1,280 research outputs found
On Quantum Nature of Black-Hole Spacetime: A Possible New Source of Intense Radiation
Atoms and the planets acquire their stability from the quantum mechanical
incompatibility of the position and momentum measurements. This incompatibility
is expressed by the fundamental commutator [x, p_x]=i hbar, or equivalently,
via the Heisenberg's uncertainty principle Delta x Delta p_x sim hbar. A
further stability-related phenomenon where the quantum realm plays a dramatic
role is the collapse of certain stars into white dwarfs and neutron stars.
Here, an intervention of the Pauli exclusion principle, via the fermionic
degenerate pressure, stops the gravitational collapse. However, by the
neutron-star stage the standard quantum realm runs dry. One is left with the
problematic collapse of a black hole. This essay is devoted to a concrete
argument on why the black-hole spacetime itself should exhibit a quantum
nature. The proposed quantum aspect of spacetime is shown to prevent the
general-relativistic dictated problematic collapse. The quantum nature of
black-hole spacetime is deciphered from a recent result on the universal
equal-area spacing [=lambda_P^2 4 ln(3)] for black holes. In one interpretation
of the emergent picture, an astrophysical black hole can fluctuate to
sqrt{pi/ln(3)} approx 1.7 times its classical size, and thus allow radiation
and matter to escape to the outside observers. These fluctuations I conjecture
provide a new source, perhaps beyond Hawking radiation, of intense radiation
from astrophysical black holes and may be the primary source of observed
radiation from those galactic cores what carry black hole(s). The presented
interpretation may be used as a criterion to choose black holes from black hole
candidates.Comment: This essay received an "honorable mention" in the 1999 Essay
Competition of the Gravity Research Foundation - Ed. Int. J. Mod. Phys. D
(1999, in press). For Joseph Knech
Flavor-oscillation clocks, continuous quantum measurements and a violation of Einstein equivalence principle
The relation between Einstein equivalence principle and a continuous quantum
measurement is analyzed in the context of the recently proposed
flavor-oscillation clocks, an idea pioneered by Ahluwalia and Burgard (Gen. Rel
Grav. Errata 29, 681 (1997)). We will calculate the measurement outputs if a
flavor-oscillation clock, which is immersed in a gravitational field, is
subject to a continuous quantum measurement. Afterwards, resorting to the weak
equivalence principle, we obtain the corresponding quantities in a freely
falling reference frame. Finally, comparing this last result with the
measurement outputs that would appear in a Minkowskian spacetime it will be
found that they do not coincide, in other words, we have a violation of
Einstein equivalence principle. This violation appears in two different forms,
namely: (i) the oscillation frequency in a freely falling reference frame does
not match with the case predicted by general relativity, a feature previously
obtained by Ahluwalia; (ii) the probability distribution of the measurement
outputs, obtained by an observer in a freely falling reference frame, does not
coincide with the results that would appear in the case of a Minkowskian
spacetime.Comment: 16 pages, accepted in Mod. Phys. Letts.
Mass dependence of the gravitationally-induced wave-function phase
The leading mass dependence of the wave function phase is calculated in the
presence of gravitational interactions. The conditions under which this phase
contains terms depending on both the square of the mass and the gravitational
constant are determined. The observability of such terms is briefly discussed.Comment: 5 pages, no figures, requires Revtex. The discussion has been
extended and clarifie
Some Remarks on the Neutrino Oscillation Phase in a Gravitational Field
The weak gravitational field expansion method to account for the
gravitationally induced neutrino oscillation effect is critically examined. It
is shown that the splitting of the neutrino phase into a ``kinematic'' and a
``gravitational'' phase is not always possible because the relativistic factor
modifies the particle interference phase splitting condition in a gravitational
field.Comment: 4 pages, no figure
Comment on "Gravitationally Induced Neutrino-Oscillation Phases"
We critically examine the recent claim (gr-qc/9603008) of a ``new effect'' of
gravitationally induced quantum mechanical phases in neutrino oscillations. A
straightforward exercise in the Schwarzschild coordinates appropriate to a
spherically symmetric non-rotating star shows that, although there is a general
relativistic effect of the star's gravity on neutrino oscillations, it is not
of the form claimed, and is too small to be measured.Comment: Plain LaTeX, 7 pages, no figure
The effect of very low energy solar neutrinos on the MSW mechanism
We study some implications on standard matter oscillations of solar neutrinos
induced by a background of extremely low energy thermal neutrinos trapped
inside the Sun by means of coherent refractive interactions. Possible
experimental tests are envisaged and current data on solar neutrinos detected
at Earth are briefly discussed.Comment: RevTex4, 4 pages, no figure
The quadratic spinor Lagrangian, axial torsion current, and generalizations
We show that the Einstein-Hilbert, the Einstein-Palatini, and the Holst
actions can be derived from the Quadratic Spinor Lagrangian (QSL), when the
three classes of Dirac spinor fields, under Lounesto spinor field
classification, are considered. To each one of these classes, there corresponds
a unique kind of action for a covariant gravity theory. In other words, it is
shown to exist a one-to-one correspondence between the three classes of
non-equivalent solutions of the Dirac equation, and Einstein-Hilbert,
Einstein-Palatini, and Holst actions. Furthermore, it arises naturally, from
Lounesto spinor field classification, that any other class of spinor field
(Weyl, Majorana, flagpole, or flag-dipole spinor fields) yields a trivial
(zero) QSL, up to a boundary term. To investigate this boundary term we do not
impose any constraint on the Dirac spinor field, and consequently we obtain new
terms in the boundary component of the QSL. In the particular case of a
teleparallel connection, an axial torsion 1-form current density is obtained.
New terms are also obtained in the corresponding Hamiltonian formalism. We then
discuss how these new terms could shed new light on more general
investigations.Comment: 9 pages, RevTeX, to be published in Int.J.Mod.Phys.D (2007
Ambiguity in source flux of high-energy cosmic/astrophysical neutrinos: Effects of bi-maximal mixing and quantum-gravity induced decoherence
For high energy cosmic neutrinos Athar, Jezabek, and Yasuda (AJY) have
recently shown that the existing data on neutrino oscillations suggests that
cosmic neutrino flux at the AGN/GRB source, F(nu_e):F(nu_mu):F(nu_tau) approx
1:2:0, oscillates to F(nu_e):F(nu_mu):F(nu_tau) approx 1:1:1. These results can
be confirmed at AMANDA, Baikal, ANTARES and NESTOR, and other neutrino
detectors with a good flavor resolution. Here, we re-derive the AJY result from
quasi bi-maximal mixing, and show that observation of
F(nu_e):F(nu_mu):F(nu_tau) approx 1:1:1 does not necessarily establish cosmic
neutrino flux at the AGN/GRB source to be F(nu_e):F(nu_mu):F(nu_tau) approx
1:2:0. We also note that if the length scale for the quantum-gravity induced
de-coherence for astrophysical neutrinos is of the order of a Mpc, then
independent of the MNS matrix, the Liu-Hu-Ge (LHG) mechanism would lead to flux
equalization for the cosmic/astrophysical neutrinos.Comment: Published version. A "Note Added" on (a) The reported ambiguity in
the context of a two-doublet structure of the 4-neutrino mixing [L. Bento, P.
Ker\"anen, J. Maalampi, Phys. Lett. B 476, 205-212 (2000)], and (b) An
earlier work - predating the work of Athar et al. - of J. G. Learned and S.
Pakvasa [Astropart. Phys. 3, 267-274 (1995)
ELKO Spinor Fields: Lagrangians for Gravity derived from Supergravity
Dual-helicity eigenspinors of the charge conjugation operator (ELKO spinor
fields) belong -- together with Majorana spinor fields -- to a wider class of
spinor fields, the so-called flagpole spinor fields, corresponding to the
class-(5), according to Lounesto spinor field classification based on the
relations and values taken by their associated bilinear covariants. There
exists only six such disjoint classes: the first three corresponding to Dirac
spinor fields, and the other three respectively corresponding to flagpole,
flag-dipole and Weyl spinor fields. Using the mapping from ELKO spinor fields
to the three classes Dirac spinor fields, it is shown that the
Einstein-Hilbert, the Einstein-Palatini, and the Holst actions can be derived
from the Quadratic Spinor Lagrangian (QSL), as the prime Lagrangian for
supergravity. The Holst action is related to the Ashtekar's quantum gravity
formulation. To each one of these classes, there corresponds a unique kind of
action for a covariant gravity theory. Furthermore we consider the necessary
and sufficient conditions to map Dirac spinor fields (DSFs) to ELKO, in order
to naturally extend the Standard Model to spinor fields possessing mass
dimension one. As ELKO is a prime candidate to describe dark matter and can be
obtained from the DSFs, via a mapping explicitly constructed that does not
preserve spinor field classes, we prove that in particular the
Einstein-Hilbert, Einstein-Palatini, and Holst actions can be derived from the
QSL, as a fundamental Lagrangian for supergravity, via ELKO spinor fields. The
geometric meaning of the mass dimension-transmuting operator - leading ELKO
Lagrangian into the Dirac Lagrangian - is also pointed out, together with its
relationship to the instanton Hopf fibration.Comment: 11 pages, RevTeX, accepted for publication in
Int.J.Geom.Meth.Mod.Phys. (2009
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