528 research outputs found
The Fluctuations of the Quark Number and of the Chiral Condensate
The distributions of the quark number and chiral condensate over the gauge
fields are computed for QCD in Euclidean space at nonzero quark chemical
potential. As both operators are non-hermitian the distributions are in the
complex plane. Moreover, because of the sign problem, the distributions are not
real and positive. The computations are carried out within leading order chiral
perturbation theory and give a direct insight into the delicate cancellations
that take place in contributions to the total baryon number and the chiral
condensate.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figure
Higher Derivative Gravity, Causality and Positivity of Energy in a UV complete QFT
In this note we discuss the relation between the constraints imposed by
causality in the bulk of and the condition of positivity of the energy
measured in ideal calorimeters in a collider experiment in the dual CFT. We
first extend the analysis in the literature and recover all bounds imposed by
causality of the boundary theory in the bulk dynamics for all polarizations of
the graviton and the gauge boson field. These results translate to specific
bounds for the ratio of central charges in the dual CFT, already
found by analyzing the energy one point function. Then, we generalize this
discussion and we study shock wave backgrounds in which we make manifest the
relation between causality in the bulk and the three point function in the dual
field theory. We remark that particular care has to be given to the
exponentiation procedure of the three point function when solving the classical
equations of motion in the higher gravity theory, as it is not clear that every
theory will present causality problems. Finally, we present a field theoretic
argument explaining the positivity of energy condition in any UV complete QFT.Comment: 31 pages, 3 figures; v2: references adde
Simple Quantum Systems in Spacetimes with Closed Timelike Curves
Three simple examples illustrate properties of path integral amplitudes in
fixed background spacetimes with closed timelike curves: non-relativistic
potential scattering in the Born approximation is non-unitary, but both an
example with hard spheres and the exact solution of a totally discrete model
are unitary.Comment: 15 pages, CALT-68-180
The averaged null energy condition for general quantum field theories in two dimensions
It is shown that the averaged null energy condition is fulfilled for a dense,
translationally invariant set of vector states in any local quantum field
theory in two-dimensional Minkowski spacetime whenever the theory has a mass
gap and possesses an energy-momentum tensor. The latter is assumed to be a
Wightman field which is local relative to the observables, generates locally
the translations, is divergence-free, and energetically bounded. Thus the
averaged null energy condition can be deduced from completely generic, standard
assumptions for general quantum field theory in two-dimensional flat spacetime.Comment: LateX2e, 16 pages, 1 eps figur
AI-based multi-PRS models outperform classical single-PRS models
Polygenic risk scores (PRS) calculate the risk for a specific disease based on the weighted sum of associated alleles from different genetic loci in the germline estimated by regression models. Recent advances in genetics made it possible to create polygenic predictors of complex human traits, including risks for many important complex diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, or cardiovascular diseases, typically influenced by many genetic variants, each of which has a negligible effect on overall risk. In the current study, we analyzed whether adding additional PRS from other diseases to the prediction models and replacing the regressions with machine learning models can improve overall predictive performance. Results showed that multi-PRS models outperform single-PRS models significantly on different diseases. Moreover, replacing regression models with machine learning models, i.e., deep learning, can also improve overall accuracy
Restrictions on negative energy density in a curved spacetime
Recently a restriction ("quantum inequality-type relation") on the
(renormalized) energy density measured by a static observer in a "globally
static" (ultrastatic) spacetime has been formulated by Pfenning and Ford for
the minimally coupled scalar field, in the extension of quantum inequality-type
relation on flat spacetime of Ford and Roman. They found negative lower bounds
for the line integrals of energy density multiplied by a sampling (weighting)
function, and explicitly evaluate them for some specific spacetimes. In this
paper, we study the lower bound on spacetimes whose spacelike hypersurfaces are
compact and without boundary. In the short "sampling time" limit, the bound has
asymptotic expansion. Although the expansion can not be represented by locally
invariant quantities in general due to the nonlocal nature of the integral, we
explicitly evaluate the dominant terms in the limit in terms of the invariant
quantities. We also make an estimate for the bound in the long sampling time
limit.Comment: LaTex, 23 Page
van Vleck determinants: traversable wormhole spacetimes
Calculating the van Vleck determinant in traversable wormhole spacetimes is
an important ingredient in understanding the physical basis behind Hawking's
chronology protection conjecture. This paper presents extensive computations of
this object --- at least in the short--throat flat--space approximation. An
important technical trick is to use an extension of the usual junction
condition formalism to probe the full Riemann tensor associated with a thin
shell of matter. Implications with regard to Hawking's chronology protection
conjecture are discussed. Indeed, any attempt to transform a single isolated
wormhole into a time machine results in large vacuum polarization effects
sufficient to disrupt the internal structure of the wormhole before the onset
of Planck scale physics, and before the onset of time travel. On the other
hand, it is possible to set up a putative time machine built out of two or more
wormholes, each of which taken in isolation is not itself a time machine. Such
``Roman configurations'' are much more subtle to analyse. For some particularly
bizarre configurations (not traversable by humans) the vacuum polarization
effects can be arranged to be arbitrarily small at the onset of Planck scale
physics. This indicates that the disruption scale has been pushed down into the
Planck slop. Ultimately, for these configurations, questions regarding the
truth or falsity of Hawking's chronology protection can only be addressed by
entering the uncharted wastelands of full fledged quantum gravity.Comment: 42 pages, ReV_TeX 3.
Averaged Energy Conditions in 4D Evaporating Black Hole Backgrounds
Using Visser's semi-analytical model for the stress-energy tensor
corresponding to the conformally coupled massless scalar field in the Unruh
vacuum, we examine, by explicitly evaluating the relevant integrals over
half-complete geodesics, the averaged weak (AWEC) and averaged null (ANEC)
energy conditions along with Ford-Roman quantum inequality-type restrictions on
negative energy in the context of four dimensional evaporating black hole
backgrounds. We find that in all cases where the averaged energy conditions
fail, there exist quantum inequality bounds on the magnitude and duration of
negative energy densities.Comment: Revtex, 13 pages, to appear in Phy. Rev.
From wormhole to time machine: Comments on Hawking's Chronology Protection Conjecture
The recent interest in ``time machines'' has been largely fueled by the
apparent ease with which such systems may be formed in general relativity,
given relatively benign initial conditions such as the existence of traversable
wormholes or of infinite cosmic strings. This rather disturbing state of
affairs has led Hawking to formulate his Chronology Protection Conjecture,
whereby the formation of ``time machines'' is forbidden. This paper will use
several simple examples to argue that the universe appears to exhibit a
``defense in depth'' strategy in this regard. For appropriate parameter regimes
Casimir effects, wormhole disruption effects, and gravitational back reaction
effects all contribute to the fight against time travel. Particular attention
is paid to the role of the quantum gravity cutoff. For the class of model
problems considered it is shown that the gravitational back reaction becomes
large before the Planck scale quantum gravity cutoff is reached, thus
supporting Hawking's conjecture.Comment: 43 pages,ReV_TeX,major revision
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