arXiv subjects

Arttu Rajantie

Publications and source records attributed to Arttu Rajantie.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Do metric fluctuations affect the Higgs dynamics during inflation?

We show that the dynamics of the Higgs field during inflation is not affected by metric fluctuations if the Higgs is an energetically subdominant light spectator. For Standard Model parameters we find that couplings between Higgs and metric fluctuations are suppressed by $\mathcal{O}(10^{-7})$. They are negligible compared to both pure Higgs terms in the effective potential and the unavoidable non-minimal Higgs coupling to background scalar curvature. The question of the electroweak vacuum instability during high energy scale inflation can therefore be studied consistently using the Jordan frame action in a Friedmann--Lemaître--Robertson--Walker metric, where the Higgs-curvature coupling enters as an effective mass contribution. Similar results apply for other light spectator scalar fields during inflation.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Magnetic monopole mass bounds from heavy ion collisions and neutron stars

Magnetic monopoles, if they exist, would be produced amply in strong magnetic fields and high temperatures via the thermal Schwinger process. Such circumstances arise in heavy ion collisions and in neutron stars, both of which imply lower bounds on the mass of possible magnetic monopoles. In showing this, we construct the cross section for pair production of magnetic monopoles in heavy ion collisions, which indicates that they are particularly promising for experimental searches such as MoEDAL.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Thermal Schwinger pair production at arbitrary coupling

We calculate the rate of thermal Schwinger pair production at arbitrary coupling in weak external fields. Our calculations are valid independently of many properties of the charged particles produced, in particular their spin and whether they are electric or magnetic. Using the worldline formalism, we calculate the logarithm of the rate to leading order in the weak external field and to all orders in virtual photon exchange, taking us beyond the perturbative expansion about the leading order, weak coupling result.

hep-th↗

arXiv2017

Standard Model vacuum decay in a de Sitter Background

We present a calculation of thick-wall Coleman-de-Luccia (CdL) bounces in the Standard Model effective potential in a de Sitter background. The calculation is performed including the effect of the bounce back-reaction on the metric, which we compare with the case of a fixed de-Sitter background, and with similar full-backreaction calculation in a model polynomial potential. The results show that the Standard Model potential exhibits non-trivial behavior: rather than a single CdL solution, there are multiple (non-oscillating) bounce solutions which may contribute to the decay rate. All the extra solutions found have higher actions than the largest amplitude solution, and thus would not contribute significantly to the decay rate, but their existence demonstrates that CdL solutions in the Standard Model potential are not unique, and the existence of additional, lower action, solutions cannot be ruled out. This suggests that a better understanding of the appearance and disappearance of CdL solutions in de Sitter space is needed to fully understand the vacuum instability issue in the Standard Model.

hep-th↗

arXiv2017

Massive scalar field evolution in de Sitter

The behaviour of a massive, non-interacting and non-minimally coupled quantised scalar field in an expanding de Sitter background is investigated by solving the field evolution for an arbitrary initial state. In this approach there is no need to choose a vacuum in order to provide a definition for particle states. We conclude that the expanding de Sitter space is a stable equilibrium configuration under small perturbations of the initial conditions. Depending on the initial state, the energy density can approach its asymptotic value from above or below, the latter of which implies a violation of the weak energy condition. The backreaction of the quantum corrections can therefore lead to a phase of super-acceleration also in the non-interacting massive case.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Standard Model vacuum decay with gravity

We present a calculation of the decay rate of the electroweak vacuum, fully including all gravitational effects and a possible non-minimal Higgs-curvature coupling $ξ$, and using the three-loop Standard Model effective potential. Without a non-minimal coupling, we find that the effect of the gravitational backreaction is small and less significant than previous calculations suggested. The gravitational effects are smallest, and almost completely suppressed, near the conformal value $ξ=1/6$ of the non-minimal coupling. Moving $ξ$ away from this value in either direction universally suppresses the decay rate.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Spacetime curvature and Higgs stability after inflation

We investigate the dynamics of the Higgs field at the end of inflation in the minimal scenario consisting of an inflaton field coupled to the Standard Model only through the non-minimal gravitational coupling $ξ$ of the Higgs field. Such a coupling is required by renormalisation of the Standard Model in curved space, and in the current scenario also by vacuum stability during high-scale inflation. We find that for $ξ\gtrsim 1$, rapidly changing spacetime curvature at the end of inflation leads to significant production of Higgs particles, potentially triggering a transition to a negative-energy Planck scale vacuum state and causing an immediate collapse of the Universe.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

Spacetime curvature and the Higgs stability during inflation

It has been claimed that the electroweak vacuum may be unstable during inflation due to large fluctuations of order $H$ in case of a high inflationary scale as suggested by BICEP2. We compute the Standard Model Higgs effective potential including UV-induced curvature corrections at one-loop level. We find that for a high inflationary scale a large curvature mass is generated due to RG running of non-minimal coupling $ξ$, which either stabilizes the potential against fluctuations for $ξ_{\rm EW} \gtrsim 6\cdot 10^{-2}$, or destabilizes it for $ξ_{\rm EW} \lesssim 2 \cdot 10^{-2}$ when the generated curvature mass is negative. Only in the narrow intermediate region the effect of the curvature mass may be significantly smaller.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

On the Anisotropy of the Gravitational Wave Background from Massless Preheating

When a light scalar field is present during inflation, its value will vary on superhorizon scales, modulating the preheating process at the end of inflation. Consequently, the amplitude of the gravitational wave (GW) background produced during preheating will also be modulated. The observed energy density of this background will therefore appear anisotropic at different angles in the sky. We provide a master formula for the angular power spectrum C_l of the anisotropies in the GW background from preheating, valid for any scenario where the anisotropies are due to the superhorizon modulation of a light degree of freedom. Using lattice field theory simulations of massless preheating with g^2/λ= 2, we find a flat angular spectrum l(l+1)C_l \approx 3x10^{-4}, which represents a strong anisotropy of order 1% variations on large angular scales. For our choice of couplings, long wavelengths are amplified most strongly during parametric resonance, which is crucial for the development of the anisotropies. If future direct detection GW observatories are capable of detecting backgrounds of cosmological origin, they should be able to detect this effect. This could eventually become a powerful tool to discriminate among inflationary and preheating scenarios.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Supersymmetric hybrid inflation with a light scalar

Light scalar fields present during inflation can lead to interesting observable signatures, especially in models with non-equilibrium reheating dynamics. We study a supersymmetric hybrid inflation model with a third scalar whose lightness is protected by symmetry, using analytical and numerical techniques, and demonstrate that the amplitude, the spectral index and the non-Gaussianity parameter fNL of the primordial curvature perturbation are within the Planck observational bounds for suitable parameter values.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Anisotropies in the Gravitational Wave Background from Preheating

We investigate the anisotropies in the gravitational wave (GW) background produced at preheating after inflation. Using lattice field theory simulations of a massless preheating model, we show that the GW amplitude depends sensitively on the value of the decay product field chi coupled to the inflaton phi, with the only requisite that chi is light during inflation. We find a strong anisotropy in the amplitude of the GW background on large angular scales, the details of which strongly depend on the reheating dynamics. We expect similar conclusions for a wide class of inflationary models with light scalar fields. If future direct detection GW experiments are capable of detecting the GW produced by preheating, they should also be able to detect this effect. This could eventually provide a powerful way to distinguish between different inflationary and preheating scenarios.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Form factor and width of a quantum string

In the Yang-Mills theory, the apparent thickness of the confining string is known to grow logarithmically when its length increases. The same logarithmic broadening also happens to strings in other quantum field theories and domain walls in statistical physics models. Even in quantum field theories, the correlators used to measure and characterise this phenomenon are analogous to those in statistical physics. In this paper we describe it using the string form factor which is a meaningful quantum observable, obtainable in principle from scattering experiments. We show how the form factor can be obtained from field correlation functions calculated in lattice Monte Carlo simulations. We apply this method to 2+1-dimensional scalar theory in the strong coupling limit, where it is equivalent to the 3D Ising model, and through duality also to 2+1-dimensional $\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge theory. We measure the string form factor by simulating the Ising model, and demonstrate that it displays the same logarithmic broadening as observed by other quantities.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2012

Electrically charged curvaton

We consider the possibility that the primordial curvature perturbation was generated through the curvaton mechanism from a scalar field with an electric charge, or precisely the Standard Model U(1) weak hypercharge. This links the dynamics of the very early universe concretely to the Standard Model of particle physics, and because the coupling strength is known, it reduces the number of free parameters in the curvaton model. The gauge coupling also introduces several new physical effects. Charge fluctuations are generated during inflation, but they are screened by electron-positron pairs therefore do not violate observational constraints. After inflation, the curvaton interacts with thermal radiation which destroys the curvaton condensate and prevents the generation of curvature perturbations, unless the inflaton dynamics satisfy strong constraints. The curvaton also experiences a period of parametric resonance with the U(1) gauge field. Using the standard perturbative approach, we find that the model can generate the observed density perturbation for Hubble rate H_* > 10^8 GeV and curvaton mass m > 0.01 H_*, but with a level of non-Gaussianity (f_NL > 130) that violates observational constraints. However, previous studies have shown that the parametric resonance changes the predicted perturbations significantly, and therefore fully non-linear numerical field theory simulations are required.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

Introduction to Magnetic Monopoles

One of the most basic properties of magnetism is that a magnet always has two poles, north and south, which cannot be separated into isolated poles, i.e., magnetic monopoles. However, there are strong theoretical arguments why magnetic monopoles should exist. In spite of extensive searches they have not been found, but they have nevertheless played a central role in our understanding of physics at the most fundamental level.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Magnetic Monopoles in Field Theory and Cosmology

The existence of magnetic monopoles is predicted by many theories of particle physics beyond the Standard Model. However, in spite of extensive searches, there is no experimental or observational sign of them. I review the role of magnetic monopoles in quantum field theory and discuss their implications for particle physics and cosmology. I also highlight their differences and similarities with monopoles found in frustrated magnetic systems, and discuss how experiments carried out in these systems could help us understand the physics of fundamental monopoles.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Nonperturbative study of the 't Hooft-Polyakov monopole form factors

The mass and interactions of a quantum 't Hooft-Polyakov monopole are measured nonperturbatively using correlation functions in lattice Monte Carlo simulations. A method of measuring the form factors for interactions between the monopole and fundamental particles, such as the photon, is demonstrated. These quantities are potentially of experimental relevance in searches for magnetic monopoles.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2011

On the Transverse-Traceless Projection in Lattice Simulations of Gravitational Wave Production

It has recently been pointed out that the usual procedure employed in order to obtain the transverse-traceless (TT) part of metric perturbations in lattice simulations was inconsistent with the fact that those fields live in the lattice and not in the continuum. It was claimed that this could lead to a larger amplitude and a wrong shape for the gravitational wave (GW) spectra obtained in numerical simulations of (p)reheating. In order to address this issue, we have defined a consistent prescription in the lattice for extracting the TT part of the metric perturbations. We demonstrate explicitly that the GW spectra obtained with the old continuum-based TT projection only differ marginally in amplitude and shape with respect to the new lattice-based ones. We conclude that one can therefore trust the predictions appearing in the literature on the spectra of GW produced during (p)reheating and similar scenarios simulated on a lattice.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Non-Gaussianity from the hybrid potential

We study the hybrid inflationary potential in a regime where the defect field is light, and more than 60 e-folds of accelerated expansion occur after the symmetry breaking transition. Using analytic and numerical techniques, we then identify parameter values within this regime for which the statistics of the primordial curvature perturbation are significantly non-Gaussian. Focusing on this range of parameters, we provide a specific example which leads to an observationally consistent power spectrum, and a level of non-Gaussianity within current WMAP bounds and in reach of the Planck satellite. An interesting feature of this example is that the initial conditions at horizon crossing appear quite natural.

hep-th↗