237 research outputs found
Analytic Evaluation of the Decay Rate for Accelerated Proton
We evaluate the decay rate of the uniformly accelerated proton. We obtain an
analytic expression for inverse beta decay process caused by the acceleration.
We evaluate the decay rate both from the inertial frame and from the
accelerated frame where we should consider thermal radiation by Unruh effect.
We explicitly check that the decay rates obtained in both frame coincide with
each other.Comment: 11 page
The Fulling-Davies-Unruh Effect is Mandatory: The Proton's Testimony
We discuss the decay of accelerated protons and illustrate how the
Fulling-Davies-Unruh effect is indeed mandatory to maintain the consistency of
standard Quantum Field Theory. The confidence level of the Fulling-Davies-Unruh
effect must be the same as that of Quantum Field Theory itself.Comment: Awarded "honorable mention" by Gravity Research Foundation in the
2002 Essay competitio
Particle creation due to tachyonic instability in relativistic stars
Dense enough compact objects were recently shown to lead to an exponentially
fast increase of the vacuum energy density for some free scalar fields properly
coupled to the spacetime curvature as a consequence of a tachyonic-like
instability. Once the effect is triggered, the star energy density would be
overwhelmed by the vacuum energy density in a few milliseconds. This demands
that eventually geometry and field evolve to a new configuration to bring the
vacuum back to a stationary regime. Here, we show that the vacuum fluctuations
built up during the unstable epoch lead to particle creation in the final
stationary state when the tachyonic instability ceases. The amount of created
particles depends mostly on the duration of the unstable epoch and final
stationary configuration, which are open issues at this point. We emphasize
that the particle creation coming from the tachyonic instability will occur
even in the adiabatic limit, where the spacetime geometry changes arbitrarily
slowly, and therefore is quite distinct from the usual particle creation due to
the change in the background geometry.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, discussion improved: paragraph added at the end
of Sec. V B (published version
Gravity-induced vacuum dominance
It has been widely believed that, except in very extreme situations, the
influence of gravity on quantum fields should amount to just small,
sub-dominant contributions. This view seemed to be endorsed by the seminal
results obtained over the last decades in the context of renormalization of
quantum fields in curved spacetimes. Here, however, we argue that this belief
is false by showing that there exist well-behaved spacetime evolutions where
the vacuum energy density of free quantum fields is forced, by the very same
background spacetime, to become dominant over any classical energy-density
component. This semiclassical gravity effect finds its roots in the infrared
behavior of fields on curved spacetimes. By estimating the time scale for the
vacuum energy density to become dominant, and therefore for backreaction on the
background spacetime to become important, we argue that this vacuum dominance
may bear unexpected astrophysical and cosmological implications.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Lett
Awaking the vacuum in relativistic stars
Void of any inherent structure in classical physics, the vacuum has revealed
to be incredibly crowded with all sorts of processes in relativistic quantum
physics. Yet, its direct effects are usually so subtle that its structure
remains almost as evasive as in classical physics. Here, in contrast, we report
on the discovery of a novel effect according to which the vacuum is compelled
to play an unexpected central role in an astrophysical context. We show that
the formation of relativistic stars may lead the vacuum energy density of a
quantum field to an exponential growth. The vacuum-driven evolution which would
then follow may lead to unexpected implications for astrophysics, while the
observation of stable neutron-star configurations may teach us much on the
field content of our Universe.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Let
A Photometrically Detected Forming Cluster of Galaxies at Redshift 1.6 in the GOODS Field
We report the discovery of a localized overdensity at z~1.6 in the
GOODS-South Field, presumably a poor cluster in the process of formation. The
three-dimensional galaxy density has been estimated on the basis of well
calibrated photometric redshifts from the multiband photometric GOODS-MUSIC
catalog using the (2+1)D technique. The density peak is embedded in the larger
scale overdensity of galaxies known to exist at z=1.61 in the area. The
properties of the member galaxies are compared to those of the surrounding
field and we found that the two populations are significantly different
supporting the reality of the structure. The reddest galaxies, once evolved
according to their best fit models, have colors consistent with the red
sequence of lower redshift clusters. The estimated M_200 total mass of the
cluster is in the range 1.3 x 10^14 - 5.7x 10^14 Msun, depending on the assumed
bias factor b. An upper limit for the 2-10 keV X-ray luminosity, based on the
1Ms Chandra observations, is L_X=0.5 x 10^43 erg s^-1, suggesting that the
cluster has not yet reached the virial equilibrium.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures (1 in color), uses emulateapj.cls Latex class
file, accepted for publication in Ap
High-redshift QSOs in the GOODS
The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey provides significant constraints
on the space density of less luminous QSOs at high redshift, which is
particularly important to understand the interplay between the formation of
galaxies and super-massive black holes and to measure the QSO contribution to
the UV ionizing background. We present the results of a search for high-z QSOs,
identified in the two GOODS fields on the basis of deep imaging in the optical
(with HST) and X-ray (Chandra), and discuss the allowed space density of QSOs
in the early universe.Comment: Proceedings of 'Multiwavelength mapping of galaxy evolution'
conference held in Venice (Italy), October 2003, A. Renzini and R. Bender
(Eds.), 6 pages, 1 figur
Can quantum mechanics fool the cosmic censor?
We revisit the mechanism for violating the weak cosmic-censorship conjecture
(WCCC) by overspinning a nearly-extreme charged black hole. The mechanism
consists of an incoming massless neutral scalar particle, with low energy and
large angular momentum, tunneling into the hole. We investigate the effect of
the large angular momentum of the incoming particle on the background geometry
and address recent claims that such a back-reaction would invalidate the
mechanism. We show that the large angular momentum of the incident particle
does not constitute an obvious impediment to the success of the overspinning
quantum mechanism, although the induced back-reaction turns out to be essential
to restoring the validity of the WCCC in the classical regime. These results
seem to endorse the view that the "cosmic censor" may be oblivious to processes
involving quantum effects.Comment: 5 pages, to appear as a Rapid Communication in Phys. Rev.
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