278 research outputs found
Cerenkov radiation and scalar stars
We explore the possibility that a charged particle moving in the
gravitational field generated by a scalar star could radiate energy via a
recently proposed gravitational \v{C}erenkov mechanism. We numerically prove
that this is not possible for stable boson stars. We also show that soliton
stars could have \v{C}erenkov radiation for particular values of the boson
mass, although diluteness of the star grows and actual observational
possibility decreases for the more usually discussed boson masses. These
conclusions diminish, although do not completely rule out, the observational
possibility of actually detecting scalar stars using this mechanism, and lead
us to consider other forms, like gravitational lensing.Comment: Accepted for publication in Class. Quantum Gra
Dynamical Evolution of Boson Stars II: Excited States and Self-Interacting Fields
The dynamical evolution of self-gravitating scalar field configurations in
numerical relativity is studied. The previous analysis on ground state boson
stars of non-interacting fields is extended to excited states and to fields
with self couplings.
Self couplings can significantly change the physical dimensions of boson
stars, making them much more astrophysically interesting (e.g., having mass of
order 0.1 solar mass). The stable () and unstable () branches of
equilibrium configurations of boson stars of self-interacting fields are
studied; their behavior under perturbations and their quasi-normal oscillation
frequencies are determined and compared to the non-interacting case.
Excited states of boson stars with and without self-couplings are studied and
compared. Excited states also have equilibrium configurations with and
branch structures; both branches are intrinsically unstable under a generic
perturbation but have very different instability time scales. We carried out a
detailed study of the instability time scales of these configurations. It is
found that highly excited states spontaneously decay through a cascade of
intermediate states similar to atomic transitions.Comment: 16 pages+ 13 figures . All figures are available at
http://wugrav.wustl.edu/Paper
Coordinate-Space Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov Description of Superfluid Fermi Systems
Properties of strongly interacting, two-component finite Fermi systems are
discussed within the recently developed coordinate-space
Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) code {\hfbax}. Two illustrative examples are
presented: (i) weakly bound deformed Mg isotopes, and (ii) spin-polarized
atomic condensates in a strongly deformed harmonic trap.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, ENAM 2008 conference proceedings (EPJA
Classification of Inflationary Einstein--Scalar--Field--Models via Catastrophe Theory
Various scenarios of the initial inflation of the universe are distinguished
by the choice of a scalar field {\em potential} which simulates a
{\it temporarily} non--vanishing {\em cosmological term}. Our new method, which
involves a reparametrization in terms of the Hubble expansion parameter ,
provides a classification of allowed inflationary potentials and of the
stability of the critical points. It is broad enough to embody all known {\it
exact} solutions involving one scalar field as special cases. Inflation
corresponds to the evolution of critical points of some catastrophe manifold.
The coalescence of its nondegenerate critical points with the creation of a
degenerate critical point corresponds the reheating phase of the universe. This
is illustrated by several examples.Comment: 12 pages, REVTeX, no figure
Shear-free rotating inflation
We demonstrate the existence of shear-free cosmological models with rotation
and expansion which support the inflationary scenarios. The corresponding
metrics belong to the family of spatially homogeneous models with the geometry
of the closed universe (Bianchi type IX). We show that the global vorticity
does not prevent the inflation and even can accelerate it.Comment: Revtex, 12 pages; to appear in Phys. Rev.
Can dark matter be a Bose-Einstein condensate?
We consider the possibility that the dark matter, which is required to
explain the dynamics of the neutral hydrogen clouds at large distances from the
galactic center, could be in the form of a Bose-Einstein condensate. To study
the condensate we use the non-relativistic Gross-Pitaevskii equation. By
introducing the Madelung representation of the wave function, we formulate the
dynamics of the system in terms of the continuity equation and of the
hydrodynamic Euler equations. Hence dark matter can be described as a
non-relativistic, Newtonian Bose-Einstein gravitational condensate gas, whose
density and pressure are related by a barotropic equation of state. In the case
of a condensate with quartic non-linearity, the equation of state is polytropic
with index . To test the validity of the model we fit the Newtonian
tangential velocity equation of the model with a sample of rotation curves of
low surface brightness and dwarf galaxies, respectively. We find a very good
agreement between the theoretical rotation curves and the observational data
for the low surface brightness galaxies. The deflection of photons passing
through the dark matter halos is also analyzed, and the bending angle of light
is computed. The bending angle obtained for the Bose-Einstein condensate is
larger than that predicted by standard general relativistic and dark matter
models. Therefore the study of the light deflection by galaxies and the
gravitational lensing could discriminate between the Bose-Einstein condensate
dark matter model and other dark matter models.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in JCAP, references
adde
Charged Scalar-Tensor Boson Stars: Equilibrium, Stability and Evolution
We study charged boson stars in scalar-tensor (ST) gravitational theories. We
analyse the weak field limit of the solutions and analytically show that there
is a maximum charge to mass ratio for the bosons above which the weak field
solutions are not stable. This charge limit can be greater than the GR limit
for a wide class of ST theories. We numerically investigate strong field
solutions in both the Brans Dicke and power law ST theories. We find that the
charge limit decreases with increasing central boson density. We discuss the
gravitational evolution of charged and uncharged boson stars in a cosmological
setting and show how, at any point in its evolution, the physical properties of
the star may be calculated by a rescaling of a solution whose asymptotic value
of the scalar field is equal to its initial asymptotic value. We focus on
evolution in which the particle number of the star is conserved and we find
that the energy and central density of the star decreases as the cosmological
time increases. We also analyse the appearance of the scalarization phenomenon
recently discovered for neutron stars configurations and, finally, we give a
short discussion on how making the correct choice of mass influences the
argument over which conformal frame, the Einstein frame or the Jordan frame, is
physical.Comment: RevTeX, 27 pages, 9 postscript figures. Minor revisions and updated
references. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Direct Observation of the Superfluid Phase Transition in Ultracold Fermi Gases
Water freezes into ice, atomic spins spontaneously align in a magnet, liquid
helium becomes superfluid: Phase transitions are dramatic phenomena. However,
despite the drastic change in the system's behaviour, observing the transition
can sometimes be subtle. The hallmark of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) and
superfluidity in trapped, weakly interacting Bose gases is the sudden
appearance of a dense central core inside a thermal cloud. In strongly
interacting gases, such as the recently observed fermionic superfluids, this
clear separation between the superfluid and the normal parts of the cloud is no
longer given. Condensates of fermion pairs could be detected only using
magnetic field sweeps into the weakly interacting regime. The quantitative
description of these sweeps presents a major theoretical challenge. Here we
demonstrate that the superfluid phase transition can be directly observed by
sudden changes in the shape of the clouds, in complete analogy to the case of
weakly interacting Bose gases. By preparing unequal mixtures of the two spin
components involved in the pairing, we greatly enhance the contrast between the
superfluid core and the normal component. Furthermore, the non-interacting
wings of excess atoms serve as a direct and reliable thermometer. Even in the
normal state, strong interactions significantly deform the density profile of
the majority spin component. We show that it is these interactions which drive
the normal-to-superfluid transition at the critical population imbalance of
70(5)%.Comment: 16 pages (incl. Supplemental Material), 5 figure
Another exact inflationary solution
A new closed-form inflationary solution is given for a hyperbolic interaction
potential. The method used to arrive at this solution is outlined as it appears
possible to generate additional sets of equations which satisfy the model. In
addition a new form of decaying cosmological constant is presented.Comment: 10 pages, 0 figure
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