5 research outputs found
Classical Simulation of Quantum Fields II
We consider the classical time evolution of a real scalar field in 2
dimensional Minkowski space with a interaction. We compute the
spatial and temporal two-point correlation functions and extract the
renormalized mass of the interacting theory. We find our results are consistent
with the one- and two-loop quantum computation. We also perform Monte Carlo
simulations of the quantum theory and conclude that the classical scheme is
able to produce more accurate results with a fraction of the CPU time.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, now matches published versio
Evolution of cosmic superstring networks: a numerical simulation
We study the formation and evolution of an interconnected string network in
large-scale field-theory numerical simulations, both in flat spacetime and in
expanding universe. The network consists of gauge U(1) strings of two different
kinds and their bound states, arising due to an attractive interaction
potential. We find that the network shows no tendency to ``freeze'' and appears
to approach a scaling regime, with all characteristic lengths growing linearly
with time. Bound strings constitute only a small fraction of the total string
length in the network.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures; Minor changes; Matches published versio
Real-time nonequilibrium dynamics in hot QED plasmas: dynamical renormalization group approach
We study the real-time nonequilibrium dynamics in hot QED plasmas
implementing a dynamical renormalization group and using the hard thermal loop
(HTL) approximation. The focus is on the study of the relaxation of gauge and
fermionic mean fields and on the quantum kinetics of the photon and fermion
distribution functions. For semihard photons of momentum eT << k << T we find
to leading order in the HTL that the gauge mean field relaxes in time with a
power law as a result of infrared enhancement of the spectral density near the
Landau damping threshold. The dynamical renormalization group reveals the
emergence of detailed balance for microscopic time scales larger than 1/k while
the rates are still varying with time. The quantum kinetic equation for the
photon distribution function allows us to study photon production from a
thermalized quark-gluon plasma (QGP) by off-shell effects. We find that for a
QGP at temperature T ~ 200 MeV and of lifetime 10 < t < 50 fm/c the hard (k ~
T) photon production from off-shell bremsstrahlung (q -> q \gamma and \bar{q}
-> \bar{q}\gamma) at O(\alpha) grows logarithmically in time and is comparable
to that produced from on-shell Compton scattering and pair annihilation at
O(\alpha \alpha_s). Fermion mean fields relax as e^{-\alpha T t ln(\omega_P t)}
with \omega_P=eT/3 the plasma frequency, as a consequence of the emission and
absorption of soft magnetic photons. A quantum kinetic equation for hard
fermions is obtained directly in real time from a field theoretical approach
improved by the dynamical renormalization group. The collision kernel is
time-dependent and infrared finite.Comment: RevTeX, 46 pages, including 5 EPS figures, published versio
Dynamical Renormalization Group Approach to Quantum Kinetics in Scalar and Gauge Theories
We derive quantum kinetic equations from a quantum field theory implementing
a diagrammatic perturbative expansion improved by a resummation via the
dynamical renormalization group. The method begins by obtaining the equation of
motion of the distribution function in perturbation theory. The solution of
this equation of motion reveals secular terms that grow in time, the dynamical
renormalization group resums these secular terms in real time and leads
directly to the quantum kinetic equation. We used this method to study the
relaxation in a cool gas of pions and sigma mesons in the O(4) chiral linear
sigma model. We obtain in relaxation time approximation the pion and sigma
meson relaxation rates. We also find that in large momentum limit emission and
absorption of massless pions result in threshold infrared divergence in sigma
meson relaxation rate and lead to a crossover behavior in relaxation. We then
study the relaxation of charged quasiparticles in scalar electrodynamics
(SQED). While longitudinal, Debye screened photons lead to purely exponential
relaxation, transverse photons, only dynamically screened by Landau damping
lead to anomalous relaxation, thus leading to a crossover between two different
relaxational regimes. We emphasize that infrared divergent damping rates are
indicative of non-exponential relaxation and the dynamical renormalization
group reveals the correct relaxation directly in real time. Finally we also
show that this method provides a natural framework to interpret and resolve the
issue of pinch singularities out of equilibrium and establish a direct
correspondence between pinch singularities and secular terms. We argue that
this method is particularly well suited to study quantum kinetics and transport
in gauge theories.Comment: RevTeX, 40 pages, 4 eps figures, published versio