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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Fermi-Bounce Cosmology And Scale-Invariant Power Spectrum, Stephon Alexander, Cosimo Bambi, Antonino Marcianò, Leonardo Modesto
Fermi-Bounce Cosmology And Scale-Invariant Power Spectrum, Stephon Alexander, Cosimo Bambi, Antonino Marcianò, Leonardo Modesto
Dartmouth Scholarship
We develop a non-singular bouncing cosmology using a non-trivial coupling of general relativity to fermionic fields. The usual Big Bang singularity is avoided thanks to a negative energy density contribution from the fermions. Our theory is ghost-free since the fermionic operator that generates the bounce is equivalent to torsion, which has no kinetic terms. The physical system consists of standard general relativity plus a topological sector for gravity, and fermionic matter described by Dirac fields with a non-minimal coupling. We show that a scale invariant power-spectrum generated in the contracting phase can be recovered by suitable choice s of fermion …
A Proposal On Culling & Filtering A Coxeter Group For 4d, N = 1 Spacetime Susy Representations: Revised, D. E. A. Gates, S. James Gates, Kory Stiffler
A Proposal On Culling & Filtering A Coxeter Group For 4d, N = 1 Spacetime Susy Representations: Revised, D. E. A. Gates, S. James Gates, Kory Stiffler
Dartmouth Scholarship
We present an expanded and detailed discussion of the mathematical tools required to cull and filter representations of the Coxeter Group BC 4 into providing bases for the construction of minimal off-shell representations of the 4D, N" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-table; line-height: normal; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">NN = 1 spacetime supersymmetry algebra.
A Cyclic Universe Approach To Fine Tuning, Stephon Alexander, Sam Cormack, Marcelo Gleiser
A Cyclic Universe Approach To Fine Tuning, Stephon Alexander, Sam Cormack, Marcelo Gleiser
Dartmouth Scholarship
We present a closed bouncing universe model where the value of coupling constants is set by the dynamics of a ghost-like dilatonic scalar field. We show that adding a periodic potential for the scalar field leads to a cyclic Friedmann universe where the values of the couplings vary randomly from one cycle to the next. While the shuffling of values for the couplings happens during the bounce, within each cycle their time-dependence remains safely within present observational bounds for physically-motivated values of the model parameters. Our model presents an alternative to solutions of the fine tuning problem based on string …
Stability Bounds On Compact Astrophysical Objects From Information-Entropic Measure, Marcelo Gleiser, Nan Jiang
Stability Bounds On Compact Astrophysical Objects From Information-Entropic Measure, Marcelo Gleiser, Nan Jiang
Dartmouth Scholarship
We obtain bounds on the stability of various self-gravitating astrophysical objects using a new measure of shape complexity known as configurational entropy. We apply the method to Newtonian polytropes, neutron stars with an Oppenheimer-Volkoff equation of state, and to self-gravitating configurations of complex scalar field (boson stars) with different self couplings, showing that the critical stability region of these stellar configurations obtained from traditional perturbation methods correlates well with critical points of the configurational entropy with accuracy of a few percent or better.
Fermi-Bounce Cosmology And The Fermion Curvaton Mechanism, Stephon Alexander, Yi-Fu Cai, Antonino Marcianò
Fermi-Bounce Cosmology And The Fermion Curvaton Mechanism, Stephon Alexander, Yi-Fu Cai, Antonino Marcianò
Dartmouth Scholarship
A nonsingular bouncing cosmology can be achieved by introducing a fermion field with BCS condensation occurring at high energy scales. In this paper we are able to dilute the anisotropic stress near the bounce by means of releasing the gap energy density near the phase transition between the radiation and condensate states. In order to explain the nearly scale-invariant CMB spectrum, another fermion field is required. We investigate one possible curvaton mechanism by involving one another fermion field without condensation where the mass is lighter than the background field. We show that, by virtue of the fermion curvaton mechanism, our …
Search For Higgs Shifts In White Dwarfs, Roberto Onofrio, Gary A. Wegner
Search For Higgs Shifts In White Dwarfs, Roberto Onofrio, Gary A. Wegner
Dartmouth Scholarship
We report on a search for differential shifts between electronic and vibronic transitions in carbon-rich white dwarfs BPM 27606 and Procyon B. The absence of differential shifts within the spectral resolution and taking into account systematic effects such as space motion and pressure shifts allows us to set the first upper bound of astrophysical origin on the coupling between the Higgs field and the Kreschmann curvature invariant. Our analysis provides the basis for a more general methodology to derive bounds to the coupling of long-range scalar fields to curvature invariants in an astrophysical setting complementary to the ones available from …
Transition To Order After Hilltop Inflation, Marcelo Gleiser, Noah Graham
Transition To Order After Hilltop Inflation, Marcelo Gleiser, Noah Graham
Dartmouth Scholarship
We investigate the rich nonlinear dynamics during the end of hilltop inflation by numerically solving the coupled Klein-Gordon-Friedmann equations in an expanding universe. In particular, we search for coherent, nonperturbative configurations that may emerge due to the combination of nontrivial couplings between the fields and resonant effects from the cosmological expansion. We couple a massless field to the inflaton to investigate its effect on the existence and stability of coherent configurations and the effective equation of state at reheating. For parameters consistent with data from the Planck and WMAP satellites, and for a wide range of couplings between the inflaton …
Gravitational Origin Of The Weak Interaction's Chirality, Stephon Alexander, Antonino Marcianò, Lee Smolin
Gravitational Origin Of The Weak Interaction's Chirality, Stephon Alexander, Antonino Marcianò, Lee Smolin
Dartmouth Scholarship
We present a new unification of the electro-weak and gravitational interactions based on the joining the weak SU(2) gauge fields with the left handed part of the space- time connection, into a single gauge field valued in the complexification of the local Lorentz group. Hence, the weak interactions emerge as the right handed chiral half of the space-time connection, which explains the chirality of the weak interaction. This is possible, because, as shown by Plebanski, Ashtekar, and others, the other chiral half of the space-time connection is enough to code the dynamics of the gravitational degrees of freedom. This unification …
Information-Entropic Stability Bound For Compact Objects: Application To Q-Balls And The Chandrasekhar Limit Of Polytropes, Marcelo Gleiser, Damian Sowinski
Information-Entropic Stability Bound For Compact Objects: Application To Q-Balls And The Chandrasekhar Limit Of Polytropes, Marcelo Gleiser, Damian Sowinski
Dartmouth Scholarship
Spatially-bound objects across diverse length and energy scales are characterized by a binding energy. We propose that their spatial structure is mathematically encoded as information in their momentum modes and described by a measure known as configurational entropy (CE). Investigating solitonic Q-balls and stars with a polytropic equation of state P=Kργ, we show that objects with large binding energy have low CE, whereas those at the brink of instability (zero binding energy) have near maximal CE. In particular, we use the CE to find the critical charge allowing for classically stable Q-balls and the Chandrasekhar limit for white dwarfs (γ=4/3) …
Inflation In (Super-)Renormalizable Gravity, Fabio Briscese, Antonino Marcianò, Leonardo Modesto, Emmanuel N. Saridakis
Inflation In (Super-)Renormalizable Gravity, Fabio Briscese, Antonino Marcianò, Leonardo Modesto, Emmanuel N. Saridakis
Dartmouth Scholarship
We investigate a (super-)renormalizable and ghost-free theory of gravity, showing that under a natural (exponential) ansatz of the form factor and a suitable truncation it can give rise to the Starobinsky inflationary theory in cosmological frameworks, and thus offering a theoretical justification of its origin. We study the corresponding inflationary evolution and we examine the generation of curvature perturbations, adapting the f(R)-like equations in a symmetry-reduced FLRW metric. Furthermore, we analyze how the ultraviolet regime of a simply renormalizable and unitary theory of gravity is also compatible with the Starobinsky action, and hence we show that such a theory could …
Brief History Of Curvature, Robert R. Caldwell, Steven S. Gubser
Brief History Of Curvature, Robert R. Caldwell, Steven S. Gubser
Dartmouth Scholarship
The trace of the stress-energy tensor of the cosmological fluid, proportional to the Ricci scalar curvature in general relativity, is determined on cosmic scales for times ranging from the inflationary epoch to the present day in the expanding Universe. The post-inflationary epoch and the thermal history of the relativistic fluid, in particular the QCD transition from asymptotic freedom to confinement and the electroweak phase transition, leave significant imprints on the scalar curvature. These imprints can be of either sign and are orders of magnitude larger than the values that would be obtained by naively extrapolating the pressureless matter of the …
Gauge Field Preheating At The End Of Inflation, J. Tate Deskins, John T. Giblin Jr., Robert R. Caldwell
Gauge Field Preheating At The End Of Inflation, J. Tate Deskins, John T. Giblin Jr., Robert R. Caldwell
Dartmouth Scholarship
Here we consider the possibility of preheating the Universe via the parametric amplification of a massless, U(1) abelian gauge field. We assume that the gauge field is coupled to the inflaton via a conformal factor with one free parameter. We present the results of high-resolution three-dimensional simulations of this model and show this mechanism efficiently preheats the Universe to a radiation-dominated final state.
Information Content Of Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking, Marcelo Gleiser, Nikitas Stamatopoulos
Information Content Of Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking, Marcelo Gleiser, Nikitas Stamatopoulos
Dartmouth Scholarship
We propose a measure of order in the context of nonequilibrium field theory and argue that this measure, which we call relative configurational entropy (RCE), may be used to quantify the emergence of coherent low-entropy configurations, such as time-dependent or time-independent topological and nontopological spatially extended structures. As an illustration, we investigate the nonequilibrium dynamics of spontaneous symmetry breaking in three spatial dimensions. In particular, we focus on a model where a real scalar field, prepared initially in a symmetric thermal state, is quenched to a broken-symmetric state. For a certain range of initial temperatures, spatially localized, long-lived structures known …
Deformed Lorentz Symmetry And Relative Locality In A Curved/Expanding Spacetime, Giovanni Amelino-Camelia, Antonino Marcianò, Marco Matassa, Giacomo Rosati
Deformed Lorentz Symmetry And Relative Locality In A Curved/Expanding Spacetime, Giovanni Amelino-Camelia, Antonino Marcianò, Marco Matassa, Giacomo Rosati
Dartmouth Scholarship
The interest of part of the quantum-gravity community in the possibility of Planck-scale-deformed Lorentz symmetry is also fueled by the opportunities for testing the relevant scenarios with analyses, from a signal-propagation perspective, of observations of bursts of particles from cosmological distances. In this respect the fact that so far the implications of deformed Lorentz symmetry have been investigated only for flat (Minkowskian) spacetimes represents a very significant limitation, since for propagation over cosmological distances the curvature/expansion of spacetime is evidently tangible. We here provide a significant step toward filling this gap by exhibiting an explicit example of Planck-scale-deformed relativistic symmetries …
Casimir Forces And Non-Newtonian Gravitation, Roberto Onofrio
Casimir Forces And Non-Newtonian Gravitation, Roberto Onofrio
Dartmouth Scholarship
The search for non-relativistic deviations from Newtonian gravitation can lead to new phenomena signalling the unification of gravity with the other fundamental interactions. Various recent theoretical frameworks indicate a possible window for non-Newtonian forces with gravitational coupling strength in the micrometre range. The major expected background in the same range is attributable to the Casimir force or variants of it if dielectric materials, rather than conducting ones, are considered. Here we review the measurements of the Casimir force performed so far in the micrometre range and how they determine constraints on non-Newtonian gravitation, also discussing the dominant sources of false …
Fine-Tuning Solution For Hybrid Inflation In Dissipative Chaotic Dynamics, Rudnei O. Ramos
Fine-Tuning Solution For Hybrid Inflation In Dissipative Chaotic Dynamics, Rudnei O. Ramos
Dartmouth Scholarship
We study the presence of chaotic behavior in phase space in the preinflationary stage of hybrid inflation models. This is closely related to the problem of initial conditions associated with these inflationary types of model. We then show how an expected dissipative dynamics of fields just before the onset of inflation can solve or ease considerably the problem of initial conditions, driving the system naturally toward inflation. The chaotic behavior of the corresponding dynamical system is studied by computation of the fractal dimension of the boundary in phase space separating inflationary from noninflationary trajectories. The fractal dimension for this boundary …
Shortcuts In The Fifth Dimension, Robert Caldwell, David Langlois
Shortcuts In The Fifth Dimension, Robert Caldwell, David Langlois
Dartmouth Scholarship
If our Universe is a three-brane embedded in a five-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime, in which matter is confined to the brane and gravity inhabits an infinite bulk space, then the causal propagation of luminous and gravitational signals is in general different. A gravitational signal traveling between two points on the brane can take a “shortcut” through the bulk, and appear quicker than a photon traveling between the same two points along a geodesic on the brane. Similarly, in a given time interval, a gravitational signal can propagate farther than a luminous signal. We quantify this effect, and analyze the impact …
Affinity For Scalar Fields To Dissipate, Arjun Berera, Rudnei O. Ramos
Affinity For Scalar Fields To Dissipate, Arjun Berera, Rudnei O. Ramos
Dartmouth Scholarship
The zero-temperature effective equation of motion is derived for a scalar field interacting with other fields. For a broad range of cases, involving interaction with as few as one or two fields, dissipative regimes are found for the scalar field system. The zero-temperature limit constitutes a baseline effect that will be prevalent in any general statistical state. Thus, the results found here provide strong evidence that dissipation is the norm not the exception for an interacting scalar field system. For application to inflationary cosmology, this provides convincing evidence that warm inflation could be a natural dynamics once proper treatment of …
Inhomogeneous Nucleation In A Quark-Hadron Pphase Transition, P. Shukla, A. K. Mohanty, S. K. Gupta, Marcelo Gleiser
Inhomogeneous Nucleation In A Quark-Hadron Pphase Transition, P. Shukla, A. K. Mohanty, S. K. Gupta, Marcelo Gleiser
Dartmouth Scholarship
The effect of subcritical hadron bubbles on a first-order quark-hadron phase transition is studied. These subcritical hadron bubbles are created due to thermal fluctuations, and can introduce a finite amount of phase mixing (quark phase mixed with hadron phase) even at and above the critical temperature. For reasonable choices of surface tension and correlation length, as obtained from the lattice QCD calculations, we show that the amount of phase mixing at the critical temperature remains below the percolation threshold. Thus, as the system cools below the critical temperature, the transition proceeds through the nucleation of critical-size hadron bubbles from a …
Long-Lived Localized Field Configurations In Small Lattices: Application To Oscillons, M. Gleiser, A. Sornborger
Long-Lived Localized Field Configurations In Small Lattices: Application To Oscillons, M. Gleiser, A. Sornborger
Dartmouth Scholarship
Long-lived localized field configurations such as breathers, oscillons, or more complex objects naturally arise in the context of a wide range of nonlinear models in different numbers of spatial dimensions. We present a numerical method, which we call the adiabatic damping method, designed to study such configurations in small lattices. Using three-dimensional oscillons in φ4 models as an example, we show that the method accurately (to one part in 105 or better) reproduces results obtained with static or dynamically expanding lattices, dramatically cutting down in integration time. We further present results for two-dimensional oscillons, whose lifetimes would be prohibitively …
Gravitational Waves From Collapsing Vacuum Domains, Marcelo Gleiser, Ronald Roberts
Gravitational Waves From Collapsing Vacuum Domains, Marcelo Gleiser, Ronald Roberts
Dartmouth Scholarship
The breaking of an approximate discrete symmetry, the final stages of a first order phase transition, or a postinflationary biased probability distribution for scalar fields are possible cosmological scenarios characterized by the presence of unstable domain wall networks. Combining analytical and numerical techniques, we show that the nonspherical collapse of these domains can be a powerful source of gravitational waves. We compute their contribution to the stochastic background of gravitational radiation and explore their observability by present and future gravitational wave detectors.
Dynamics Of Weak First Order Phase Transitions, Marcelo Gleiser
Dynamics Of Weak First Order Phase Transitions, Marcelo Gleiser
Dartmouth Scholarship
The dynamics of weak vs. strong first order phase transitions is investigated numerically for 2+1 dimensional scalar field models. It is argued that the change from a weak to a strong transition is itself a (second order) phase transition, with the order parameter being the equilibrium fractional population difference between the two phases at the critical temperature, and the control parameter being the coefficient of the cubic coupling in the free-energy density. The critical point is identified, and a power law controlling the relaxation dynamics at this point is obtained. Possible applications are briefly discussed.