arXiv subjects

Adamantia Zampeli

Publications and source records attributed to Adamantia Zampeli.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Towards local and compositional measurements in quantum field theory

A universal framework for the joint measurement of multiple localized observables in quantum field theory satisfying spacetime locality and compositionality is still lacking. We present an approach to the problem that is based on the one hand on the positive formalism, an axiomatic framework, where it is clear from the outset that we satisfy locality and compositionality, while also having a consistent probabilistic interpretation. On the other hand, the approach is based on standard tools from quantum field theory, in particular the path integral and the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism. After an overview of the conceptual foundations we introduce the modulus-square construction as a formalization of the measurement process for an important class of observables including quadratic observables. We show that this construction has many of the desired properties, including positivity, locality, single measurement recovery and compositionality. We introduce a renormalization scheme for the measurement of quadratic observables that also satisfies compositionality, in contrast to previous renormalization schemes. We discuss relativistic causality, confirming that measurements in our scheme are indeed localized in the spacetime regions where the underlying observables have support.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

Interaction of evanescent particles with an Unruh-DeWitt detector

We demonstrate that the recently introduced evanescent particles of a massive scalar field can be emitted and absorbed by an Unruh-DeWitt detector. In doing so the particles carry away from or deposit on the detector a quantized amount of energy, in a manner quite analogous to ordinary propagating particles. In contradistinction to propagating particles the amount of energy is less than the mass of the field, but still positive. We develop relevant methods and provide a study of the detector emission spectrum, emission probability and absorption probability involving both propagating and evanescent particles.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

Contrary Inferences for Classical Histories within the Consistent Histories Formulation of Quantum Theory

In the histories formulation of quantum theory, sets of coarse-grained histories that are consistent obey the classical probability rules. It has been argued that these sets can describe the quasi-classical behaviour of closed quantum systems, e.g. Omnes (Rev. Mod. Phys. 64(2), 339, 1992) and Hartle (Les Houches1992). Most physical scenarios admit multiple different consistent sets and one can view each of these as a separate context. Using propositions from different consistent sets to make inferences leads to paradoxes such as contrary inferences, first noted by Kent (Phys. Rev. Lett. 78(15), 2874, 1997). In this contribution, we use the consistent histories to describe a quasi-classical and macroscopic system to show that paradoxes involving contextuality persist even in the quasi-classical limit. This is distinctively different from the contextuality of standard quantum theory, where the contextuality paradoxes do not persist in the quasi-classical limit. Specifically, we consider different consistent sets for the arrival time problem of a (quasi-classical) ball in an infinite square well. For this setting, we construct two different consistent sets. We find the probabilities that each consistent set assigns to the simple question of whether the ball ever crossed the middle of the interval. We show that one consistent set concludes with certainty that the ball crossed it while the other consistent set concludes with certainty that it did not. Our results point to the need for constraints on the histories sets, additional to the consistency condition, to recover the correct quasi-classical limit in this formalism and lead to the motto "all consistent sets are equal", but "some consistent sets are more equal than others".

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Quantization of inhomogeneous spacetimes with cosmological constant term

We show that the Szekeres system with cosmological constant admits a sufficient number of conservation laws, which allow to claim the integrability of the system. The main novelty in this investigation is that we find that the unique attractor of the Szekeres system is the isotropic inhomogeneous de Sitter (-like) universe, contrary to the original system in which the attractors describe Kantowski-Sachs (-like) spacetimes. We also study the existence of quantum corrections and the emergence of classicality by considering the linear and quadratic conserved quantities at the quantum level. We perform an analysis considering different approaches, involving the Bohmian quantum potential and a probability analysis. The result is that there are no quantum corrections for the quadratic integrals, while there exists a linear case for which we find quantum corrections.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

Quantization of the Szekeres spacetime through generalized symmetries

We present the effect of the quantum corrections on the Szekeres spacetime, a system important for the study of the inhomogeneities of the pre-inflationary era of the universe. The study is performed in the context of canonical quantisation in the presence of symmetries. We construct an effective classical Lagrangian and impose the quantum version of its classical integrals of motion on the wave function. The interpretational scheme of the quantum solution is that of Bohmian mechanics, in which one can avoid the unitarity problem of quantum cosmology. We discuss our results in this context.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

Torsion in quantum field theory through time-loops on Dirac materials

Assuming dislocations could be meaningfully described by torsion, we propose here a scenario based on the role of time in the low-energy regime of two-dimensional Dirac materials, for which coupling of the fully antisymmetric component of the torsion with the emergent spinor is not necessarily zero. Appropriate inclusion of time is our proposal to overcome well-known geometrical obstructions to such a program, that stopped further research of this kind. In particular, our approach is based on the realization of an exotic $time-loop$, that could be seen as oscillating particle-hole pairs. Although this is a theoretical paper, we moved the first steps toward testing the realization of these scenarios, by envisaging $Gedankenexperiments$ on the interplay between an external electromagnetic field (to excite the pair particle-hole and realize the time-loops), and a suitable distribution of dislocations described as torsion (responsible for the measurable holonomy in the time-loop, hence a current). Our general analysis here establishes that we need to move to a nonlinear response regime. We then conclude by pointing to recent results from the interaction laser-graphene that could be used to look for manifestations of the torsion-induced holonomy of the time-loop, e.g., as specific patterns of suppression/generation of higher harmonics.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Emergence of classicality from an inhomogeneous quantum universe

We give a short account of the quantisation of the Szekeres spacetime by considering the symmetries of a reduced action principle. This is an alternative approach than the one followed in the literature for the study of inhomogeneities, which is usually based on perturbations of an inhomogeneous field on the spacetime background. Here, we examine the emergence of classicality with an exact inhomogeneous solution. We check whether the two criteria for classicality are satisfied, that is the correlations on the phase space and decoherence. We verify that these two properties indeed hold, thus the classical behaviour emerges from our considerations. We comment on the connection between the emergence of an inhomogeneous spacetime and the current cosmological observations of a highly homogeneous universe at large scales.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Quantization of the Szekeres System

We study the quantum corrections on the Szekeres system in the context of canonical quantization in the presence of symmetries. We start from an effective point-like Lagrangian with two integrals of motion, one corresponding to the Hamiltonian and the other to a second rank Killing tensor. Imposing their quantum version on the wave function results to a solution which is then interpreted in the context of Bohmian mechanics. In this semiclassical approach, it is shown that there is no quantum corrections, thus the classical trajectories of the Szekeres system are not affected at this level. Finally, we define a probability function which shows that a stationary surface of the probability corresponds to a classical exact solution

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Decoupling of the re-parametrization degree of freedom and a generalized probability in quantum cosmology

The high degree of symmetry renders the dynamics of cosmological as well as some black hole spacetimes describable by a system of finite degrees of freedom. These systems are generally known as minisuperspace models. One of their important key features is the invariance of the corresponding reduced actions under reparametrizations of the independent variable, a fact that can be seen as the remnant of the general covariance of the full theory. In the case of a system of $n$ degrees of freedom, described by a Lagrangian quadratic in velocities, one can use the lapse by either gauge fixing it or letting it be defined by the constraint and subsequently substitute into the rest of the equations. In the first case, the system is solvable for $n$ accelerations and the constraint becomes a restriction among constants. In the second case, the system can only be solved for $n-1$ accelerations and the "gauge" freedom is transferred to the choice of one of the scalar degrees of freedom. In this paper, we take the second path and express all $n-1$ scalar degrees of freedom in terms of the remaining one, say $q$. By considering these $n-1$ degrees of freedom as arbitrary but given functions of $q$, we manage to extract a two dimensional pure gauge system consisting of the lapse $N$ and the arbitrary $q$: in a way, we decouple the reparametrization invariance from the rest of the equations of motion. The solution of the corresponding quantum two dimensional system is used for the definition of a generalized probability for every configuration $f^i (q)$, be it classical or not. The main result is that, interestingly enough, this probability attains its extrema on the classical solution of the initial $n$-dimensional system.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

General Analytic Solutions of Scalar Field Cosmology with Arbitrary Potential

We present the solution space for the case of a minimally coupled scalar field with arbitrary potential in a FLRW metric. This is made possible due to the existence of a nonlocal integral of motion corresponding to the conformal Killing field of the two-dimensional minisuperspace metric. The case for both spatially flat and non flat are studied first in the presence of only the scalar field and subsequently with the addition of non interacting perfect fluids. It is verified that this addition does not change the general form of the solution, but only the particular expressions of the scalar field and the potential. The results are applied in the case of parametric dark energy models where we derive the scalar field equivalence solution for some proposed models in the literature.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Conditional symmetries in axisymmetric quantum cosmologies with scalar fields and the fate of the classical singularities

In this paper, the classical and quantum solutions of some axisymmetric cosmologies coupled to a massless scalar field are studied in the context of minisuperspace approximation. In these models, the singular nature of the Lagrangians entails a search for possible conditional symmetries. These have been proven to be the simultaneous conformal symmetries of the supermetric and the superpotential. The quantization is performed by adopting the Dirac proposal for constrained systems, i.e. promoting the first-class constraints to operators annihilating the wave function. To further enrich the approach, we follow \cite{Christodoulakis:2012eg} and impose the operators related to the classical conditional symmetries on the wave function. These additional equations select particular solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation. In order to gain some physical insight from the quantization of these cosmological systems, we perform a semiclassical analysis following the Bohmian approach to quantum theory. The generic result is that, in all but one model, one can find appropriate ranges of the parameters, so that the emerging semiclassical geometries are non-singular. An attempt for physical interpretation involves the study of the effective energy-momentum tensor which corresponds to an imperfect fluid.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2012

Hawking radiation, chirality, and the principle of effective theory of gravity

In this paper we combine the chirality of field theories in near horizon regions with the principle of effective theory of gravity to define a new energy-momentum tensor for the theory. This new energy-momentum tensor has the correct radiation flux to account for Hawking radiation for space-times with horizons. This method is connected to the chiral anomaly cancellation method, but it works for space-times for which the chiral anomaly cancellation method fails. In particular the method presented here works for the non-asymptotically flat de Sitter space-time and its associated Hawking-Gibbons radiation, as well as Rindler space-time and its associated Unruh radiation. This indicates that it is the chiral nature of the field theory in the near horizon regions which is of primary importance rather than the chiral anomaly.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2012

Signs and Cosmology

Using a new effective action predicted from quantum gravity where the sign of the Euclidean Einstein action is reversed we discuss WKB solutions in quantum cosmology and predict that this sign change might explain the origin of phantom scalars.

gr-qc↗