105 research outputs found
Nonperturbative infrared effects for light scalar fields in de Sitter space
We study the phi^4 scalar field theory in de Sitter space using the 2PI
effective action formalism. This formalism enables us to investigate the
nonperturbative quantum effects. We use the mean field and gap equations and
calculate the physical mass and effective potential. We find that
nonperturbative infrared effects on de Sitter space produce a curvature-induced
mass and work to restore the broken Z_2 symmetry.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, section 2 revised, discussion in section 4
changed, results not change
Solving the Effective Field Equations for the Newtonian Potential
Loop corrections to the gravitational potential are usually inferred from
scattering amplitudes, which seems quite different from how the linearized
Einstein equations are solved with a static, point mass to give the classical
potential. In this study we show how the Schwinger-Keldysh effective field
equations can be used to compute loop corrections to the potential in a way
which parallels the classical treatment. We derive explicit results for the one
loop correction from the graviton self-energy induced by a massless, minimally
coupled scalar.Comment: 15 pages, uses LaTeX2
Stress Tensor Correlators in the Schwinger-Keldysh Formalism
We express stress tensor correlators using the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism.
The absence of off-diagonal counterterms in this formalism ensures that the +-
and -+ correlators are free of primitive divergences. We use dimensional
regularization in position space to explicitly check this at one loop order for
a massless scalar on a flat space background. We use the same procedure to show
that the ++ correlator contains the divergences first computed by `t Hooft and
Veltman for the scalar contribution to the graviton self-energy.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX 2epsilon, no figures, revised for publicatio
Dominance of gauge artifact in the consistency relation for the primordial bispectrum
The conventional cosmological perturbation theory has been performed under
the assumption that we know the whole spatial region of the universe with
infinite volume. This is, however, not the case in the actual observations
because observable portion of the universe is limited. To give a theoretical
prediction to the observable fluctuations, gauge-invariant observables should
be composed of the information in our local observable universe with finite
volume. From this point of view, we reexamine the primordial non-Gaussianity in
single field models, focusing on the bispectrum in the squeezed limit. A
conventional prediction states that the bispectrum in this limit is related to
the power spectrum through the so-called consistency relation. However, it
turns out that, if we adopt a genuine gauge invariant variable which is
naturally composed purely of the information in our local universe, the leading
term for the bispectrum in the squeezed limit predicted by the consistency
relation vanishes.Comment: 12 pages; v2: accepted version in JCA
A Simple Operator Check of the Effective Fermion Mode Function during Inflation
We present a relatively simple operator formalism which reproduces the
leading infrared logarithm of the one loop quantum gravitational correction to
the fermion mode function on a locally de Sitter background. This rule may
serve as the basis for an eventual stochastic formulation of quantum gravity
during inflation. Such a formalism would not only effect a vast simplification
in obtaining the leading powers of at fixed loop orders, it would also
permit us to sum the series of leading logarithms. A potentially important
point is that our rule does not seem to be consistent with any simple infrared
truncation of the fields. Our analysis also highlights the importance of spin
as a gravitational interaction that persists even when kinetic energy has
redshifted to zero.Comment: 39 pages, no figuire.(1) New version has clarified the ultimate
motivation by adding sentences to the abstract and to the penultimate
paragraph of the introduction. (2) By combining a number of references and
equations we have managed to reduce the length by 2 page
A new diagrammatic representation for correlation functions in the in-in formalism
In this paper we provide an alternative method to compute correlation
functions in the in-in formalism, with a modified set of Feynman rules to
compute loop corrections. The diagrammatic expansion is based on an iterative
solution of the equation of motion for the quantum operators with only retarded
propagators, which makes each diagram intrinsically local (whereas in the
standard case locality is the result of several cancellations) and endowed with
a straightforward physical interpretation. While the final result is strictly
equivalent, as a bonus the formulation presented here also contains less graphs
than other diagrammatic approaches to in-in correlation functions. Our method
is particularly suitable for applications to cosmology.Comment: 14 pages, matches the published version. includes a modified version
of axodraw.sty that works with the Revtex4 clas
Possible Enhancement of High Frequency Gravitational Waves
We study the tensor perturbations in a class of non-local, purely
gravitational models which naturally end inflation in a distinctive phase of
oscillations with slight and short violations of the weak energy condition. We
find the usual generic form for the tensor power spectrum. The presence of the
oscillatory phase leads to an enhancement of gravitational waves with
frequencies somewhat less than 10^{10} Hz.Comment: 27 pages, 11 figures, LaTeX.2
Dimensionally Regulated Graviton 1-Point Function in de Sitter
We use dimensional regularization to compute the 1PI 1-point function of
quantum gravity at one loop order in a locally de Sitter background. As with
other computations, the result is a finite constant at this order. It
corresponds to a small positive renormalization of the cosmological constant.Comment: 25 pages, LaTeX 2epsilon, uses Axodraw for one figure, revised to add
some reference
Two Loop Scalar Bilinears for Inflationary SQED
We evaluate the one and two loop contributions to the expectation values of
two coincident and gauge invariant scalar bilinears in the theory of massless,
minimally coupled scalar quantum electrodynamics on a locally de Sitter
background. One of these bilinears is the product of two covariantly
differentiated scalars, the other is the product of two undifferentiated
scalars. The computations are done using dimensional regularization and the
Schwinger-Keldysh formalism. Our results are in perfect agreement with the
stochastic predictions at this order.Comment: 43 pages, LaTeX 2epsilon, 5 figures (using axodraw.sty) Version 2 has
updated references and important corrections to Tables 3-5 and to eqns
(139-141), (145-146), (153-155), (158) and (160
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