110 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
Coherent Topological Charge Structure in Models and QCD
In an effort to clarify the significance of the recent observation of
long-range topological charge coherence in QCD gauge configurations, we study
the local topological charge distributions in two-dimensional sigma
models, using the overlap Dirac operator to construct the lattice topological
charge. We find long-range sign coherence of topological charge along extended
one-dimensional structures in two-dimensional spacetime. We discuss the
connection between the long range topological structure found in and
the observed sign coherence along three-dimensional sheets in four-dimensional
QCD gauge configurations. In both cases, coherent regions of topological charge
form along membrane-like surfaces of codimension one. We show that the Monte
Carlo results, for both two-dimensional and four-dimensional gauge theory,
support a view of topological charge fluctuations suggested by Luscher and
Witten. In this framework, the observed membranes are associated with
boundaries between ``k-vacua,'' characterized by an effective local value of
which jumps by across the boundary.Comment: 26 page
Hydrodynamic Models for Heavy-Ion Collisions, and beyond
A generic property of a first-order phase transition in equilibrium, and in
the limit of large entropy per unit of conserved charge, is the smallness of
the isentropic speed of sound in the ``mixed phase''. A specific prediction is
that this should lead to a non-isotropic momentum distribution of nucleons in
the reaction plane (for energies around 40 AGeV in our model calculation). On
the other hand, we show that from present effective theories for low-energy QCD
one does not expect the thermal transition rate between various states of the
effective potential to be much larger than the expansion rate, questioning the
applicability of the idealized Maxwell/Gibbs construction. Experimental data
could soon provide essential information on the dynamics of the phase
transition.Comment: 10 Pages, 4 Figures. Presented at 241st WE-Heraeus Seminar: Symposium
on Fundamental Issues in Elementary Matter: In Honor and Memory of Michael
Danos, Bad Honnef, Germany, 25-29 Sep 200
Topological String Defect Formation During the Chiral Phase Transition
We extend and generalize the seminal work of Brandenberger, Huang and Zhang
on the formation of strings during chiral phase transitions(berger) and discuss
the formation of abelian and non-abelian topological strings during such
transitions in the early Universe and in the high energy heavy-ion collisions.
Chiral symmetry as well as deconfinement are restored in the core of these
defects. Formation of a dense network of string defects is likely to play an
important role in the dynamics following the chiral phase transition. We
speculate that such a network can give rise to non-azimuthal distribution of
transverse energy in heavy-ion collisions.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, minor correction
Chiral symmetry restoration in linear sigma models with different numbers of quark flavors
Chiral symmetry restoration at nonzero temperature is studied in the
framework of the O(4) linear sigma model and the U(N_f)_r x U(N_f)_l linear
sigma model with N_f=2,3, and 4 quark flavors. We investigate the temperature
dependence of the masses of the scalar and pseudoscalar mesons, and the
non-strange, strange, and charm condensates within the Hartree approximation as
derived from the Cornwall-Jackiw-Tomboulis formalism. We find that the masses
of the non-strange and strange mesons at nonzero temperature depend sensitively
on the particular symmetry of the model and the number of light quark flavors
N_f. On the other hand, due to the large charm quark mass, neither do charmed
mesons significantly affect the properties of the other mesons, nor do their
masses change appreciably in the temperature range around the chiral symmetry
restoration temperature. In the chiral limit, the transition temperatures for
chiral symmetry restoration are surprisingly close to those found in lattice
QCD.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figure
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