arXiv subjects

A. O. Barvinsky

Publications and source records attributed to A. O. Barvinsky.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

Dark matter as a ghost free conformal extension of Einstein theory

We discuss ghost free models of the recently suggested mimetic dark matter theory. This theory is shown to be a conformal extension of Einstein general relativity. Dark matter originates from gauging out its local Weyl invariance as an extra degree of freedom which describes a potential flow of the pressureless perfect fluid. For a positive energy density of this fluid the theory is free of ghost instabilities, which gives strong preference to stable configurations with a positive scalar curvature and trace of the matter stress tensor. Instabilities caused by caustics of the geodesic flow, inherent in this model, serve as a motivation for an alternative conformal extension of Einstein theory, based on the generalized Proca vector field. A potential part of this field modifies the inflationary stage in cosmology, whereas its rotational part at the post inflationary epoch might simulate rotating flows of dark matter.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

Thermal power spectrum in the CFT driven cosmology

We present an overview of the recently suggested cosmological model driven by conformal field theory (CFT) with the initial conditions in the form of the microcanonical density matrix. In particular, we discuss the origin of inflationary stage in this model and a novel feature -- the thermal nature of the primordial power spectrum of the CMB anisotropy. The relevant effect of "temperature of the relic temperature anisotropy" can be responsible for a thermal contribution to the red tilt of this spectrum, additional to its conventional vacuum component. The amplification of this effect due to recently established $a$-theorem in CFT is briefly discussed.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

The $a$-theorem and temperature of the CMB temperature in cosmology

Initial conditions in cosmology in the form of the microcanonical density matrix of the Universe predict a thermal nature of the primordial CMB power spectrum with a nonzero temperature of the resulting relict temperature distribution. This effect generates a thermal contribution to the red tilt of this spectrum, additional to its vacuum component. In the cosmological model with a large number of free fields conformally coupled to gravity the magnitude of this effect is determined by the Gauss-Bonnet coefficient $\mbox{\boldmath$a$}$ of the trace anomaly. For low spins it is too small to be presently observable, but it can be amplified by the mechanism of the $\mbox{\boldmath$a$}$-theorem applied to the renormalization group flow which interpolates between the ultraviolet and infrared domains associated respectively with early and late stages of cosmological evolution.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Monodromies and functional determinants in the CFT driven quantum cosmology

We apply the monodromy method for the calculation of the functional determinant of a special second order differential operator $F=-d^2/dτ^2+{\ddot g}/g$, $\ddot g= d^2g/dτ^2$, subject to periodic boundary conditions with a periodic zero mode $g=g(τ)$. This operator arises in applications of the early Universe theory and, in particular, determines the one-loop statistical sum for the microcanonical ensemble in cosmology generated by a conformal field theory (CFT). This ensemble realizes the concept of cosmological initial conditions by generalizing the notion of the no-boundary wavefunction of the Universe to the level of a special quasi-thermal state which is dominated by instantons with an oscillating scale factor of their Euclidean Friedmann-Robertson-Walker metric. These oscillations result in the multi-node nature of the zero mode $g(τ)$ of $F$, which is gauged out from its reduced functional determinant by the method of the Faddeev-Popov gauge fixing procedure. The calculation is done for a general case of multiple nodes (roots) within the period range of the Euclidean time $τ$, thus generalizing the previously known result for the single-node case of one oscillation of the cosmological scale factor. The functional determinant of $F$ expresses in terms of the monodromy of its basis function, which is obtained in quadratures as a sum of contributions of time segments connecting neighboring pairs of the zero mode roots within the period range.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Higgs boson, renormalization group, and naturalness in cosmology

We consider the renormalization group improvement in the theory of the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson playing the role of an inflaton with a strong non-minimal coupling to gravity. At the one-loop level with the running of constants taken into account, it leads to a range of the Higgs mass that is entirely determined by the lower WMAP bound on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) spectral index. We find that the SM phenomenology is sensitive to current cosmological data, which suggests to perform more precise CMB measurements as a SM test complementary to the LHC program. By using the concept of a field-dependent cutoff, we show the naturalness of the gradient and curvature expansion in this model within the conventional perturbation theory range of the SM. We also discuss the relation of these results to two-loop calculations and the limitations of the latter caused by parametrization and gauge dependence problems.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

New representation of the nonlocal ghost-free gravity theory

A new representation is found for the action of the recently suggested ghost-free nonlocal gravity models generating de Sitter or Anti-de Sitter background with an arbitrary value of the effective cosmological constant. This representation allows one to extend applications of these models from maximally symmetric to generic Einstein spaces and black hole solutions, but clearly indicates violation of the general relativistic limit in this class of theories, induced by their infrared behavior. It is shown that this limit can be recovered in a special conformal frame of these theories, and their relation to critical gravity models is also briefly discussed.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

On suppression of topological transitions in quantum gravity

We discuss the effect of dynamical suppression for a special class of topological configurations in cosmology, which occur in Euclidean quantum gravity (EQG) when the latter is viewed as the derivative of the physical theory in the Lorentzian signature spacetime. At the topological level EQG inherits from the Lorentzian theory the arrow of time and incorporates special junction conditions on quantum fields whose quantum fluctuations make the contribution of such topologies vanishing. This effect is more general than the recently suggested conformal mechanism of suppression of vacuum no-boundary instantons in the microcanonical statistical sum of quantum cosmology driven by a conformal field theory (CFT). In contrast to conformal properties of the CFT driven cosmology, this effect is based only on short-distance behavior of local boson fields and Pauli principle for fermions. Application of this effect in the CFT cosmology treated as initial conditions for inflationary Universe suggests the thermal nature of the primordial power spectrum of the CMB anisotropy. This can be responsible for a thermal contribution to the red tilt of this spectrum, additional to its conventional vacuum component.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Dark energy and dark matter from nonlocal ghost-free gravity theory

We suggest a class of generally covariant ghost-free nonlocal gravity models generating de Sitter or Anti-de Sitter background with an arbitrary value of the effective cosmological constant and featuring a mechanism of dark matter simulation. These models interpolate between the general relativistic phase on a flat spacetime background and their strongly coupled infrared (Anti)-de Sitter phase with two propagating massless graviton modes.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Zero modes, gauge fixing, monodromies, $ζ$-functions and all that

We discuss various issues associated with the calculation of the reduced functional determinant of a special second order differential operator $\boldmath${F}$ =-d^2/dτ^2+\ddot g/g$, $\ddot g\equiv d^2g/dτ^2$, with a generic function $g(τ)$, subject to periodic and Dirichlet boundary conditions. These issues include the gauge-fixed path integral representation of this determinant, the monodromy method of its calculation and the combination of the heat kernel and zeta-function technique for the derivation of its period dependence. Motivations for this particular problem, coming from applications in quantum cosmology, are also briefly discussed. They include the problem of microcanonical initial conditions in cosmology driven by a conformal field theory, cosmological constant and cosmic microwave background problems.

hep-th↗

arXiv2011

Wavefunction of a Black Hole and the Dynamical Origin of Entropy

Recently it was proposed to explain the dynamical origin of the entropy of a black hole by identifying its dynamical degrees of freedom with states of quantum fields propagating in the black-hole's interior. The present paper contains the further development of this approach. The no-boundary proposal (analogous to the Hartle-Hawking no-boundary proposal in quantum cosmology) is put forward for defining the wave function of a black hole. This wave function is a functional on the configuration space of physical fields (including the gravitational one) on the three-dimensional space with the Einstein-Rosen bridge topology.It is shown that in the limit of small perturbations on the Kruskal background geometry the no-boundary wave function coincides with the Hartle-Hawking vacuum state. The invariant definition of inside and outside modes is proposed. The density matrix describing the internal state of a black hole is obtained by averaging over the outside modes. This density matrix is used to define the entropy of a black hole, which is to be divergent. It is argued that the quantum fluctuations of the horizon which are internally present in the proposed formalism may give the necessary cut-off and provide a black hole with the finite entropy.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2011

Statistical sum in the CFT driven cosmology

The path integration technique recently developed for the statistical sum of the microcanonical ensemble in cosmology is applied to the calculation of the one-loop preexponential factor in the cosmological model generated by a conformal field theory with a large number of quantum species -- the model of initial conditions possibly related to the resolution of the cosmological constant and landscape problems. The result is obtained for the family of background cosmological instantons with one oscillation of the FRW scale factor. The magnitude of the prefactor is analytically and numerically estimated for fields of various spins conformally coupled to gravity, which justifies the validity of semiclassical expansion for this family of cosmological instantons.

hep-th↗

arXiv2011

The path integral for the statistical sum of the microcanonical ensemble in cosmology

The path integral is calculated for the statistical sum of the microcanonical ensemble in a generic time-parametrization invariant gravitational model with the Friedman-Robertson-Walker (FRW) metric. This represents the first example of a systematic calculation of the Faddeev-Popov gauge-fixed path integral in the minisuperspace sector of quantum cosmology. The gauge fixing procedure, together with gauging out local diffeomorphisms, also handles the residual symmetries associated with the conformal Killing vector of the FRW metric and incorporates the Batalin-Vilkovisky quantization technique for gauge theories with linearly dependent generators. For a subset of saddle-point instantons, characterized by a single oscillation of the FRW scale factor, this technique is designed to obtain the one-loop statistical sum in the recently suggested model of cosmological initial conditions generated by a conformal field theory with a large number of quantum species.

hep-th↗

arXiv2011

On the functional determinant of a special operator with a zero mode in cosmology

The functional determinant of a special second order quantum-mechanical operator is calculated with its zero mode gauged out by the method of the Faddeev-Popov gauge fixing procedure. This operator subject to periodic boundary conditions arises in applications of the early Universe theory and, in particular, determines the one-loop statistical sum in quantum cosmology generated by a conformal field theory (CFT). The calculation is done for a special case of a periodic zero mode of this operator having two roots (nodes) within the period range, which corresponds to the class of cosmological instantons in the CFT driven cosmology with one oscillation of the cosmological scale factor of its Euclidean Friedmann-Robertson-Walker metric.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

CFT driven cosmology and the DGP/CFT correspondence

We present a dual 5D braneworld picture of a recently suggested model for a microcanonical description of a 4D cosmology driven by a conformal field theory with a large number of quantum fields. The 5D side of the duality relation is represented by a generalized brane induced gravity model in a Schwarzschild-de Sitter bulk. The values of the bulk cosmological and the induced 4D cosmological constants are determined by requiring the absence of conical singularity at the de Sitter horizon of the Euclidean Schwarzschild-de Sitter bulk. Those values belong to the vicinity of the upper bound of a range of admissible values for the cosmological constant. This upper bound is enforced by the 4D CFT and coincides with the natural gravitational cutoff in a theory with many quantum species. The resulting DGP/CFT duality suggests the possibility of a new type of {\em background independent} correspondence. A mechanism for inverting the sign of the effective cosmological constant is found, which might reconcile a negative value of the primordial cosmological constant compatible with supersymmetry with the one required by inflationary cosmology.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

The Schwinger-DeWitt technique for quantum effective action in brane induced gravity models

We develop the Schwinger-DeWitt technique for the covariant curvature expansion of the quantum effective action for brane induced gravity models in curved spacetime. This expansion has a part nonanalytic in DGP type scale parameter, leading to the cutoff scale which is given by the geometric average of the mass of the quantum field in the bulk and DGP scale. This cutoff is much higher than the analogous strong coupling scale of the DGP model treated by weak field expansion in the tree-level approximation. The lowest orders of this curvature expansion are calculated for the case of the scalar field in the $(d+1)$-dimensional bulk with the brane carrying the $d$-dimensional kinetic term of this field. The ultraviolet divergences in this model are obtained for a particular case of $d=4$.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

Covariant Perturbation Theory (IV). Third Order in the Curvature

The trace of the heat kernel and the one-loop effective action for the generic differential operator are calculated to third order in the background curvatures: the Riemann curvature, the commutator curvature and the potential. In the case of effective action, this is equivalent to a calculation (in the covariant form) of the one-loop vertices in all models of gravitating fields. The basis of nonlocal invariants of third order in the curvature is built, and constraints arising between these invariants in low-dimensional manifolds are obtained. All third-order form factors in the heat kernel and effective action are calculated, and several integral representations for them are obtained. In the case of effective action, this includes a specially generalized spectral representation used in applications to the expectation-value equations. The results for the heat kernel are checked by deriving all the known coefficients of the Schwinger-DeWitt expansion including $a_3$ and the cubic terms of $a_4$. The results for the effective action are checked by deriving the trace anomaly in two and four dimensions. In four dimensions, this derivation is carried out by several different techniques elucidating the mechanism by which the local anomaly emerges from the nonlocal action. In two dimensions, it is shown by a direct calculation that the series for the effective action terminates at second order in the curvature. The asymptotic behaviours of the form factors are calculated including the late-time behaviour in the heat kernel and the small-$\Box$ behaviour in the effective action. In quantum gravity, the latter behaviour contains the effects of vacuum radiation including the Hawking effect.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

Asymptotic freedom in inflationary cosmology with a non-minimally coupled Higgs field

We consider the renormalization group improvement in the theory of the Standard Model Higgs boson playing the role of an inflaton with a strong non-minimal coupling to gravity. It suggests the range of the Higgs mass $135.6 {\rm GeV} \lesssim M_H\lesssim 184.5 {\rm GeV}$ compatible with the current CMB data (the lower WMAP bound on $n_s$), which is close to the widely accepted range dictated by the electroweak vacuum stability and perturbation theory bounds. We find the phenomenon of asymptotic freedom induced by this non-minimal curvature coupling, which brings the theory to the weak coupling domain everywhere except at the lower and upper boundary of this range. The renormalization group running of the basic quantity ${\boldmath $A_I$}$ -- the anomalous scaling in the non-minimally coupled Standard Model, which analytically determines all characteristics of the CMB spectrum -- brings ${\boldmath $A_I$}$ to small negative values at the inflation scale. This property is crucial for the above results and may also underlie the formation of initial conditions for the inflationary dynamics in quantum cosmology.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Density matrix of the Universe reloaded: origin of inflation and cosmological acceleration

We present an overview of a recently suggested new model of quantum initial conditions for the Universe in the form of a cosmological density matrix. This density matrix originally suggested in the Euclidean quantum gravity framework turns out to describe the microcanonical ensemble in the Lorentzian quantum gravity of spatially closed cosmological models. This ensemble represents an equipartition in the physical phase space of the theory (sum over everything), but in terms of the observable spacetime geometry it is peaked about a set of cosmologies limited to a bounded range of the cosmological constant. This suggests a mechanism to constrain the landscape of string vacua and a possible solution to the dark energy problem in the form of the quasi-equilibrium decay of the microcanonical state of the Universe. The effective Friedmann equation governing this decay incorporates the effect of the conformal anomaly of quantum fields and features a new mechanism for a cosmological acceleration stage -- big boost scenario. We also briefly discuss the relation between our model, the AdS/CFT correspondence and RS and DGP braneworlds.

hep-th↗