this idea in the context of a
massless scalar field in an otherwise perfectly homogeneous universe. The
couplings of the field to background scalars and tensors give rise to the
required modification of its dispersion relation, and the couplings of the
scalar to matter result in an adiabatic primordial spectrum. This work is meant
to explicitly illustrate that it is possible to seed nearly scale invariant
primordial spectra without inflation, within a conventional expansion history.Comment: 7 pages and no figures. Uses RevTeX
Creating Statistically Anisotropic and Inhomogeneous Perturbations
In almost all structure formation models, primordial perturbations are
created within a homogeneous and isotropic universe, like the one we observe.
Because their ensemble averages inherit the symmetries of the spacetime in
which they are seeded, cosmological perturbations then happen to be
statistically isotropic and homogeneous. Certain anomalies in the cosmic
microwave background on the other hand suggest that perturbations do not
satisfy these statistical properties, thereby challenging perhaps our
understanding of structure formation. In this article we relax this tension. We
show that if the universe contains an appropriate triad of scalar fields with
spatially constant but non-zero gradients, it is possible to generate
statistically anisotropic and inhomogeneous primordial perturbations, even
though the energy momentum tensor of the triad itself is invariant under
translations and rotations.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figure. Uses RevTeX
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