1,488 research outputs found
Radiation Information from 1958 δ2
The telemetered radiation information from the satellite 1958 δ2
(Sputnik III) has been analyzed for sixty-two separate passes recorded
in College, Alaska. The data indicate a dependence of radiation intensity
on altitude in the range 250-500 km. Both the high and low
energy components apparently contribute to the overall increase of
intensity with altitude, but the presence of a continuous afterglow
in the scintillating crystal prevented detailed interpretation of the
results.IGY Project No. 32.42
NSF Grant No. Y/32.42/268Ye
van Vleck determinants: geodesic focussing and defocussing in Lorentzian spacetimes
The van Vleck determinant is an ubiquitous object, arising in many physically
interesting situations such as: (1) WKB approximations to quantum time
evolution operators and Green functions. (2) Adiabatic approximations to heat
kernels. (3) One loop approximations to functional integrals. (4) The theory of
caustics in geometrical optics and ultrasonics. (5) The focussing and
defocussing of geodesic flows in Riemannian manifolds. While all of these
topics are interrelated, the present paper is particularly concerned with the
last case and presents extensive theoretical developments that aid in the
computation of the van Vleck determinant associated with geodesic flows in
Lorentzian spacetimes. {\sl A fortiori} these developments have important
implications for the entire array of topics indicated. PACS: 04.20.-q,
04.20.Cv, 04.60.+n. To appear in Physical Review D47 (1993) 15 March.Comment: plain LaTeX, 18 page
Localized Particle States and Dynamics Gravitational Effects
Scalar particles--i.e., scalar-field excitations--in de Sitter space exhibit
behavior unlike either classical particles in expanding space or quantum
particles in flat spacetime. Their energies oscillate forever, and their
interactions are spread out in energy. Here it is shown that these features
characterize not only normal-mode excitations spread out over all space, but
localized particles or wave packets as well. Both one-particle and coherent
states of a massive, minimally coupled scalar field in de Sitter space,
associated with classical wave packets, are constructed explicitly. Their
energy expectation values and corresponding Unruh-DeWitt detector response
functions are calculated. Numerical evaluation of these quantities for a simple
set of classical wave packets clearly displays these novel features. Hence,
given the observed accelerating expansion of the Universe, it is possible that
observation of an ultralow-mass scalar particle could yield direct confirmation
of distinct predictions of quantum field theory in curved spacetime.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
One Loop Graviton Self-Energy In A Locally De Sitter Background
The graviton tadpole has recently been computed at two loops in a locally de
Sitter background. We apply intermediate results of this work to exhibit the
graviton self-energy at one loop. This quantity is interesting both to check
the accuracy of the first calculation and to understand the relaxation effect
it reveals. In the former context we show that the self-energy obeys the
appropriate Ward identity. We also show that its flat space limit agrees with
the flat space result obtained by Capper in what should be the same gauge.Comment: 35 pages, plain TeX, 4 Postscript files, uses psfig.sty, revised June
1996 for publication in Physical Review
The Fermion Self-Energy during Inflation
We compute the one loop fermion self-energy for massless Dirac + Einstein in
the presence of a locally de Sitter background. We employ dimensional
regularization and obtain a fully renormalized result by absorbing all
divergences with BPHZ counterterms. An interesting technical aspect of this
computation is the need for a noninvariant counterterm owing to the breaking of
de Sitter invariance by our gauge condition. Our result can be used in the
quantum-corrected Dirac equation to search for inflation-enhanced quantum
effects from gravitons, analogous to those which have been found for massless,
minimally coupled scalars.Comment: 63 pages, 3 figures (uses axodraw.sty), LaTeX 2epsilon. Revised
version (to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravity) corrects some typoes and
contains some new reference
On Unitary Evolution of a Massless Scalar Field In A Schwarzschild Background: Hawking Radiation and the Information Paradox
We develop a Hamiltonian formalism which can be used to discuss the physics
of a massless scalar field in a gravitational background of a Schwarzschild
black hole. Using this formalism we show that the time evolution of the system
is unitary and yet all known results such as the existence of Hawking radiation
can be readily understood. We then point out that the Hamiltonian formalism
leads to interesting observations about black hole entropy and the information
paradox.Comment: 45 pages, revte
Effective Screened Potentials of Strongly Coupled Semiclassical Plasma
The pseudopotentials of particle interaction of astrongly coupled
semiclassical plasma, taking into account bothquantum-mechanical effects of
diffraction at short distances andalso screening field effects at large
distances are obtained. Thelimiting cases of potentials are considered.Comment: 15 pages, TeX, 7 figure
Coordinate representation of particle dynamics in AdS and in generic static spacetimes
We discuss the quantum dynamics of a particle in static curved spacetimes in
a coordinate representation. The scheme is based on the analysis of the squared
energy operator E^2, which is quadratic in momenta and contains a scalar
curvature term. Our main emphasis is on AdS spaces, where this term is fixed by
the isometry group. As a byproduct the isometry generators are constructed and
the energy spectrum is reproduced. In the massless case the conformal symmetry
is realized as well. We show the equivalence between this quantization and the
covariant quantization, based on the Klein-Gordon type equation in AdS. We
further demonstrate that the two quantization methods in an arbitrary
(N+1)-dimensional static spacetime are equivalent to each other if the scalar
curvature terms both in the operator E^2 and in the Klein-Gordon type equation
have the same coefficient equal to (N-1)/(4N).Comment: 14 pages, no figures, typos correcte
Measurement Analysis and Quantum Gravity
We consider the question of whether consistency arguments based on
measurement theory show that the gravitational field must be quantized.
Motivated by the argument of Eppley and Hannah, we apply a DeWitt-type
measurement analysis to a coupled system that consists of a gravitational wave
interacting with a mass cube. We also review the arguments of Eppley and Hannah
and of DeWitt, and investigate a second model in which a gravitational wave
interacts with a quantized scalar field. We argue that one cannot conclude from
the existing gedanken experiments that gravity has to be quantized. Despite the
many physical arguments which speak in favor of a quantum theory of gravity, it
appears that the justification for such a theory must be based on empirical
tests and does not follow from logical arguments alone.Comment: 31 pages, many conceptual clarifications included, new appendix
added, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Factorization of gravitational Compton scattering amplitude in the linearized version of general relativity
Gravitational Compton scattering process with a massive fermion is studied in
the context of the linearized gravity. Gravitational gauge invariance and
graviton transversality cause the transition amplitude to be factorized into
that of scalar QED Compton scattering and that of fermion QED Compton
scattering with an overall kinematical factor. The factorization is shown
explicitly and its physical implications are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure(not included), Revtex 3.0, SNUTP 93-2
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