Cosmic Evolution with Early and Late Acceleration Inspired by Dual Nature of the Ricci Scalar Curvature

In the present paper, it is found that dark energy emerges spontaneously from the modified gravity. According to cosmological scenario, obtained here, the universe inflates for $\sim 10^{-37}$ sec. in the beginning and late universe accelerates after 8.58 Gyrs. During the long intermediate period, it decelerates driven by radiation and subsequently by matter. Emerged gravitational dark energy mimics quintessence and its density falls by 115 orders from its initial value $2.58\times 10^{68} {\rm GeV}^4$ to its current value $2.19\times 10^{-47} {\rm GeV}^4$ .Comment: 40 pages. To appearin Int. J. Mod. Phys.

Empirical determination of charm quark energy loss and its consequences for azimuthal anisotropy

We propose an empirical model to determine the form of energy loss of charm quarks due to multiple scatterings in quark gluon plasma by demanding a good description of production of D mesons and non-photonic electrons in relativistic collision of heavy nuclei at RHIC and LHC energies. Best results are obtained when we approximate the momentum loss per collision $\Delta p_T \propto \alpha \, p_T$, where $\alpha$ is a constant depending on the centrality and the centre of mass energy. Comparing our results with those obtained earlier for drag coefficients estimated using Langevin equation for heavy quarks we find that up to half of the energy loss of charm quarks at top RHIC energy could be due to collisions while that at LHC energy at 2760 GeV/A the collisional energy loss could be about one third of the total. Estimates are obtained for azimuthal anisotropy in momentum spectra of heavy mesons, due to this energy loss. We further suggest that energy loss of charm quarks may lead to an enhanced production of D-mesons and single electrons at low $p_T$ in AA collisions.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, Typographical errors corrected, Key-words and PACS indices added, sequence of figures corrected, references added in section 3, discussions expande

Evolution of mechanism of parton energy loss with transverse momentum at RHIC and LHC in relativistic collision of heavy nuclei

We analyze the suppression of particle production at large transverse momenta in ($0-5$ most) central collisions of gold nuclei at $\sqrt{s_\textrm{NN}}=$ 200 GeV and lead nuclei at $\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}=$ 2.76 TeV. Full next-to-leading order radiative corrections at ${\cal{O}}(\alpha_s^3)$, and nuclear effects like shadowing and parton energy loss are included. The parton energy loss is implemented in a simple multiple scattering model, where the partons lose an energy $\epsilon=\lambda \times dE/dx$ per collision, where $\lambda$ is their mean free path. We take $\epsilon=\kappa E$ for a treatment which is suggestive of the Bethe Heitler (BH) mechanism of incoherent scatterings, $\epsilon = \sqrt{\alpha E}$ for LPM mechanism, and $\epsilon=$ constant for a mechanism which suggests that the rate of energy loss ($dE/dx$) of the partons is proportional to total path length ($L$) of the parton in the plasma, as the formation time of the radiated gluon becomes much larger than $L$. We find that while the BH mechanism describes the nuclear modification factor $R_{\textrm{AA}}$ for $p_T \leq$ 5 GeV/$c$ (especially at RHIC energy), the LPM and more so the constant $dE/dx$ mechanism provides a good description at larger $p_T$. This confirms the earlier expectation that the energy loss mechanism for partons changes from BH to LPM for $p_T \ge \lambda$, where $\lambda \approx$ 1 fm and $\approx$ 1 GeV$^2$ is the average transverse kick-squared received by the parton per collision. The energy loss per collision at the $\sqrt{s_\textrm{NN}}$ =2.76 TeV is found to be about twice of that at 0.2 TeV.Comment: Discussion expanded, additional references added, 14 pages, 6 figures, To appear in Journal of Physics

Are direct photons a clean signal of a thermalized quark gluon plasma?

Direct photon production from a quark gluon plasma (QGP) in thermal equilibrium is studied directly in real time. In contrast to the usual S-matrix calculations, the real time approach is valid for a QGP that formed and reached LTE a short time after a collision and of finite lifetime ($\sim 10-20 \mathrm{fm}/c$ as expected at RHIC or LHC). We point out that during such finite QGP lifetime the spectrum of emitted photons carries information on the initial state. There is an inherent ambiguity in separating the virtual from the observable photons during the transient evolution of the QGP. We propose a real time formulation to extract the photon yield which includes the initial stage of formation of the QGP parametrized by an effective time scale of formation $\Gamma^{-1}$. This formulation coincides with the S-matrix approach in the infinite lifetime limit. It allows to separate the virtual cloud as well as the observable photons emitted during the pre- equilibrium stage from the yield during the QGP lifetime. We find that the lowest order contribution $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_{em})$ which does \emph{not} contribute to the S-matrix approach, is of the same order of or larger than the S-matrix contribution during the lifetime of the QGP for a typical formation time $\sim 1 \mathrm{fm}/c$. The yield for momenta $\gtrsim 3 \mathrm{Gev}/c$ features a power law fall-off $\sim T^3 \Gamma^2/k^{5}$ and is larger than that obtained with the S-matrix for momenta $\geq 4 \mathrm{Gev}/c$. We provide a comprehensive numerical comparison between the real time and S-matrix yields and study the dynamics of the build-up of the photon cloud and the different contributions to the radiative energy loss. The reliability of the current estimates on photon emission is discussed.Comment: 31 pages, 12 eps figures, version to appear in PR

System size dependence of nuclear modification and azimuthal anisotropy of jet quenching

We investigate the system size dependence of jet-quenching by analyzing transverse momentum spectra of neutral pions in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}$ =200 GeV for different centralities. The fast partons are assumed to lose energy by radiating gluons as they traverse the plasma and undergo multiple collisions. The energy loss per collision, $\epsilon$, is taken as proportional to $E$(where $E$ is the energy of the parton), proportional to $\sqrt{E}$, or a constant depending on whether the formation time of the gluon is less than the mean path, greater than the mean free path but less than the path length, or greater than the path length of the partons, respectively. NLO pQCD is used to evaluate pion production by modifying the fragmentation function to account for the energy loss. We reproduce the nuclear modification factor $R_\textrm{AA}$ by treating $\epsilon$ as the only free parameter, depending on the centrality and the mechanism of energy loss. These values are seen to explain the nuclear modification of prompt photons, caused by the energy lost by final state quarks before they fragment into photons. These also reproduce the azimuthal asymmetry of transverse momentum distribution for pions within a factor of two and for prompt photons in a fair agreement with experimental data.Comment: 26 pages, 17 figures. One more figure added. Discussion expanded. Typographical corrections done, several references added. To appear in Journal of Physics

Quasilocal formalism and thermodynamics of asymptotically flat black objects

We study the properties of 5-dimensional black objects by using the renormalized boundary stress-tensor for locally asymptotically flat spacetimes. This provides a more refined form of the quasilocal formalism which is useful for a holographic interpretation of asymptotically flat gravity. We apply this technique to examine the thermodynamic properties of black holes, black rings, and black strings. The advantage of using this method is that we can go beyond the `thin ring' approximation and compute the boundary stress tensor for any general (thin or fat) black ring solution. We argue that the boundary stress tensor encodes the necessarily information to distinguish between black objects with different horizon topologies in the bulk. We also study in detail the susy black ring and clarify the relation between the asymptotic charges and the charges defined at the horizon. Furthermore, we obtain the balance condition for `thin' dipole black rings.Comment: v2 clarifications on the advantage of using quasilocal formalism for black rings added, CQG versio

Semiclassical mechanics of a non-integrable spin cluster

We study detailed classical-quantum correspondence for a cluster system of three spins with single-axis anisotropic exchange coupling. With autoregressive spectral estimation, we find oscillating terms in the quantum density of states caused by classical periodic orbits: in the slowly varying part of the density of states we see signs of nontrivial topology changes happening to the energy surface as the energy is varied. Also, we can explain the hierarchy of quantum energy levels near the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic states with EKB quantization to explain large structures and tunneling to explain small structures.Comment: 9 pages. For related works see "http://www.msc.cornell.edu/~clh/clh.html

Multiwavelength Observations of Supersonic Plasma Blob Triggered by Reconnection Generated Velocity Pulse in AR10808

Using multi-wavelength observations of Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SoHO)/Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI), Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) 171 \AA, and H$\alpha$ from Culgoora Solar Observatory at Narrabri, Australia, we present a unique observational signature of a propagating supersonic plasma blob before an M6.2 class solar flare in AR10808 on 9th September 2005. The blob was observed between 05:27 UT to 05:32 UT with almost a constant shape for the first 2-3 minutes, and thereafter it quickly vanished in the corona. The observed lower bound speed of the blob is estimated as $\sim$215 km s$^{-1}$ in its dynamical phase. The evidence of the blob with almost similar shape and velocity concurrent in H$\alpha$ and TRACE 171 \AA\ supports its formation by multi-temperature plasma. The energy release by a recurrent 3-D reconnection process via the separator dome below the magnetic null point, between the emerging flux and pre-existing field lines in the lower solar atmosphere, is found to be the driver of a radial velocity pulse outwards that accelerates this plasma blob in the solar atmosphere. In support of identification of the possible driver of the observed eruption, we solve the two-dimensional ideal magnetohydrodynamic equations numerically to simulate the observed supersonic plasma blob. The numerical modelling closely match the observed velocity, evolution of multi-temperature plasma, and quick vanishing of the blob found in the observations. Under typical coronal conditions, such blobs may also carry an energy flux of 7.0$\times10^{6}$ ergs cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ to re-balance the coronal losses above active regions.Comment: Solar Physics; 22 Pages; 8 Figure

Two Loop Scalar Self-Mass during Inflation

We work in the locally de Sitter background of an inflating universe and consider a massless, minimally coupled scalar with a quartic self-interaction. We use dimensional regularization to compute the fully renormalized scalar self-mass-squared at one and two loop order for a state which is released in Bunch-Davies vacuum at t=0. Although the field strength and coupling constant renormalizations are identical to those of lfat space, the geometry induces a non-zero mass renormalization. The finite part also shows a sort of growing mass that competes with the classical force in eventually turning off this system's super-acceleration.Comment: 31 pages, 5 figures, revtex4, revised for publication with extended list of reference