Collapsing objects with the same gravitational trajectory can radiate away different amount of energy

We study radiation emitted during the gravitational collapse from two different types of shells. We assume that one shell is made of dark matter and is completely transparent to the test scalar (for simplicity) field which belongs to the standard model, while the other shell is made of the standard model particles and is totally reflecting to the scalar field. These two shells have exactly the same mass, charge and angular momentum (though we set the charge and angular momentum to zero), and therefore follow the same geodesic trajectory. However, we demonstrate that they radiate away different amount of energy during the collapse. This difference can in principle be used by an asymptotic observer to reconstruct the physical properties of the initial collapsing object other than mass, charge and angular momentum. This result has implications for the information paradox and expands the list of the type of information which can be released from a collapsing object.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted by PLB. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1601.0792

Volume Renormalization and the Higgs

Traditionally, Quantum Field Theory (QFT) treats particle excitations as point-like objects, which is the source of ubiquitous divergences. We demonstrate that a minimal modification of QFT with finite volume particles may cure QFT of divergences and illuminate the physics behind the mathematical construct of our theories. The method allows for a non-perturbative treatment of the free field and self-interacting theories (though extensions to all interacting field theories might be possible). In particular, non-perturbatively defined mass is finite. When applied to the standard model Higgs mechanism, the method implies that a finite range of parameters allows for creation of a well defined Higgs particle, whose Compton wavelength is larger than its physical size, in the broken symmetry phase (as small oscillations around the vacuum). This has profound consequences for Higgs production at the LHC. The parameter range in which the Higgs excitation with the mass of 125 GeV behaves as a proper particle is very restricted.Comment: Published in Europhysics Letters, Volume 105, Issue 1, article id. 11002 (2014

Inconsistencies in Verlinde's emergent gravity

We point out that recent Verlinde's proposal of emergent gravity suffers from some internal inconsistencies. The main idea in this proposal is to preserve general relativity at short scales where numerous tests verified its validity, but modify it on large scales where we meet puzzles raised by observations (in particular dark matter), by using some entropic concepts. We first point out that gravity as a conservative force is very difficult (if possible at all) to portray as an entropic force. We then show that the derivation of the MOND relation using the elastic strain idea is not self-consistent. When properly done, Verlinde's elaborate procedure recovers the standard Newtonian gravity instead of MOND.Comment: accepted for publication in JHE