35 research outputs found
Particle creation in a Robertson-Walker Universe revisited
We reanalyze the problem of particle creation in a 3+1 spatially closed
Robertson-Walker space-time. We compute the total number of particles produced
by this non-stationary gravitational background as well as the corresponding
total energy and find a slight discrepancy between our results and those
recently obtained in the literatur
Constrained Analysis of Topologically Massive Gravity
We quantize the Einstein gravity in the formalism of weak gravitational
fields by using the constrained Hamiltonian method. Special emphasis is given
to the 2+1 spacetime dimensional case where a (topological) Chern-Simons term
is added to the Lagrangian.Comment: 15 pages, IF-UFRJ-21/9
Trace anomaly of the conformal gauge field
The proposed by Bastianelli and van Nieuwenhuizen new method of calculations
of trace anomalies is applied in the conformal gauge field case. The result is
then reproduced by the heat equation method. An error in previous calculation
is corrected. It is pointed out that the introducing gauge symmetries into a
given system by a field-enlarging transformation can result in unexpected
quantum effects even for trivial configurations.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX file, BI-TP 93/3
An Exact Solution for Static Scalar Fields Coupled to Gravity in -Dimensions
We obtain an exact solution for the Einstein's equations with cosmological
constant coupled to a scalar, static particle in static, "spherically"
symmetric background in 2+1 dimensions.Comment: 9 pages. Replaced by a revised versio
Electronic properties of graphene with a topological defect
Various types of topological defects in graphene are considered in the
framework of the continuum model for long-wavelength electronic excitations,
which is based on the Dirac--Weyl equation. The condition for the electronic
wave function is specified, and we show that a topological defect can be
presented as a pseudomagnetic vortex at the apex of a graphitic nanocone; the
flux of the vortex is related to the deficit angle of the cone. The cases of
all possible types of pentagonal defects, as well as several types of
heptagonal defects (with the numbers of heptagons up to three, and six), are
analyzed. The density of states and the ground state charge are determined.Comment: 25 pages, 3 figures, 1 table,minor correction
Thermal partition function of photons and gravitons in a Rindler wedge
The thermal partition function of photons in any covariant gauge and
gravitons in the harmonic gauge, propagating in a Rindler wedge, are computed
using a local -function regularization approach. The correct Planckian
leading order temperature dependence is obtained in both cases. For the
photons, the existence of a surface term giving a negative contribution to the
entropy is confirmed, as earlier obtained by Kabat, but this term is shown to
be gauge dependent in the four-dimensional case and, therefore is discarded. It
is argued that similar terms could appear dealing with any integer spin in the massless case and in more general manifolds. Our conjecture is
checked in the case of a graviton in the harmonic gauge, where different
surface terms also appear, and physically consistent results arise dropping
these terms. The results are discussed in relation to the quantum corrections
to the black hole entropy.Comment: 29 pages, RevTeX, no figures. Minor errors corrected and a few
comments changed since first submission. To be published on Phys.Rev.
Hawking Radiation as Tunneling for Extremal and Rotating Black Holes
The issue concerning semi-classical methods recently developed in deriving
the conditions for Hawking radiation as tunneling, is revisited and applied
also to rotating black hole solutions as well as to the extremal cases. It is
noticed how the tunneling method fixes the temperature of extremal black hole
to be zero, unlike the Euclidean regularity method that allows an arbitrary
compactification period. A comparison with other approaches is presented.Comment: 17 pages, Latex document, typos corrected, four more references,
improved discussion in section
Quantum driven Bounce of the future Universe
It is demonstrated that due to back-reaction of quantum effects, expansion of
the universe stops at its maximum and takes a turnaround. Later on, it
contracts to a very small size in finite future time. This phenomenon is
followed by a " bounce" with re-birth of an exponentially expanding
non-singular universe
Inflation, quantum fields, and CMB anisotropies
Inflationary cosmology has proved to be the most successful at predicting the
properties of the anisotropies observed in the cosmic microwave background
(CMB). In this essay we show that quantum field renormalization significantly
influences the generation of primordial perturbations and hence the expected
measurable imprint of cosmological inflation on the CMB. However, the new
predictions remain in agreement with observation, and in fact favor the
simplest forms of inflation. In the near future, observations of the influence
of gravitational waves from the early universe on the CMB will test our new
predictions.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure, Awarded with the fourth prize in the Gravity
Research Foundation 2009 Essay Competitio
Cosmological horizons and reconstruction of quantum field theories
As a starting point, we state some relevant geometrical properties enjoyed by
the cosmological horizon of a certain class of Friedmann-Robertson-Walker
backgrounds. Those properties are generalised to a larger class of expanding
spacetimes admitting a geodesically complete cosmological horizon \scrim
common to all co-moving observers. This structure is later exploited in order
to recast, in a cosmological background, some recent results for a linear
scalar quantum field theory in spacetimes asymptotically flat at null infinity.
Under suitable hypotheses on , encompassing both the cosmological de Sitter
background and a large class of other FRW spacetimes, the algebra of
observables for a Klein-Gordon field is mapped into a subalgebra of the algebra
of observables \cW(\scrim) constructed on the cosmological horizon. There is
exactly one pure quasifree state on \cW(\scrim) which fulfils a
suitable energy-positivity condition with respect to a generator related with
the cosmological time displacements. Furthermore induces a preferred
physically meaningful quantum state for the quantum theory in the
bulk. If admits a timelike Killing generator preserving \scrim, then the
associated self-adjoint generator in the GNS representation of has
positive spectrum (i.e. energy). Moreover turns out to be invariant
under every symmetry of the bulk metric which preserves the cosmological
horizon. In the case of an expanding de Sitter spacetime, coincides
with the Euclidean (Bunch-Davies) vacuum state, hence being Hadamard in this
case. Remarks on the validity of the Hadamard property for in more
general spacetimes are presented.Comment: 32 pages, 1 figure, to appear on Comm. Math. Phys., dedicated to
Professor Klaus Fredenhagen on the occasion of his 60th birthda