13,333 research outputs found
Ultraviolet Divergences in Cosmological Correlations
A method is developed for dealing with ultraviolet divergences in
calculations of cosmological correlations, which does not depend on dimensional
regularization. An extended version of the WKB approximation is used to analyze
the divergences in these calculations, and these divergences are controlled by
the introduction of Pauli--Villars regulator fields. This approach is
illustrated in the theory of a scalar field with arbitrary self-interactions in
a fixed flat-space Robertson--Walker metric with arbitrary scale factor .
Explicit formulas are given for the counterterms needed to cancel all
dependence on the regulator properties, and an explicit prescription is given
for calculating finite regulator-independent correlation functions. The
possibility of infrared divergences in this theory is briefly considered.Comment: References added on various regularization methods. Improved
discussion of further issues. 26 pages, 1 figur
Cosmic balloons
Cosmic balloons, consisting of relativistic particles trapped inside a
spherical domain wall, may be created in the early universe. We calculate the
balloon mass as a function of the radius and the energy density
profile, , including the effects of gravity. At the maximum balloon
mass for any value of the mass density of the wall.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX, 2 figures in separate file, UPTP-93-1
Using Perturbative Least Action to Recover Cosmological Initial Conditions
We introduce a new method for generating initial conditions consistent with
highly nonlinear observations of density and velocity fields. Using a variant
of the Least Action method, called Perturbative Least Action (PLA), we show
that it is possible to generate several different sets of initial conditions,
each of which will satisfy a set of highly nonlinear observational constraints
at the present day. We then discuss a code written to test and apply this
method and present the results of several simulations.Comment: 24 pages, 6 postscript figures. Accepted for publication in
Astrophysical Journa
Self-interacting Elko dark matter with an axis of locality
This communication is a natural and nontrivial continuation of the 2005 work
of Ahluwalia and Grumiller on Elko. Here we report that Elko breaks Lorentz
symmetry in a rather subtle and unexpected way by containing a `hidden'
preferred direction. Along this preferred direction, a quantum field based on
Elko enjoys locality. In the form reported here, Elko offers a mass dimension
one fermionic dark matter with a quartic self-interaction and a preferred axis
of locality. The locality result crucially depends on a judicious choice of
phases.Comment: 14 pages (RevTex
Short-range interactions in an effective field theory approach for nucleon-nucleon scattering
We investigate in detail the effect of making the range of the ``contact''
interaction used in effective field theory (EFT) calculations of NN scattering
finite. This is done in both an effective field theory with explicit pions, and
one where the pions have been integrated out. In both cases we calculate NN
scattering in the channel using potentials which are second-order in
the EFT expansion. The contact interactions present in the EFT Lagrangian are
made finite by use of a square-well regulator. We find that there is an optimal
radius for this regulator, at which second-order corrections to the EFT are
identically zero; for radii near optimal these second-order corrections are
small. The cutoff EFTs which result from this procedure appear to be valid for
momenta up to about 100 MeV/c. We also find that the radius of the square well
cannot be reduced to zero if the theory is to reproduce both the experimental
scattering length and effective range. Indeed, we show that, if the NN
potential is the sum of a one-pion exchange piece and a short-range
interaction, then the short-range piece must extend out beyond 1.1 fm,
regardless of its particular form.Comment: 15 pages, RevTeX, uses BoxedEPS.te
Constraining the Metallicity of the Low Density Lyman-alpha Forest Using OVI Absorption
We search for OVI absorption in a Keck HIRES spectrum of the z=3.62 quasar
Q1422+231. Comparison of CIV measurements to cosmological simulations shows
that \lya forest absorbers with N_HI > 10^{14.5} have [C/H]~=-2.5, for the UV
background spectrum of Haardt & Madau (HM). Lower column density absorption
arises in lower density gas, where OVI is the most sensitive metal tracer.
Since OVI lines lie at wavelengths contaminated by Lyman series absorption, we
interpret our Q1422 results by comparing to artificial spectra drawn from an
SPH simulation of a Lambda-dominated CDM model. A search for deep, narrow
features in Q1422 yields only a few candidate OVI lines, statistically
consistent with the number in artificial spectra with no metals; spectra
generated with the HM background and [O/H] >= -2.5 predict too many narrow
lines. However, applying the optical depth ratio technique of Songaila (1998),
we DO find significant OVI associated with CIV systems; matching Q1422 requires
[O/C]~=+0.5, implying [O/H]~=-2.0. Taken together these results imply that (a)
the metallicity in the low density IGM is at least a factor of three below that
in the overdense regions where CIV absorption is detectable, and (b) oxygen is
overabundant in these regions, consistent with the enrichment pattern of old
halo stars. If the UV background is heavily truncated above 4 Ry, an
implausibly high oxygen overabundance ([O/C]>+2) is required by the data; thus
a majority of the volume of the universe must have undergone helium
reionization by z=3.(Abridged)Comment: Submitted to ApJ, 48 pp including 14 ps figures, uses aaspp4.st
Thermodynamic curvature measures interactions
Thermodynamic fluctuation theory originated with Einstein who inverted the
relation to express the number of states in terms of entropy:
. The theory's Gaussian approximation is discussed in most
statistical mechanics texts. I review work showing how to go beyond the
Gaussian approximation by adding covariance, conservation, and consistency.
This generalization leads to a fundamentally new object: the thermodynamic
Riemannian curvature scalar , a thermodynamic invariant. I argue that
is related to the correlation length and suggest that the sign of
corresponds to whether the interparticle interactions are effectively
attractive or repulsive.Comment: 29 pages, 7 figures (added reference 27
Reconstruction Analysis of Galaxy Redshift Surveys: A Hybrid Reconstruction Method
In reconstruction analysis of galaxy redshift surveys, one works backwards
from the observed galaxy distribution to the primordial density field in the
same region, then evolves the primordial fluctuations forward in time with an
N-body code. This incorporates assumptions about the cosmological parameters,
the properties of primordial fluctuations, and the biasing relation between
galaxies and mass. These can be tested by comparing the reconstruction to the
observed galaxy distribution, and to peculiar velocity data. This paper
presents a hybrid reconstruction method that combines the `Gaussianization''
technique of Weinberg(1992) with the dynamical schemes of Nusser & Dekel(1992)
and Gramann(1993). We test the method on N-body simulations and on N-body mock
catalogs that mimic the depth and geometry of the Point Source Catalog Redshift
Survey and the Optical Redshift Survey. This method is more accurate than
Gaussianization or dynamical reconstruction alone. Matching the observed
morphology of clustering can limit the bias factor b, independent of Omega.
Matching the cluster velocity dispersions and z-space distortions of the
correlation function xi(s,mu) constrains the parameter beta=Omega^{0.6}/b.
Relative to linear or quasi-linear approximations, a fully non-linear
reconstruction makes more accurate predictions of xi(s,mu) for a given beta,
thus reducing the systematic biases of beta measurements and offering further
scope for breaking the degeneracy between Omega and b. It also circumvents the
cosmic variance noise that limits conventional analyses of xi(s,mu). It can
also improve the determination of Omega and b from joint analyses of redshift
& peculiar velocity surveys as it predicts the fully non-linear peculiar
velocity distribution at each point in z-space.Comment: 72 pages including 33 figures, submitted to Ap
Estimates of isospin breaking contributions to baryon masses
We estimate the isospin breaking contributions to the baryon masses which we
analyzed recently using a loop expansion in the heavy baryon approximation to
chiral effective field theory. To one loop, the isospin breaking corrections
come from the effects of the quark mass difference, the Coulomb and
magnetic moment interactions, and effective point interactions attributable to
color-magnetic effects. The addition of the first meson loop corrections
introduces new structure. We estimate the resulting low-energy, long-range
contributions to the mass splittings by regularizing the loop integrals using
connections to dynamical models for finite-size baryons. We find that the
resulting contributions to the isospin breaking corrections are of the right
general size, have the correct sign pattern, and agree with the experimental
values within the margin of error.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures; changed title and conten
Mass corrections in string theory and lattice field theory
Kaluza-Klein compactifications of higher dimensional Yang-Mills theories
contain a number of four dimensional scalars corresponding to the internal
components of the gauge field. While at tree-level the scalar zero modes are
massless, it is well known that quantum corrections make them massive. We
compute these radiative corrections at 1-loop in an effective field theory
framework, using the background field method and proper Schwinger-time
regularization. In order to clarify the proper treatment of the sum over
KK--modes in the effective field theory approach, we consider the same problem
in two different UV completions of Yang-Mills: string theory and lattice field
theory. In both cases, when the compactification radius is much bigger than
the scale of the UV completion (), we recover a mass
renormalization that is independent of the UV scale and agrees with the one
derived in the effective field theory approach. These results support the idea
that the value of the mass corrections is, in this regime, universal for any UV
completion that respects locality and gauge invariance. The string analysis
suggests that this property holds also at higher loops. The lattice analysis
suggests that the mass of the adjoint scalars appearing in
Super Yang-Mills is highly suppressed due to an interplay between the
higher-dimensional gauge invariance and the degeneracy of bosonic and fermionic
degrees of freedom.Comment: 27 page
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