12,334 research outputs found
Thermal effects on slow-roll dynamics
A description of the transition from the inflationary epoch to radiation
domination requires the understanding of quantum fields out of thermal
equilibrium, particle creation and thermalisation. This can be studied from
first principles by solving a set of truncated real-time Schwinger-Dyson
equations, written in terms of the mean field (inflaton) and the field
propagators, derived from the two-particle irreducible effective action. We
investigate some aspects of this problem by considering the dynamics of a
slow-rolling mean field coupled to a second quantum field, using a \phi^2\chi^2
interaction. We focus on thermal effects. It is found that interactions lead to
an earlier end of slow-roll and that the evolution afterwards depends on
details of the heatbath.Comment: 25 pages, 11 eps figures. v2: paper reorganized, title changed,
conclusions unchanged, to appear in PR
Scattering of Dirac and Majorana Fermions off Domain Walls
We investigate the interaction of fermions having both Dirac and left-handed
and right-handed Majorana mass terms with vacuum domain walls. By solving the
equations of motion in thin-wall approximation, we calculate the reflection and
transmission coefficients for the scattering of fermions off walls.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, some typos corrected, one reference added, major
revisions, title changed, version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Leptogenesis with Dirac Neutrinos
We describe a "neutrinogenesis" mechanism whereby, in the presence of
right-handed neutrinos with sufficiently small pure Dirac masses,
(B+L)-violating sphaleron processes create the baryon asymmetry of the
Universe, even when B=L=0 initially. It is shown that the resulting neutrino
mass constraints are easily fulfilled by the neutrino masses suggested by
current experiments. We present a simple toy model which uses this mechanism to
produce the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe. (PostScript Errors
corrected in latest Version).Comment: 4 pages, Latex (using amsmath,feynmp,graphicx), 4 figure
Resonant decay of parity odd bubbles in hot hadronic matter
We investigate the decay of metastable states with broken CP-symmetry which
have recently been proposed by Kharzeev, Pisarski and Tytgat to form in hot
hadronic matter. We consider the efficiency of the amplification of the
-field via parametric resonance, taking the backreaction into account.
For times of the order , we find a particle density of about
and a correlation length of . The
corresponding momentum spectra show a non-thermal behaviour.Comment: 11 pages latex file with 4 gif - figures. Uses elsart.cls (included
Transverse-Mass Spectra in Heavy-Ion Collisions at energies E_{lab} = 2--160 GeV/nucleon
Transverse-mass spectra of protons, pions and kaons produced in collisions of
heavy nuclei are analyzed within the model of 3-fluid dynamics. It was
demonstrated that this model consistently reproduces these spectra in wide
ranges of incident energies E_{lab}, from 4A GeV to 160A GeV, rapidity bins and
centralities of the collisions. In particular, the model describes the
"step-like" dependence of kaon inverse slopes on the incident energy. The key
point of this explanation is interplay of hydrodynamic expansion of the system
with its dynamical freeze-out.Comment: 13 pages, 16 figures, summary is extended, version accepted by Phys.
Rev.
Turning off the Lights: How Dark is Dark Matter?
We consider current observational constraints on the electromagnetic charge
of dark matter. The velocity dependence of the scattering cross-section through
the photon gives rise to qualitatively different constraints than standard dark
matter scattering through massive force carriers. In particular, recombination
epoch observations of dark matter density perturbations require that
, the ratio of the dark matter to electronic charge, is less than
for , rising to for .
Though naively one would expect that dark matter carrying a charge well below
this constraint could still give rise to large scattering in current direct
detection experiments, we show that charged dark matter particles that could be
detected with upcoming experiments are expected to be evacuated from the
Galactic disk by the Galactic magnetic fields and supernova shock waves, and
hence will not give rise to a signal. Thus dark matter with a small charge is
likely not a source of a signal in current or upcoming dark matter direct
detection experiments.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures; v2 - figures fixed, references adde
Elliptic Flow from a Transversally Thermalized Fireball
The agreement of elliptic flow data at RHIC at central rapidity with the
hydrodynamic model has led to the conclusion of very rapid thermalization. This
conclusion is based on the intuitive argument that hydrodynamics, which assumes
instantaneous local thermalization, produces the largest possible elliptic flow
values and that the data seem to saturate this limit. We here investigate the
question whether incompletely thermalized viscous systems may actually produce
more elliptic flow than ideal hydrodynamics. Motivated by the extremely fast
primordial longitudinal expansion of the reaction zone, we investigate a toy
model which exhibits thermalization only in the transverse directions but
undergoes collisionless free-streaming expansion in the longitudinal direction.
For collisions at RHIC energies, elliptic flow results from the model are
compared with those from hydrodynamics. With the final particle yield and
\kt-distribution fixed, the transversally thermalized model is shown not to
be able to produce the measured amount of elliptic flow. This investigation
provides further support for very rapid local kinetic equilibration at RHIC. It
also yields interesting novel results for the elliptic flow of massless
particles such as direct photons.Comment: revtex4, 15 pages + 10 embedded EPS figure
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