3,734 research outputs found
Interpreting doubly special relativity as a modified theory of measurement
In this article we develop a physical interpretation for the deformed
(doubly) special relativity theories (DSRs), based on a modification of the
theory of measurement in special relativity. We suggest that it is useful to
regard the DSRs as reflecting the manner in which quantum gravity effects
induce Planck-suppressed distortions in the measurement of the "true" energy
and momentum. This interpretation provides a framework for the DSRs that is
manifestly consistent, non-trivial, and in principle falsifiable. However, it
does so at the cost of demoting such theories from the level of "fundamental"
physics to the level of phenomenological models -- models that should in
principle be derivable from whatever theory of quantum gravity one ultimately
chooses to adopt.Comment: 18 pages, plain LaTeX2
The Stability of an Isotropic Cosmological Singularity in Higher-Order Gravity
We study the stability of the isotropic vacuum Friedmann universe in gravity
theories with higher-order curvature terms of the form
added to the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian of general relativity on approach to
an initial cosmological singularity. Earlier, we had shown that, when ,
a special isotropic vacuum solution exists which behaves like the
radiation-dominated Friedmann universe and is stable to anisotropic and small
inhomogeneous perturbations of scalar, vector and tensor type. This is
completely different to the situation that holds in general relativity, where
an isotropic initial cosmological singularity is unstable in vacuum and under a
wide range of non-vacuum conditions. We show that when , although a
special isotropic vacuum solution found by Clifton and Barrow always exists, it
is no longer stable when the initial singularity is approached. We find the
particular stability conditions under the influence of tensor, vector, and
scalar perturbations for general for both solution branches. On approach to
the initial singularity, the isotropic vacuum solution with scale factor
is found to be stable to tensor perturbations for and stable to vector perturbations for , but is
unstable as otherwise. The solution with scale factor
is not relevant to the case of an initial singularity for
and is unstable as for all for each type of perturbation.Comment: 25 page
Stable Isotropic Cosmological Singularities in Quadratic Gravity
We show that, in quadratic lagrangian theories of gravity, isotropic
cosmological singularities are stable to the presence of small scalar, vector
and tensor inhomogeneities. Unlike in general relativity, a particular exact
isotropic solution is shown to be the stable attractor on approach to the
initial cosmological singularity. This solution is also known to act as an
attractor in Bianchi universes of types I, II and IX, and the results of this
paper reinforce the hypothesis that small inhomogeneous and anisotropic
perturbations of this attractor form part of the general cosmological solution
to the field equations of quadratic gravity. Implications for the existence of
a 'gravitational entropy' are also discussed.Comment: 18 pages, no figure
Counterfactual Quantum Cryptography
Quantum cryptography allows one to distribute a secret key between two remote
parties using the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. The well-known
established paradigm for the quantum key distribution relies on the actual
transmission of signal particle through a quantum channel. This paper shows
that the task of a secret key distribution can be accomplished even though a
particle carrying secret information is not in fact transmitted through the
quantum channel. The proposed protocols can be implemented with current
technologies and provide practical security advantages by eliminating the
possibility that an eavesdropper can directly access the entire quantum system
of each signal particle.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figure; a little ambiguity in the version 1 removed;
abstract, text, references, and appendix revised; suggestions and comments
are highly appreciate
Self-Similar Collapse of Conformally Coupled Scalar Fields
A massless scalar field minimally coupled to the gravitational field in a
simplified spherical symmetry is discussed. It is shown that, in this case, the
solution found by Roberts, describing a scalar field collapse, is in fact the
most general one. Taking that solution as departure point, a study of the
gravitational collapse for the self-similar conformal case is presented.Comment: 9 pages, accepted for publication, Classical and Quantum Gravity.
Available at http://dft.if.uerj.br/preprint/e-17.tex or at
ftp://dft.if.uerj.br/preprint/e-17.tex . Figures can be obtained on request
at [email protected]
Shape in an Atom of Space: Exploring quantum geometry phenomenology
A phenomenology for the deep spatial geometry of loop quantum gravity is
introduced. In the context of a simple model, an atom of space, it is shown how
purely combinatorial structures can affect observations. The angle operator is
used to develop a model of angular corrections to local, continuum flat-space
3-geometries. The physical effects involve neither breaking of local Lorentz
invariance nor Planck scale suppression, but rather reply on only the
combinatorics of SU(2) recoupling. Bhabha scattering is discussed as an example
of how the effects might be observationally accessible.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures; v2 references adde
Strict inequalities of critical values in continuum percolation
We consider the supercritical finite-range random connection model where the
points of a homogeneous planar Poisson process are connected with
probability for a given . Performing percolation on the resulting
graph, we show that the critical probabilities for site and bond percolation
satisfy the strict inequality . We also show
that reducing the connection function strictly increases the critical
Poisson intensity. Finally, we deduce that performing a spreading
transformation on (thereby allowing connections over greater distances but
with lower probabilities, leaving average degrees unchanged) {\em strictly}
reduces the critical Poisson intensity. This is of practical relevance,
indicating that in many real networks it is in principle possible to exploit
the presence of spread-out, long range connections, to achieve connectivity at
a strictly lower density value.Comment: 38 pages, 8 figure
Final fate of spherically symmetric gravitational collapse of a dust cloud in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity
We give a model of the higher-dimensional spherically symmetric gravitational
collapse of a dust cloud in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity. A simple formulation
of the basic equations is given for the spacetime with a perfect fluid and a cosmological constant. This is a
generalization of the Misner-Sharp formalism of the four-dimensional
spherically symmetric spacetime with a perfect fluid in general relativity. The
whole picture and the final fate of the gravitational collapse of a dust cloud
differ greatly between the cases with and . There are two
families of solutions, which we call plus-branch and the minus-branch
solutions. Bounce inevitably occurs in the plus-branch solution for ,
and consequently singularities cannot be formed. Since there is no trapped
surface in the plus-branch solution, the singularity formed in the case of
must be naked. In the minus-branch solution, naked singularities are
massless for , while massive naked singularities are possible for
. In the homogeneous collapse represented by the flat
Friedmann-Robertson-Walker solution, the singularity formed is spacelike for , while it is ingoing-null for . In the inhomogeneous collapse with
smooth initial data, the strong cosmic censorship hypothesis holds for and for depending on the parameters in the initial data, while a
naked singularity is always formed for . These naked
singularities can be globally naked when the initial surface radius of the dust
cloud is fine-tuned, and then the weak cosmic censorship hypothesis is
violated.Comment: 23 pages, 1 figure, final version to appear in Physical Review
Quasi-local energy-momentum and energy flux at null infinity
The null infinity limit of the gravitational energy-momentum and energy flux
determined by the covariant Hamiltonian quasi-local expressions is evaluated
using the NP spin coefficients. The reference contribution is considered by
three different embedding approaches. All of them give the expected Bondi
energy and energy flux.Comment: 14 pages, accepted by Phys.Rev.
Quantum Information and Entropy
Thermodynamic entropy is not an entirely satisfactory measure of information
of a quantum state. This entropy for an unknown pure state is zero, although
repeated measurements on copies of such a pure state do communicate
information. In view of this, we propose a new measure for the informational
entropy of a quantum state that includes information in the pure states and the
thermodynamic entropy. The origin of information is explained in terms of an
interplay between unitary and non-unitary evolution. Such complementarity is
also at the basis of the so-called interaction-free measurement.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figure
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