52 research outputs found
Dynamics of Phase Transitions Induced by a Heat Bath
We study the non-equilibrium dynamics of a symmetry restoring phase
transition in a scalar field theory, the ``system'', linearly coupled to
another scalar field taken as a ``heat bath''. The ``system'' is initially in
an ordered low temperature phase, and the heat bath is at a temperature close
to the critical temperature for the system. We estimate the time at which the
phase transition to the disordered (symmetric) phase takes place. We derive,
and integrate the one-loop effective equations of motion for the order
parameter that include the effects of the heat bath. A semiclassical Langevin
equation is derived and it is found that it contains a non-dissipative,
non-Markovian kernel, the noise term is colored and correlated on time scales
determined by the temperature of the heat bath. The range of validity of the
Langevin equation and a consistent procedure to incorporate corrections are
discussed.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures (not included) Late
Miracles and complementarity in de Sitter space
In this paper we consider a scenario, consisting of a de Sitter phase
followed by a phase described by a scale factor , where
, which can be viewed as an inflationary toy model. It is argued that
this scenario naively could lead to an information paradox. We propose that the
phenomenon of Poincar\'{e} recurrences plays a crucial role in the resolution
of the paradox. We also comment on the relevance of these results to inflation
and the CMBR.Comment: 13 page
Economic Burden of Surgical Site Infections at a European University Hospital
Objective. To quantify the economic burden of in-hospital surgical site infections (SSIs) at a European university hospital. Design. Matched case-control study nested in a prospective observational cohort study. Setting. Basel University Hospital in Switzerland, where an average of 28,000 surgical procedures are performed per year. Methods. All in-hospital occurrences of SSI associated with surgeries performed between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2001, by the visceral, vascular, and traumatology divisions at Basel University Hospital were prospectively recorded. Each case patient was matched to a control patient by age, procedure code, and National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System risk index. The case-control pairs were analyzed for differences in cost of hospital care and in provision of specialized care. Results. A total of 6,283 procedures were performed:187 SSIs were detected in inpatients, 168 of whom were successfully matched with a control patient. For case patients, the mean additional hospital cost was SwF19,638 (95% confidence interval [CI], SwF8,492-SwF30,784); the mean additional postoperative length of hospital stay was 16.8 days (95% CI, 13-20.6 days); and the mean additional in-hospital duration of antibiotic therapy was 7.4 days (95% CI, 5.1-9.6 days). Differences were primarily attributable to organ space SSIs (n = 76). Conclusions. Ina European university hospital setting, SSIs are costly and constitute a heavy and potentially preventable burden on both patients and healthcare provider
A First-Quantized Formalism for Cosmological Particle Production
We show that the amount of particle production in an arbitrary cosmological
background can be determined using only the late-time positive-frequency modes.
We don't refer to modes at early times, so there is no need for a Bogolubov
transformation. We also show that particle production can be extracted from the
Feynman propagator in an auxiliary spacetime. This provides a first-quantized
formalism for computing particle production which, unlike conventional
Bogolubov transformations, may be amenable to a string-theoretic
generalization.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX; v2: significantly revised for clarity; conclusions
unchange
String windings in the early universe
We study string dynamics in the early universe. Our motivation is the
proposal of Brandenberger and Vafa, that string winding modes may play a key
role in decompactifying three spatial dimensions. We model the universe as a
homogeneous but anisotropic 9-torus filled with a gas of excited strings. We
adopt initial conditions which fix the dilaton and the volume of the torus, but
otherwise assume all states are equally likely. We study the evolution of the
system both analytically and numerically to determine the late-time behavior.
We find that, although dynamical evolution can indeed lead to three large
spatial dimensions, such an outcome is not statistically favored.Comment: 26 pages, LaTeX, 4 eps figure
On the quantum origin of the seeds of cosmic structure
The current understanding of the quantum origin of cosmic structure is
discussed critically. We point out that in the existing treatments a transition
from a symmetric quantum state to an (essentially classical) non-symmetric
state is implicitly assumed, but not specified or analyzed in any detail. In
facing the issue we are led to conclude that new physics is required to explain
the apparent predictive power of the usual schemes. Furthermore we show that
the novel way of looking at the relevant issues opens new windows from where
relevant information might be extracted regarding cosmological issues and
perhaps even clues about aspects of quantum gravity.Comment: replacement with final version to appear in Classical and Quantum
Gravit
Kasner and Mixmaster behavior in universes with equation of state w \ge 1
We consider cosmological models with a scalar field with equation of state
that contract towards a big crunch singularity, as in recent cyclic
and ekpyrotic scenarios. We show that chaotic mixmaster oscillations due to
anisotropy and curvature are suppressed, and the contraction is described by a
homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann equation if . We generalize the
results to theories where the scalar field couples to p-forms and show that
there exists a finite value of , depending on the p-forms, such that chaotic
oscillations are suppressed. We show that orbifold compactification also
contributes to suppressing chaotic behavior. In particular, chaos is avoided in
contracting heterotic M-theory models if at the crunch.Comment: 25 pages, 2 figures, minor changes, references adde
Scale-invariance in expanding and contracting universes from two-field models
We study cosmological perturbations produced by the most general
two-derivative actions involving two scalar fields, coupled to Einstein
gravity, with an arbitrary field space metric, that admit scaling solutions.
For contracting universes, we show that scale-invariant adiabatic perturbations
can be produced continuously as modes leave the horizon for any equation of
state parameter . The corresponding background solutions are unstable,
which we argue is a universal feature of contracting models that yield
scale-invariant spectra. For expanding universes, we find that nearly
scale-invariant adiabatic perturbation spectra can only be produced for , and that the corresponding scaling solutions are attractors. The
presence of a nontrivial metric on field space is a crucial ingredient in our
results.Comment: 23 pages, oversight in perturbations calculation corrected,
conclusions for expanding models modifie
Youthful Internationalism in the Age of ‘Socialism in One Country’: Komsomol'tsy, Pioneers and ‘World Revolution’ in the Interwar Period
This article examines the complex and multifaceted engagement of young Soviet communists with the idea of revolutionary internationalism and international solidarity in the interwar period. In spite of the introduction of the official doctrine of ‘Socialism in One Country’ and the ritualization of internationalism in in the 1920s, youth activists continued to encounter the powerful charismatic idea of ‘world revolution’. Moscow’s central role in the Communist International and developments in Asia and Europe meant that the members of the Pioneer organization and the Komsomol had to engage with revolutionary events abroad through the official discourse as well as through their league’s practices. The article seeks to reveal the interplay and tensions between the Komsomol’s official rhetoric and policies concerning its leading role in the international communist youth movement and the idiosyncratic revolutionary identities and beliefs of young activists. By examining the shifting rhetoric and realities in expressions and enactments of international solidarity by young communists, the paper will question the potency of the idea of ‘revolutionary internationalism’ amongst the communist youth movement and its significance in the intergenerational discourse
Modified Gravity and Cosmology
In this review we present a thoroughly comprehensive survey of recent work on
modified theories of gravity and their cosmological consequences. Amongst other
things, we cover General Relativity, Scalar-Tensor, Einstein-Aether, and
Bimetric theories, as well as TeVeS, f(R), general higher-order theories,
Horava-Lifschitz gravity, Galileons, Ghost Condensates, and models of extra
dimensions including Kaluza-Klein, Randall-Sundrum, DGP, and higher
co-dimension braneworlds. We also review attempts to construct a Parameterised
Post-Friedmannian formalism, that can be used to constrain deviations from
General Relativity in cosmology, and that is suitable for comparison with data
on the largest scales. These subjects have been intensively studied over the
past decade, largely motivated by rapid progress in the field of observational
cosmology that now allows, for the first time, precision tests of fundamental
physics on the scale of the observable Universe. The purpose of this review is
to provide a reference tool for researchers and students in cosmology and
gravitational physics, as well as a self-contained, comprehensive and
up-to-date introduction to the subject as a whole.Comment: 312 pages, 15 figure
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