Multi-partite analysis of average-subsystem entropies

So-called average subsystem entropies are defined by first taking partial traces over some pure state to define density matrices, then calculating the subsystem entropies, and finally averaging over the pure states to define the average subsystem entropies. These quantities are standard tools in quantum information theory, most typically applied in bipartite systems. We shall first present some extensions to the usual bipartite analysis, (including a calculation of the average tangle, and a bound on the average concurrence), follow this with some useful results for tripartite systems, and finally extend the discussion to arbitrary multi-partite systems. A particularly nice feature of tri-partite and multi-partite analyses is that this framework allows one to introduce an "environment" for small subsystems to couple to.Comment: Minor changes. 1 reference added. Published versio

Entropy budget for Hawking evaporation

Blackbody radiation, emitted from a furnace and described by a Planck spectrum, contains (on average) an entropy of $3.9\pm 2.5$ bits per photon. Since normal physical burning is a unitary process, this amount of entropy is compensated by the same amount of "hidden information" in correlations between the photons. The importance of this result lies in the posterior extension of this argument to the Hawking radiation from black holes, demonstrating that the assumption of unitarity leads to a perfectly reasonable entropy/information budget for the evaporation process. In order to carry out this calculation we adopt a variant of the "average subsystem" approach, but consider a tripartite pure system that includes the influence of the rest of the universe, and which allows "young" black holes to still have a non-zero entropy; which we identify with the standard Bekenstein entropy.Comment: Proceedings of the conference "VARCOSMOFUN'16" in Szczecin, Poland, 12-17 September, 2016. Accepted for publication in "Universe", belonging to the Special Issue "Varying Constants and Fundamental Cosmology

Generalized uncertainty principle impact onto the black holes information flux and the sparsity of Hawking radiation

We investigate the generalized uncertainty principle (GUP) corrections to the entropy content and the information flux of black holes, as well as the corrections to the sparsity of the Hawking radiation at the late stages of evaporation. We find that due to these quantum gravity motivated corrections, the entropy flow per particle reduces its value on the approach to the Planck scale due to a better accuracy in counting the number of microstates. We also show that the radiation flow is no longer sparse when the mass of a black hole approaches Planck mass which is not the case for non-GUP calculations.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, typos corrected, published in Phys. Rev.

Minimal length and the flow of entropy from black holes

The existence of a minimal length, predicted by different theories of quantum gravity, can be phenomenologically described in terms of a generalized uncertainty principle. We consider the impact of this quantum gravity motivated effect onto the information budget of a black hole and the sparsity of Hawking radiation during the black hole evaporation process. We show that the information is not transmitted at the same rate during the final stages of the evaporation and that the Hawking radiation is not sparse anymore when the black hole approaches the Planck mass.Comment: Awarded Honorable Mention in the 2018 Gravity Research Foundation Essay Competitio

f(R)f(R) quantum cosmology: avoiding the Big Rip

Extended theories of gravity have gathered a lot of attention over the last years, for they not only provide an excellent framework to describe the inflationary era but also yields an alternative to the elusive and mysterious dark energy. Among the different extended theories of gravity, on this work we focus on metric $f(R)$ theories. In addition, it is well known that if the late-time acceleration of the universe is stronger than the one induced by a cosmological constant then some future cosmic singularities might arise, being the Big Rip the most virulent one. Following this reasoning, on this work, we analyse the Big Rip singularity in the framework of $f(R)$ quantum geometrodynamics. Invoking the DeWitt criterium, i. e. that the wave function vanishes at the classical singularity, we proof that a class of solutions to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation fulfilling this condition can be found. Therefore, this result hints towards the avoidance of the Big Rip in metric $f(R)$ theories of gravity.Comment: V1:13 pages. Dedicated to the memory of Prof. Pedro F. Gonzalez-Diaz (our former PhD supervisor). V2: 9 pages (new style), minor clarifications included, no physics changes, 6 references added. Version accepted for publication in Physical Review

Vacuum decay in an interacting multiverse

We examine a new multiverse scenario in which the component universes interact. We focus our attention to the process of "true" vacuum nucleation in the false vacuum within one single element of the multiverse. It is shown that the interactions lead to a collective behaviour that might lead, under specific conditions, to a pre-inflationary phase and ensued distinguishable imprints in the comic microwave background radiation.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Conceptual Challenges on the Road to the Multiverse

The current debate about a possible change of paradigm from a single universe to a multiverse scenario could have deep implications on our view of cosmology and of science in general. These implications therefore deserve to be analyzed from a fundamental conceptual level. We briefly review the different multiverse ideas, both historically and within contemporary physics. We then discuss several positions within philosophy of science with regard to scientific progress, and apply these to the multiverse debate. Finally, we construct some key concepts for a physical multiverse scenario and discuss the challenges this scenario has to deal with in order to provide a solid, testable theory

Quantum Gravity Phenomenology from the Thermodynamics of Spacetime

This work is based on the formalism developed in the study of the thermodynamics of spacetime used to derive Einstein equations from the proportionality of entropy within an area. When low-energy quantum gravity effects are considered, an extra logarithmic term in the area is added to the entropy expression. Here, we present the derivation of the quantum modified gravitational dynamics from this modified entropy expression and discuss its main features. Furthermore, we outline the application of the modified dynamics to cosmology, suggesting the replacement of the Big Bang singularity with a regular bounce

Thermodynamics of spacetime from minimal area

Motivated by exploring the interface between thermodynamics of spacetime and quantum gravity effects, we develop a heuristic derivation of Hawking temperature and Bekenstein entropy from the existence of a minimal resolvable area. Moreover, we find leading order quantum gravity corrections to them that are in qualitative agreement with results obtained by other methods, both heuristic and rigorous. In this way, we recover, as a particular case, the corrections heuristically obtained from the existence of minimal length. We also show that the size of minimal area is constrained from above by well understood results of semiclassical black hole physics, specifically by the entropy content of Hawking radiation. The minimal area derivation we introduce is also applied to finding the Unruh temperature associated with causal diamonds and to establish a new relation between this temperature and the entropy of the causal diamond's horizon