Searcharxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 2307.13443

Decoherence and entropy generation at one loop in the inflationary de Sitter spacetime for Yukawa interaction

Sourav Bhattacharya·Nitin Joshi
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The decoherence mechanism is believed to be possibly connected to the quantum to classical transition of the primordial cosmological perturbations in the early universe. In this paper, we extend our previous analysis on decoherence in a fermion and scalar quantum field theory coupled via the Yukawa interaction in the Minkowski spacetime, to the inflationary de Sitter background. We treat the scalar field as the system and the fermions as the environment, and both the fields are taken to be massless. We utilise a non-equilibrium effective field theory formalism, suitable for open quantum systems such as this. We assume that an observer measures only the Gaussian 2-point correlator for the scalar field, as the simplest realistic scenario. In order to compute the von Neumann entropy generated at late times as a measure of the decoherence, we construct the one loop renormalised Kadanoff-Baym equation, which is the equation of motion satisfied by the 2-point correlators in the closed time path Schwinger-Keldysh formalism. These equations account to the self energy corrections. Using this, we next construct the one loop corrected statistical propagator for the scalar, which is related to its phase space area, to compute the von Neumann entropy. We also compute the variation of the von Neumann entropy with respect to relevant parameters. We note the qualitative similarity between our findings and the scenario where both the system and the environment are scalars. Our result is also qualitatively similar to an earlier one found by using the influence functional technique for a massive Yukawa theory.

Explore related subjects

hep-thgr-qcquant-ph

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Sourav Bhattacharya, Nitin Joshi. 2024-03-05. Decoherence and entropy generation at one loop in the inflationary de Sitter spacetime for Yukawa interaction. https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.13443

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

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

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↗
arXiv2026

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↗
arXiv2026

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↗