SearcharxivSearch

arXiv · 2010.07867

Cosmological Perturbations in Palatini Formalism

Abstract

We investigate cosmological perturbations of scalar-tensor theories in Palatini formalism. First we introduce an action where the Ricci scalar is conformally coupled to a function of a scalar field and its kinetic term and there is also a k-essence term consisting of the scalar and its kinetic term. This action has three frames that are equivalent to one another: the original Jordan frame, the Einstein frame where the metric is redefined, and the Riemann frame where the connection is redefined. For the first time in the literature, we calculate the quadratic action and the sound speed of scalar and tensor perturbations in three different frames and show explicitly that they coincide. Furthermore, we show that for such action the sound speed of gravitational waves is unity. Thus, this model serves as dark energy as well as an inflaton even though the presence of the dependence of the kinetic term of a scalar field in the non-minimal coupling, different from the case in metric formalism. We then proceed to construct the L3 action called Galileon terms in Palatini formalism and compute its perturbations. We found that there are essentially 10 different(inequivalent) definitions in Palatini formalism for a given Galileon term in metric formalism. We also see that,in general, the L3 terms have a ghost due to Ostrogradsky instability and the sound speed of gravitational waves could potentially deviate from unity, in sharp contrast with the case of metric formalism. Interestingly, once we eliminate such a ghost, the sound speed of gravitational waves also becomes unity. Thus, the ghost-free L3 terms in Palatini formalism can still serve as dark energy as well as an inflaton, like the case in metric formalism.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Mio Kubota, Kin-ya Oda, Keigo Shimada, Masahide Yamaguchi. 2020-10-15. Cosmological Perturbations in Palatini Formalism. https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516%2F2021%2F03%2F006

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Timelike Entanglement from Spacetime Density Matrices: A Lattice Realization

We investigate timelike entanglement in quantum field theory using spacetime density matrices and provide a microscopic lattice realization. For a two-dimensional free real scalar field, we extend Gaussian diagonalization methods to the generally non-Hermitian reduced spacetime density matrix and determine its complete nonzero spectrum in the generic regular case, together with all integer R\'enyi moments. The real-time replica construction identifies these moments with Lorentzian branch-point twist-operator correlation functions. We test this identification against the full four-point function on a circle, boundary two-point functions with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions, and massive form-factor predictions, finding quantitative agreement in both magnitude and phase across distinct causal regimes. The boundary setup exhibits a finite causally connected window in which every integer R\'enyi entropy is real, showing that reality is not equivalent to causal disconnection. These results provide a microscopic lattice foundation for timelike entanglement and for Lorentzian twist-operator methods beyond equal-time regions.

hep-th

Landau-Ginzburg description of an exceptional ${\mathcal N}=1$ minimal model

The $\mathcal N=1$ superconformal minimal model with $m=12$ and the exceptional modular invariant $(E_6,D_8)$ is the unitary minimal model of the super-$W_3$ algebra. We propose its Landau-Ginzburg description using two real scalar superfields with the cubic superpotential ${\cal W}=g_1 XY^2/2 + g_2X^3/6$. For $g_1=g_2$, this superpotential is known to describe a product of two $m=3$ $\mathcal N=1$ superconformal minimal models, which is the $m=10$ model with the $(D_6,E_6)$ modular invariant. The exceptional $m=12$ superconformal minimal model is realized at a different fixed point of the same theory. Testing this Landau-Ginzburg description requires the fusion ring of the minimal model, which we obtain from the modular data of the extended algebra. The fusion ring has a $\mathbb Z_2$ grading by chiral fermion parity that the ordinary fusion coefficients do not determine. This grading, composed with conjugation, gives the generator of the R-parity $\mathbb Z_2^{R}$ of the Landau-Ginzburg theory. We then treat the theory with superpotential $\cal W$ as a Gross-Neveu-Yukawa model in $d=4-\epsilon$ and find a weakly coupled infrared fixed point with $g_1/g_2=3/2+\mathcal O(\epsilon)$, at which supersymmetry emerges. We also describe the renormalization group flow from this fixed point to the decoupled fixed point with $g_1=g_2$. The operator dimensions at the coupled fixed point, continued to $d=2$, agree approximately with their values in the $m=12$ superconformal minimal model. Finally, we estimate the scaling dimensions in the new interacting $d=3$ $\mathcal N=1$ superconformal field theory.

hep-th

Detecting one-dimensional bosonic SPT phases via twisted entropic order parameter

Entanglement asymmetry, introduced by F. Ares, S. Murciano and P. Calabrese, provides a density-matrix diagnostic of symmetry breaking and successfully captures the Landau data associated with a broken symmetry pattern. However, it is by now well established that gapped quantum many-body systems can exhibit phases which are not characterized solely by Landau symmetry breaking. A fundamental example is a symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase, and the ordinary definition of entanglement asymmetry is insensitive to this topological information. In this work we introduce a refined quantity, which we call the twisted entropic order parameter, designed to detect SPT phases from reduced density matrices, particularly focusing on one-dimensional bosonic systems. The key ingredient in our construction is an ancilla degrees of freedom that coherently records the untwisted state and the twisted state associated to a one-ended topological defect of unbroken symmetry, so that the enlarged density matrix retains the charge carried by the defect endpoint. We demonstrate our proposal in concrete lattice models and further generalize it beyond ordinary group symmetries, establishing its ability to diagnose SPT phases. This provides a first step toward a unified entanglement-asymmetry framework for diagnosing quantum phases of matter.

hep-th