Low energy Quantum Gravity from the Effective Average Action

Within the effective average action approach to quantum gravity, we recover the low energy effective action as derived in the effective field theory framework, by studying the flow of possibly non-local form factors that appear in the curvature expansion of the effective average action. We restrict to the one-loop flow where progress can be made with the aid of the non-local heat kernel expansion. We discuss the possible physical implications of the scale dependent low energy effective action through the analysis of the quantum corrections to the Newtonian potential.Comment: 24 pages, 1 figure; minor corrections, references adde

Quantum corrections to the geodesic equation

In this talk we will argue that, when gravitons are taken into account, the solution to the semiclassical Einstein equations (SEE) is not physical. The reason is simple: any classical device used to measure the spacetime geometry will also feel the graviton fluctuations. As the coupling between the classical device and the metric is non linear, the device will not measure the `background geometry' (i.e. the geometry that solves the SEE). As a particular example we will show that a classical particle does not follow a geodesic of the background metric. Instead its motion is determined by a quantum corrected geodesic equation that takes into account its coupling to the gravitons. This analysis will also lead us to find a solution to the so-called gauge fixing problem: the quantum corrected geodesic equation is explicitly independent of any gauge fixing parameter.Comment: Revtex file, 6 pages, no figures. Talk presented at the meeting "Trends in Theoretical Physics II", Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 199

Casimir interaction between two concentric cylinders at nonzero temperature

We study the finite temperature Casimir interaction between two concentric cylinders. When the separation between the cylinders is much smaller than the radii of the cylinders, the asymptotic expansions of the Casimir interaction are derived. Both the low temperature and the high temperature regions are considered. The leading terms are found to agree with the proximity force approximations. The low temperature leading term of the temperature correction is also computed and it is found to be independent of the boundary conditions imposed on the larger cylinder.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur

Dynamical Casimir effect in superconducting circuits: a numerical approach

We present a numerical analysis of the particle creation for a quantum field in the presence of time dependent boundary conditions. Having in mind recent experiments involving superconducting circuits, we consider their description in terms of a scalar field in a one dimensional cavity satisfying generalized boundary conditions that involve a time-dependent linear combination of the field and its spatial and time derivatives. We evaluate numerically the Bogoliubov transformation between {\it in} and {\it out}-states and find that the rate of particle production strongly depends on whether the spectrum of the unperturbed cavity is equidistant or not, and also on the amplitude of the temporal oscillations of the boundary conditions. We provide analytic justifications for the different regimes found numerically.Comment: 20 pages. 11 figure

Cosmological Magnetic Fields from Gauge-Mediated Supersymmetry-Breaking Models

We study the generation of primordial magnetic fields, coherent over cosmologically interesting scales, by gravitational creation of charged scalar particles during the reheating period. We show that magnetic fields consistent with those detected by observation may obtained if the particle mean life \tau_s is in the range 10^{-14} sec \leq \tau_s \leq 10{-7} sec. We apply this mechanism to minimal gauge mediated supersymmetry-breaking models, in the case in which the lightest stau \tilde\tau_1 is the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle. We show that, for a large range of phenomenologically acceptable values of the supersymmetry-breaking scale \sqrt{F}, the generated primordial magnetic field can be strong enough to seed the galactic dynamo.Comment: 12 pages, Latex. Final version accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

Casimir force between eccentric cylinders

We consider the Casimir interaction between a cylinder and a hollow cylinder, both conducting, with parallel axis and slightly different radii. The Casimir force, which vanishes in the coaxial situation, is evaluated for both small and large eccentricities using the proximity approximation. The cylindrical configuration offers various experimental advantages with respect to the parallel planes or the plane-sphere geometries, leading to favourable conditions for the search of extra-gravitational forces in the micrometer range and for the observation of finite temperature corrections.Comment: To be published in Europhysics Letters. 7 pages, 4 figure