Effective 4D propagation of a charged scalar particle in Visser brane world

In this work we extend an analysis due to Visser of the effective propagation of a neutral scalar particle on a brane world scenario which is a particular solution of the five dimensional Einstein-Maxwell equations with cosmological constant having an electric field pointing in the extra spatial dimension. We determine the dispersion relations of a charged scalar particle to first order in a perturbative analysis around those of the neutral particle. Since depending on whether the particle is charged or not the dispersion relations change, we could collect bulk information, namely the presence of the electric field, by studying the 4D dynamics of the particles.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

An Alternative Canonical Approach to the Ghost Problem in a Complexified Extension of the Pais-Uhlenbeck Oscillator

Our purpose in this paper is to analyze the Pais-Uhlenbeck (PU) oscillator using complex canonical transformations. We show that starting from a Lagrangian approach we obtain a transformation that makes the extended PU oscillator, with unequal frequencies, to be equivalent to two standard second order oscillators which have the original number of degrees of freedom. Such extension is provided by adding a total time derivative to the PU Lagrangian together with a complexification of the original variables further subjected to reality conditions in order to maintain the required number of degrees of freedom. The analysis is accomplished at both the classical and quantum levels. Remarkably, at the quantum level the negative norm states are eliminated, as well as the problems of unbounded below energy and non-unitary time evolution. We illustrate the idea of our approach by eliminating the negative norm states in a complex oscillator. Next, we extend the procedure to the Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator. The corresponding quantum propagators are calculated using Schwinger's quantum action principle. We also discuss the equal frequency case at the classical level

Brane world corrections to scalar vacuum force in RSII-p

Vacuum force is an interesting low energy test for brane worlds due to its dependence on field's modes and its role in submillimeter gravity experiments. In this work we generalize a previous model example: the scalar field vacuum force between two parallel plates lying in the brane of a Randall-Sundrum scenario extended by $p$ compact dimensions (RSII-$p$). Upon use of Green's function technique, for the massless scalar field, the 4D force is obtained from a zero mode while corrections turn out attractive and depend on the separation between plates as $l^{-(6+p)}$. For the massive scalar field a quasilocalized mode yields the 4D force with attractive corrections behaving like $l^{-(10+p)}$. Corrections are negligible w.r.t. 4D force for $AdS_{(5+p)}$ radius less than $\sim 10^{-6}$m. Although the $p=0$ case is not physically viable due to the different behavior in regard to localization for the massless scalar and electromagnetic fields it yields an useful comparison between the dimensional regularization and Green's function techniques as we describe in the discussion.Comment: 14 pages, v2: discussion clarified, reference adde

Loop Variables for compact two-dimensional quantum electrodynamics

Variables parametrized by closed and open curves are defined to reformulate compact U(1) Quantum Electrodynamics in the circle with a massless fermion field. It is found that the gauge invariant nature of these variables accommodates into a regularization scheme for the Hamiltonian and current operators that is specially well suited for the study of the compact case. The zero mode energy spectrum, the value of the axial anomaly and the anomalous commutators this model presents are hence determined in a manifestly gauge invariant manner. Contrary to the non compact case, the zero mode spectrum is not equally spaced and consequently the theory does not lead to the spectrum of a free scalar boson. All the states are invariant under large gauge transformations. In particular, that is the case for the vacuum, and consequently the $\theta$-dependence does not appear.Comment: 24 pages, 1 figure, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Quantum gravity corrections to neutrino propagation

Massive spin-1/2 fields are studied in the framework of loop quantum gravity by considering a state approximating, at a length scale $\cal L$ much greater than Planck length $\ell_P=1.2\times 10^{-33}$cm, a spin-1/2 field in flat spacetime. The discrete structure of spacetime at $\ell_P$ yields corrections to the field propagation at scale $\cal L$. Next, Neutrino Bursts (${\bar p}\approx 10^5$GeV) accompaning Gamma Ray Bursts that have travelled cosmological distances, $L\approx 10^{10}$l.y., are considered. The dominant correction is helicity independent and leads to a time delay w.r.t. the speed of light, $c$, of order $({\bar p} \ell_P) L/c\approx 10^4$s. To next order in ${\bar p} \ell_P$ the correction has the form of the Gambini and Pullin effect for photons. Its contribution to time delay is comparable to that caused by the mass term. Finally, a dependence $L_{\rm os}^{-1} \propto {\bar p}^2 \ell_P$ is found for a two-flavour neutrino oscillation length.Comment: RevTeX, 5pp, no figures. Notation of a sum in Eq.(2) improved. Slight modifications in redaction. Final version to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Comments on the kinematical structure of loop quantum cosmology

We comment on the presence of spurious observables and on a subtle violation of irreducibility in loop quantum cosmology.Comment: 7 page

Quantum Gravity Hamiltonian for Manifolds with Boundary

In canonical quantum gravity, when space is a compact manifold with boundary there is a Hamiltonian given by an integral over the boundary. Here we compute the action of this `boundary Hamiltonian' on observables corresponding to open Wilson lines in the new variables formulation of quantum gravity. In cases where the boundary conditions fix the metric on the boundary (e.g., in the asymptotically Minkowskian case) one can obtain a finite result, given by a `shift operator' generating translations of the Wilson line in the direction of its tangent vector. A similar shift operator serves as the Hamiltonian constraint in Morales-T\'ecotl and Rovelli's work on quantum gravity coupled to Weyl spinors. This suggests the appearance of an induced field theory of Weyl spinors on the boundary, analogous to that considered in Carlip's work on the statistical mechanics of the 2+1-dimensional black hole.Comment: 17 pages in LaTeX format, vastly improved versio

Casimir force in brane worlds: coinciding results from Green's and Zeta function approaches

Casimir force encodes the structure of the field modes as vacuum fluctuations and so it is sensitive to the extra dimensions of brane worlds. Now, in flat spacetimes of arbitrary dimension the two standard approaches to the Casimir force, Green's function and zeta function, yield the same result, but for brane world models this was only assumed. In this work we show both approaches yield the same Casimir force in the case of Universal Extra Dimensions and Randall-Sundrum scenarios with one and two branes added by p compact dimensions. Essentially, the details of the mode eigenfunctions that enter the Casimir force in the Green's function approach get removed due to their orthogonality relations with a measure involving the right hyper-volume of the plates and this leaves just the contribution coming from the Zeta function approach. The present analysis corrects previous results showing a difference between the two approaches for the single brane Randall-Sundrum; this was due to an erroneous hyper-volume of the plates introduced by the authors when using the Green's function. For all the models we discuss here, the resulting Casimir force can be neatly expressed in terms of two four dimensional Casimir force contributions: one for the massless mode and the other for a tower of massive modes associated with the extra dimensions.Comment: 30 pages, title, abstract and discussion have change