arXiv subjects

Atsushi Higuchi

Publications and source records attributed to Atsushi Higuchi.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Vacuum state in de Sitter spacetime with static charts

We study the free massive scalar field in de Sitter spacetime with static charts. In particular, we find positive-frequency modes for the Bunch-Davies vacuum state natural to the static charts as superpositions of the well-known positive-frequency modes in the conformally-flat chart. We discuss in detail how these modes are defined globally in the two static charts and the region in their future. The global structure of these solutions leads to the well-known description of the Bunch-Davies vacuum state as an entangled state. Our results are expected to be useful not only for studying the thermal properties in the vacuum fluctuations in de Sitter spacetime but also for understanding the nonlocal properties of the vacuum state.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Infrared divergences for free quantum fields in cosmological spacetimes

We investigate the nature of infrared divergences for the free graviton and inflaton two-point functions in flat Friedman-Lema\^ıtre-Robertson-Walker spacetime. These divergences arise because the momentum integral for these two-point functions diverges in the infrared. It is straightforward to see that the power of the momentum in the integrand can be increased by $2$ in the infrared using large gauge transformations, which are sufficient for rendering these two-point functions infrared finite for slow-roll inflation. In other words, if the integrand of the momentum integral for these two-point functions behaves like $p^{-2ν}$, where $p$ is the momentum, in the infrared, then it can be made to behave like $p^{-2ν+2}$ by large gauge transformations. On the other hand, it is known that, if one smears these two-point functions in a gauge-invariant manner, the power of the momentum in the integrand is changed from $p^{-2ν}$ to $p^{-2ν+4}$. This fact suggests that the power of the momentum in the integrand for these two-point functions can be increased by $4$ using large gauge transformations. In this paper we show that this is indeed the case. Thus, the two-point functions for the graviton and inflaton fields can be made finite by large gauge transformations for a large class of potentials and states in single-field inflation.

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arXiv2018

The Gibbons-Hawking radiation of gravitons in the Poincaré and static patches of de Sitter spacetime

We discuss the quantization of linearized gravity in the background de Sitter spacetime using a gauge-invariant formalism to write the perturbed gravitational field in the static patch. This field is quantized after fixing the gauge completely. The response rate of this field to monochromatic multipole sources is then computed in the thermal equilibrium state with the well known Gibbons-Hawking temperature. We compare this response rate with the one obtained in the Bunch-Davies-like vacuum state defined in the Poincaré patch. These response rates are found to be the same as expected. This agreement serves as a verification of the infrared finite graviton two-point function in the static patch of de Sitter spacetime found previously.

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arXiv2017

Entanglement of the Vacuum between Left, Right, Future, and Past: The Origin of Entanglement-Induced Quantum Radiation

The Minkowski vacuum state is expressed as an entangled state between the left and right Rindler wedges when it is constructed on the Rindler vacuum. In this paper, we further examine the entanglement structure and extend the expression to the future (expanding) and past (shrinking) Kasner spacetimes. This clarifies the origin of the quantum radiation produced by an Unruh--DeWitt detector in uniformly accelerated motion in the four-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. We also investigate the two-dimensional massless case where the quantum radiation vanishes but the same entanglement structure exists.

hep-th↗

arXiv2017

Compactly supported linearised observables in single-field inflation

We investigate the gauge-invariant observables constructed by smearing the graviton and inflaton fields by compactly supported tensors at linear order in general single-field inflation. These observables correspond to gauge-invariant quantities that can be measured locally. In particular, we show that these observables are equivalent to (smeared) local gauge-invariant observables such as the linearised Weyl tensor, which have better infrared properties than the graviton and inflaton fields. Special cases include the equivalence between the compactly supported gauge-invariant graviton observable and the smeared linearised Weyl tensor in Minkowski and de Sitter spaces. Our results indicate that the infrared divergences in the tensor and scalar perturbations in single-field inflation have the same status as in de Sitter space and are both a gauge artefact, in a certain technical sense, at tree level.

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arXiv2017

Gravitational waves emitted by a particle rotating around a Schwarzschild black hole: A semiclassical approach

We analyze the gravitational radiation emitted from a particle in circular motion around a Schwarzschild black hole using the framework of quantum field theory in curved spacetime at tree level. The gravitational perturbations are written in a gauge-invariant formalism for spherically symmetric spacetimes. We discuss the results, comparing them to the radiation emitted by a particle when it is assumed to be orbiting a massive object due to a Newtonian force in flat spacetime.

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arXiv2016

Mode-sum construction of the covariant graviton two-point function in the Poincaré patch of de Sitter space

We construct the graviton two-point function for a two-parameter family of linear covariant gauges in n-dimensional de Sitter space. The construction is performed via the mode-sum method in the Bunch-Davies vacuum in the Poincaré patch, and a Fierz-Pauli mass term is introduced to regularize the infrared (IR) divergences. The resulting two-point function is de Sitter-invariant, and free of IR divergences in the massless limit (for a certain range of parameters) though analytic continuation with respect to the mass for the pure-gauge sector of the two-point function is necessary for this result. This general result agrees with the propagator obtained by analytic continuation from the sphere [Phys. Rev. D 34, 3670 (1986); Class. Quant. Grav. 18, 4317 (2001)]. However, if one starts with strictly zero mass theory, the IR divergences are absent only for a specific value of one of the two parameters, with the other parameter left generic. These findings agree with recent calculations in the Landau (exact) gauge [J. Math. Phys. 53, 122502 (2012)], where IR divergences do appear in the spin-two (tensor) part of the two-point function. However, we find the strength (including the sign) of the IR divergence to be different from the one found in this reference.

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arXiv2016

Tidal Forces in Reissner-Nordström Spacetimes

We analyze the tidal forces produced in the spacetime of Reissner-Nordström black holes. We point out that the radial component of the tidal force changes sign just outside the event horizon if the charge-to-mass ratio is close to $1$ unlike in Schwarzschild spacetime of uncharged black holes, and that the angular component changes sign between the outer and inner horizons. We solve the geodesic deviation equations for radially falling bodies towards the charged black hole. We find, for example, that the radial component of the geodesic deviation vector starts decreasing inside the event horizon unlike in the Schwarzschild case.

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arXiv2015

Scattering from charged black holes and supergravity

The scattering cross sections of the unpolarized electromagnetic and gravitational waves are shown to be equal for the extreme Reissner-Nordström black hole using $N=2$ supergravity. The conversion cross sections between the unpolarized electromagnetic and gravitational waves are also shown to coincide. The gravitational and electromagnetic scattering cross sections are computed numerically for Reissner-Nordström black holes for several charge-to-mass ratios and the coincidence between the two scattering cross sections for the extremal case is confirmed.

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arXiv2015

Removing the Faddeev-Popov zero modes from Yang-Mills theory in spacetimes with compact spatial sections

It is well known that in de Sitter space the (free) minimally coupled massless scalar field theory does not admit any de Sitter-invariant Hadamard state. Related to this is the fact that the propagator for the massive scalar field corresponding to the de Sitter-invariant vacuum state diverges in the massless limit, with the infrared-divergent term being a constant. Since the Faddeev-Popov ghosts for the covariantly quantized Yang-Mills theory are minimally coupled massless scalar fields, it might appear that de Sitter symmetry would be broken in the ghost sector of Yang-Mills theory in de Sitter space. It is shown in this paper that the modes responsible for de Sitter symmetry breaking can be removed in a way consistent with BRST invariance and that a de Sitter-invariant theory can be constructed. More generally, it is shown that the spatially constant modes (the zero modes) of the Faddeev-Popov ghosts can be disposed of in a wide class of spacetimes with compact spatial sections. Then, the effective theory obtained by removing the zero modes, which contains a non-local interaction term, is shown to be equivalent to the theory corresponding to using a Faddeev-Popov-ghost propagator with the constant infrared-divergent term removed, provided that one can freely integrate by parts in the spacetime integral at the vertex for the ghost interaction term.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Inferring black hole charge from backscattered electromagnetic radiation

We compute the scattering cross section of Reissner-Nordström black holes for the case of an incident electromagnetic wave. We describe how scattering is affected by both the conversion of electromagnetic to gravitational radiation, and the parity-dependence of phase shifts induced by the black hole charge. The latter effect creates a helicity-reversed scattering amplitude that is non-zero in the backward direction. We show that from the character of the electromagnetic wave scattered in the backward direction it is possible, in principle, to infer if a static black hole is charged.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2014

Mode-sum construction of the two-point functions for the Stueckelberg vector fields in the Poincaré patch of de Sitter space

We perform canonical quantization of the Stueckelberg Lagrangian for massive vector fields in the conformally flat patch of de Sitter space in the Bunch-Davies vacuum and find their Wightman two-point functions by the mode-sum method. We discuss the zero-mass limit of these two-point functions and their limits where the Stueckelberg parameter $ξ$ tends to zero or infinity. It is shown that our results reproduce the standard flat-space propagator in the appropriate limit. We also point out that the classic work of Allen and Jacobson for the two-point function of the Proca field and a recent work by Tsamis and Woodard for that of the transverse vector field are two limits of our two-point function, one for $ξ\to \infty$ and the other for $ξ\to 0$. Thus, these two works are consistent with each other, contrary to the claim by the latter authors.

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arXiv2014

Infrared-finite graviton two-point function in static de Sitter space

We study quantum gravitational perturbations in the static patch of de Sitter space. In particular, we determine the symplectic inner product of these perturbations and use it to write down the graviton two-point function in the state analogous to the Bunch-Davies vacuum in a certain gauge. We find this two-point function to be infrared-finite and time-translation invariant.

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arXiv2013

Equivalence between the Weyl-tensor and gauge-invariant graviton two-point functions in Minkowski and de Sitter spaces

The two-point Wightman function of the free photon field defined in a gauge-invariant manner is known to be equivalent to the field-strength two-point function in any spacetime that is topologically trivial. We show that the gauge-invariant graviton two-point function defined in a similar manner is equivalent to the Weyl-tensor two-point function in Minkowski space and in the Poincare patch of de Sitter space. This implies that in the Poincare patch of de Sitter space the gauge-invariant graviton two-point function decays like (distance)^(-4) as a function of coordinate distance for spacelike separation.

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arXiv2013

Greybody factors for non-minimally coupled scalar fields in Schwarzschild-de Sitter spacetime

We compute the greybody factors for non-minimally coupled scalar fields in four-dimensional Schwarzschild-de Sitter spacetime. In particular, we demonstrate that the zero-angular-momentum greybody factor generically tends to zero in the zero-frequency limit like frequency squared if there is non-vanishing coupling to the scalar curvature. This is in contrast with the minimally coupled case, where the greybody factor is known to tend to a finite constant. We also study the Hawking radiation for non-minimally coupled massless scalar fields in Schwarzschild-de Sitter spacetime, formulate a sensible notion of a generalized absorption cross section and investigate its properties.

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arXiv2012

Physical equivalence between the covariant and physical graviton two-point functions in de Sitter spacetime

It is known that the covariant graviton two-point function in de Sitter spacetime is infrared divergent for some choices of gauge parameters. On the other hand it is also known that there are no infrared divergences requiring an infrared cutoff for the physical graviton two-point function for this spacetime in the transverse-traceless-synchronous gauge in the global coordinate system. We show in this paper that the covariant graviton Wightman two-point function with two gauge parameters is equivalent to the physical one in the global coordinate system in the sense that they produce the same two-point function of any local gauge-invariant tensor linear in the graviton field such as the linearized Weyl tensor. This confirms the fact, pointed out decades ago, that the infrared divergences of the graviton two-point function in the covariant gauge for some choices of gauge parameters are gauge artifact in the sense that they do not contribute to the Wightman two-point function of any local gauge invariant tensor field in linearized theory.

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arXiv2011

de Sitter invariance of the dS graviton vacuum

The two-point function of linearized gravitons on de Sitter space is infrared divergent in the standard transverse traceless synchronous gauge defined by $k=0$ cosmological coordinates (also called conformal or Poincare coordinates). We show that this divergence can be removed by adding a linearized diffeomorphism to each mode function; i.e., by an explicit change of gauge. It follows that the graviton vacuum state is well-defined and de Sitter invariant in agreement with various earlier arguments.

hep-th↗

arXiv2011

On the Equivalence between Euclidean and In-In Formalisms in de Sitter QFT

We study the relation between two sets of correlators in interacting quantum field theory on de Sitter space. The first are correlators computed using in-in perturbation theory in the expanding cosmological patch of de Sitter space (also known as the conformal patch, or the Poincaré patch), and for which the free propagators are taken to be those of the free Euclidean vacuum. The second are correlators obtained by analytic continuation from Euclidean de Sitter; i.e., they are correlators in the fully interacting Hartle-Hawking state. We give an analytic argument that these correlators coincide for interacting massive scalar fields with any $m^2 > 0$. We also verify this result via direct calculation in simple examples. The correspondence holds diagram by diagram, and at any finite value of an appropriate Pauli-Villars regulator mass M. Along the way, we note interesting connections between various prescriptions for perturbation theory in general static spacetimes with bifurcate Killing horizons.

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