Cosmological backreaction of a quantized massless scalar field

We consider the backreaction problem of a quantized minimally coupled massless scalar field in cosmology. The adiabatically regularized stress-energy tensor in a general Friedmann-Robertson-Walker background is approximately evaluated by using the fact that subhorizon modes evolve adiabatically and superhorizon modes are frozen. The vacuum energy density is verified to obey a new first order differential equation depending on a dimensionless parameter of order unity, which calibrates subhorizon/superhorizon division. We check the validity of the approximation by calculating the corresponding vacuum energy densities in fixed backgrounds, which are shown to agree with the known results in de Sitter space and space-times undergoing power law expansions. We then apply our findings to slow-roll inflationary models. Although backreaction effects are found to be negligible during the near exponential expansion, the vacuum energy density generated during this period might be important at later stages since it decreases slower than radiation or dust.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures, v2: comments and a reference added, to appear in JCA

Analytic approximation and an improved method for computing the stress-energy of quantized scalar fields in Robertson-Walker spacetimes

An improved method is given for the computation of the stress-energy tensor of a quantized scalar field using adiabatic regularization. The method works for fields with arbitrary mass and curvature coupling in Robertson-Walker spacetimes and is particularly useful for spacetimes with compact spatial sections. For massless fields it yields an analytic approximation for the stress-energy tensor that is similar in nature to those obtained previously for massless fields in static spacetimes.Comment: RevTeX, 8 pages, no figure

Background Thermal Contributions in Testing the Unruh Effect

We consider inertial and accelerated Unruh-DeWitt detectors moving in a background thermal bath and calculate their excitation rates. It is shown that for fast moving detectors such a thermal bath does not affect substantially the excitation probability. Our results are discussed in connection with a possible proposal of testing the Unruh effect in high energy particle accelerators.Comment: 13 pages, (REVTEX 3.0), 3 figures available upon reques

On the Particle Definition in the presence of Black Holes

A canonical particle definition via the diagonalisation of the Hamiltonian for a quantum field theory in specific curved space-times is presented. Within the provided approach radial ingoing or outgoing Minkowski particles do not exist. An application of this formalism to the Rindler metric recovers the well-known Unruh effect. For the situation of a black hole the Hamiltonian splits up into two independent parts accounting for the interior and the exterior domain, respectively. It turns out that a reasonable particle definition may be accomplished for the outside region only. The Hamiltonian of the field inside the black hole is unbounded from above and below and hence possesses no ground state. The corresponding equation of motion displays a linear global instability. Possible consequences of this instability are discussed and its relations to the sonic analogues of black holes are addressed. PACS-numbers: 04.70.Dy, 04.62.+v, 10.10.Ef, 03.65.Db.Comment: 44 pages, LaTeX, no figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Asymptotic symmetries on Killing horizons

We investigate asymptotic symmetries regularly defined on spherically symmetric Killing horizons in the Einstein theory with or without the cosmological constant. Those asymptotic symmetries are described by asymptotic Killing vectors, along which the Lie derivatives of perturbed metrics vanish on a Killing horizon. We derive the general form of asymptotic Killing vectors and find that the group of the asymptotic symmetries consists of rigid O(3) rotations of a horizon two-sphere and supertranslations along the null direction on the horizon, which depend arbitrarily on the null coordinate as well as the angular coordinates. By introducing the notion of asymptotic Killing horizons, we also show that local properties of Killing horizons are preserved under not only diffeomorphisms but also non-trivial transformations generated by the asymptotic symmetry group. Although the asymptotic symmetry group contains the $\mathit{Diff}(S^1)$ subgroup, which results from the supertranslations dependent only on the null coordinate, it is shown that the Poisson bracket algebra of the conserved charges conjugate to asymptotic Killing vectors does not acquire non-trivial central charges. Finally, by considering extended symmetries, we discuss that unnatural reduction of the symmetry group is necessary in order to obtain the Virasoro algebra with non-trivial central charges, which will not be justified when we respect the spherical symmetry of Killing horizons.Comment: 28 page

Nuttier Bubbles

We construct new explicit solutions of general relativity from double analytic continuations of Taub-NUT spacetimes. This generalizes previous studies of 4-dimensional nutty bubbles. One 5-dimensional locally asymptotically AdS solution in particular has a special conformal boundary structure of $AdS_3\times S^1$. We compute its boundary stress tensor and relate it to the properties of the dual field theory. Interestingly enough, we also find consistent 6-dimensional bubble solutions that have only one timelike direction. The existence of such spacetimes with non-trivial topology is closely related to the existence of the Taub-NUT(-AdS) solutions with more than one NUT charge. Finally, we begin an investigation of generating new solutions from Taub-NUT spacetimes and nuttier bubbles. Using the so-called Hopf duality, we provide new explicit time-dependent backgrounds in six dimensions.Comment: 32 pages, 1 figure; v.3. typos corrected. Matches the published versio

Quantum Vacuum Instability Near Rotating Stars

We discuss the Starobinskii-Unruh process for the Kerr black hole. We show how this effect is related to the theory of squeezed states. We then consider a simple model for a highly relativistic rotating star and show that the Starobinskii-Unruh effect is absent.Comment: 17 Pages, (accepted by PRD), (previously incorrect header files have been corrected

Real time response on dS_3: the Topological AdS Black Hole and the Bubble

We study real time correlators in strongly coupled N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on dS_3 x S^1, with antiperiodic boundary conditions for fermions on the circle. When the circle radius is larger than a critical value, the dual geometry is the so-called "topological AdS_5 black hole". Applying the Son- Starinets recipe in this background we compute retarded glueball propagators which exhibit an infinite set of poles yielding the quasinormal frequencies of the topological black hole. The imaginary parts of the propagators exhibit thermal effects associated with the Gibbons-Hawking temperature due to the cosmological horizon of the de Sitter boundary. We also obtain R-current correlators and find that after accounting for a small subtlety, the Son-Starinets prescription yields the retarded Green's functions. The correlators do not display diffusive behaviour at late times. Below the critical value of the circle radius, the topological black hole decays to the AdS_5 "bubble of nothing". Using a high frequency WKB approximation, we show that glueball correlators in this phase exhibit poles on the real axis. The tunnelling from the black hole to the bubble is interpreted as a hadronization transition.Comment: 52 pages, 11 figures, typos corrected, references adde

D-Brane Effective Actions and Particle Production near the Beginning of the Tachyon Condensation

In this paper we will study the quantum field theory of fluctuation modes around the classical solution that describes tachyon condensation on unstable D-brane.We will calculate the number of particle produced near the beginning of the rolling tachyon process. We will perform this calculation for different tachyon effective actions and we will find that the rate of the particle production strongly depends on the form of the effective action used for the description of the early stage of the tachyon condensation.Comment: 21 page

Vacuum effects in an asymptotically uniformly accelerated frame with a constant magnetic field

In the present article we solve the Dirac-Pauli and Klein Gordon equations in an asymptotically uniformly accelerated frame when a constant magnetic field is present. We compute, via the Bogoliubov coefficients, the density of scalar and spin 1/2 particles created. We discuss the role played by the magnetic field and the thermal character of the spectrum.Comment: 17 pages. RevTe