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Full-Text Articles in Physics

Gravitational Origin Of The Weak Interaction's Chirality, Stephon Alexander, Antonino Marcianò, Lee Smolin Mar 2014

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 …


Inflation In (Super-)Renormalizable Gravity, Fabio Briscese, Antonino Marcianò, Leonardo Modesto, Emmanuel N. Saridakis Apr 2013

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 …


Second-Order Weak Lensing From Modified Gravity, R. Ali Vanderveld, Robert R. Caldwell, Jason Rhodes Dec 2011

Second-Order Weak Lensing From Modified Gravity, R. Ali Vanderveld, Robert R. Caldwell, Jason Rhodes

Dartmouth Scholarship

We explore the sensitivity of weak gravitational lensing to second-order corrections to the spacetime metric within a cosmological adaptation of the parametrized post-Newtonian framework. Whereas one might expect nonlinearities of the gravitational field to introduce non-Gaussianity into the statistics of the lensing convergence field, we show that such corrections are actually always small within a broad class of scalar-tensor theories of gravity. We show this by first computing the weak lensing convergence within our parametrized framework to second order in the gravitational potential, and then computing the relevant post-Newtonian parameters for scalar-tensor gravity theories. In doing so we show that …


The Trilinear Hamiltonian: A Zero-Dimensional Model Of Hawking Radiation From A Quantized Source, Paul D. Nation, Miles P. Blencowe Sep 2010

The Trilinear Hamiltonian: A Zero-Dimensional Model Of Hawking Radiation From A Quantized Source, Paul D. Nation, Miles P. Blencowe

Dartmouth Scholarship

We investigate a quantum parametric amplifier with dynamical pump mode, viewed as a zero-dimensional model of Hawking radiation from an evaporating black hole. We derive the conditions under which the spectrum of particles generated from vacuum fluctuations deviates from the thermal spectrum predicted for the conventional parametric amplifier. We find that significant deviations arise when the pump mode (black hole) has emitted nearly half of its initial energy into the signal (Hawking radiation) and idler (in-falling particle) modes. As a model of black hole dynamics, this finding lends support to the view that late-time Hawking radiation contains information about the …


Analogue Hawking Radiation In A Dc-Squid Array Transmission Line, P D. Nation, M. P. Blencowe, A. J. Rimberg, E. Buks Aug 2009

Analogue Hawking Radiation In A Dc-Squid Array Transmission Line, P D. Nation, M. P. Blencowe, A. J. Rimberg, E. Buks

Dartmouth Scholarship

We propose the use of a superconducting transmission line formed from an array of dc-SQUID’s for investigating analogue Hawking radiation. Biasing the array with a space-time varying flux modifies the propagation velocity of the transmission line, leading to an effective metric with an horizon. Being a fundamentally quantum mechanical device, this setup allows for investigations of quantum effects such as back-reaction and analogue space-time fluctuations on the Hawking process.


Casimir Forces And Non-Newtonian Gravitation, Roberto Onofrio Oct 2006

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 …


Affinity For Scalar Fields To Dissipate, Arjun Berera, Rudnei O. Ramos Apr 2001

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 …