991 research outputs found
On-shell Techniques and Universal Results in Quantum Gravity
We compute the leading post-Newtonian and quantum corrections to the Coulomb
and Newtonian potentials using the full modern arsenal of on-shell techniques;
we employ spinor-helicity variables everywhere, use the Kawai-Lewellen-Tye
(KLT) relations to derive gravity amplitudes from gauge theory and use
unitarity methods to extract the terms needed at one-loop order. We stress that
our results are universal and thus will hold in any quantum theory of gravity
with the same low-energy degrees of freedom as we are considering. Previous
results for the corrections to the same potentials, derived historically using
Feynman graphs, are verified explicitly, but our approach presents a huge
simplification, since starting points for the computations are compact and
tedious index contractions and various complicated integral reductions are
eliminated from the onset, streamlining the derivations. We also analyze the
spin dependence of the results using the KLT factorization, and show how the
spinless correction in the framework are easily seen to be independent of the
interacting matter considered.Comment: 34 pages, 7 figures, typos corrected, published versio
On the parameterization dependence of the energy momentum tensor and the metric
We use results by Kirilin to show that in general relativity the nonleading
terms in the energy-momentum tensor of a particle depends on the
parameterization of the gravitational field. While the classical metric that is
calculated from this source, used to define the leading long-distance
corrections to the metric, also has a parameteriztion dependence, it can be
removed by a coordinate change. Thus the classical observables are
parameterization independent. The quantum effects that emerge within the same
calculation of the metric also depend on the parameterization and a full
quantum calculation requires the inclusion of further diagrams. However, within
a given parameterization the quantum effects calculated by us in a previous
paper are well defined. Flaws of Kirilin's proposed alternate metric definition
are described and we explain why the diagrams that we calculated are the
appropriate ones.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
On Tree Amplitudes in Gauge Theory and Gravity
The BCFW recursion relations provide a powerful way to compute tree
amplitudes in gauge theories and gravity, but only hold if some amplitudes
vanish when two of the momenta are taken to infinity in a particular complex
direction. This is a very surprising property, since individual Feynman
diagrams all diverge at infinite momentum. In this paper we give a simple
physical understanding of amplitudes in this limit, which corresponds to a hard
particle with (complex) light-like momentum moving in a soft background, and
can be conveniently studied using the background field method exploiting
background light-cone gauge. An important role is played by enhanced spin
symmetries at infinite momentum--a single copy of a "Lorentz" group for gauge
theory and two copies for gravity--which together with Ward identities give a
systematic expansion for amplitudes at large momentum. We use this to study
tree amplitudes in a wide variety of theories, and in particular demonstrate
that certain pure gauge and gravity amplitudes do vanish at infinity. Thus the
BCFW recursion relations can be used to compute completely general gluon and
graviton tree amplitudes in any number of dimensions. We briefly comment on the
implications of these results for computing massive 4D amplitudes by KK
reduction, as well understanding the unexpected cancelations that have recently
been found in loop-level gravity amplitudes.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figure
Time transients in the quantum corrected Newtonian potential induced by a massless nonminimally coupled scalar field
We calculate the one loop graviton vacuum polarization induced by a massless,
nonminimally coupled scalar field on Minkowski background. We make use of the
Schwinger-Keldysh formalism, which allows us to study time dependent phenomena.
As an application we compute the leading quantum correction to the Newtonian
potential of a point particle. The novel aspect of the calculation is the use
of the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism, within which we calculate the time
transients induced by switching on of the graviton-scalar coupling.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures; detailed calculation of the graviton vacuum
polarization moved to the new Appendix; matches published versio
Note on graviton MHV amplitudes
Two new formulas which express n-graviton MHV tree amplitudes in terms of
sums of squares of n-gluon amplitudes are discussed. The first formula is
derived from recursion relations. The second formula, simpler because it
involves fewer permutations, is obtained from the variant of the Berends,
Giele, Kuijf formula given in Arxiv:0707.1035.Comment: 10 page
Benchmarking acid and base dopants with respect to enabling the ice V to XIII and ice VI to XV hydrogen-ordering phase transitions
Doping the hydrogen-disordered phases of ice V, VI and XII with hydrochloric
acid (HCl) has led to the discovery of their hydrogen-ordered counterparts ices
XIII, XV and XIV. Yet, the mechanistic details of the hydrogen-ordering phase
transitions are still not fully understood. This includes in particular the
role of the acid dopant and the defect dynamics that it creates within the
ices. Here we investigate the effects of several acid and base dopants on the
hydrogen ordering of ices V and VI with calorimetry and X-ray diffraction. HCl
is found to be most effective for both phases which is attributed to a
favourable combination of high solubility and strong acid properties which
create mobile H3O+ defects that enable the hydrogen-ordering processes.
Hydrofluoric acid (HF) is the second most effective dopant highlighting that
the acid strengths of HCl and HF are much more similar in ice than they are in
liquid water. Surprisingly, hydrobromic acid doping facilitates hydrogen
ordering in ice VI whereas only a very small effect is observed for ice V.
Conversely, lithium hydroxide (LiOH) doping achieves a performance comparable
to HF-doping in ice V but it is ineffective in the case of ice VI. Sodium
hydroxide, potassium hydroxide (as previously shown) and perchloric acid doping
are ineffective for both phases. These findings highlight the need for future
computational studies but also raise the question why LiOH-doping achieves
hydrogen-ordering of ice V whereas potassium hydroxide doping is most effective
for the 'ordinary' ice Ih.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl
Low-lying spectra in anharmonic three-body oscillators with a strong short-range repulsion
Three-body Schroedinger equation is studied in one dimension. Its two-body
interactions are assumed composed of the long-range attraction (dominated by
the L-th-power potential) in superposition with a short-range repulsion
(dominated by the (-K)-th-power core) plus further subdominant power-law
components if necessary. This unsolvable and non-separable generalization of
Calogero model (which is a separable and solvable exception at L = K = 2) is
presented in polar Jacobi coordinates. We derive a set of trigonometric
identities for the potentials which generalizes the well known K=2 identity of
Calogero to all integers. This enables us to write down the related partial
differential Schroedinger equation in an amazingly compact form. As a
consequence, we are able to show that all these models become separable and
solvable in the limit of strong repulsion.Comment: 18 pages plus 6 pages of appendices with new auxiliary identitie
Does the Holographic Principle determine the Gravitational Interaction?
It is likely that the holographic principle will be a consequence of the
would be theory of quantum gravity. Thus, it is interesting to try to go in the
opposite direction: can the holographic principle fix the gravitational
interaction? It is shown that the classical gravitational interaction is well
inside the set of potentials allowed by the holographic principle. Computations
clarify which role such a principle could have in lowering the value of the
cosmological constant computed in QFT to the observed one.Comment: 12 pages, no figures, added reference
The No-Triangle Hypothesis for N=8 Supergravity
We study the perturbative expansion of N=8 supergravity in four dimensions
from the viewpoint of the ``no-triangle'' hypothesis, which states that
one-loop graviton amplitudes in N=8 supergravity only contain scalar box
integral functions. Our computations constitute a direct proof at six-points
and support the no-triangle conjecture for seven-point amplitudes and beyond.Comment: 43page
Analytic Structure of Three-Mass Triangle Coefficients
``Three-mass triangles'' are a class of integral functions appearing in
one-loop gauge theory amplitudes. We discuss how the complex analytic
properties and singularity structures of these amplitudes can be combined with
generalised unitarity techniques to produce compact expressions for three-mass
triangle coefficients. We present formulae for the N=1 contributions to the
n-point NMHV amplitude.Comment: 22 pages; v3: NMHV n=point expression added. 7 point expression
remove
- …