arXiv subjects

C. Wetterich

Publications and source records attributed to C. Wetterich.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2004

Chemical Freeze-out and the QCD Phase Transition Temperature

We argue that hadron multiplicities in central high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions are established very close to the phase boundary between hadronic and quark matter. In the hadronic picture this can be described by multi-particle collisions whose importance is strongly enhanced due to the high particle density in the phase transition region. As a consequence of the rapid fall-off of the multi-particle scattering rates the experimentally determined chemical freeze-out temperature is a good measure of the phase transition temperature.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2004

On the origin of the difference between time and space

We suggest that the difference between time and space is due to spontaneous symmetry breaking. In a theory with spinors the signature of the metric is related to the signature of the Lorentz-group. We discuss a higher symmetry that contains pseudo-orthogonal groups with arbitrary signature as subgroups. The fundamental asymmetry between time and space arises then as a property of the ground state rather than being put into the formulation of the theory a priori. We show how the complex structure of quantum field theory as well as gravitational field equations arise from spinor gravity - a fundamental spinor theory without a metric.

hep-th↗

arXiv2004

Phenomenological parameterization of quintessence

We propose a simple phenomenological parameterization of quintessence with a time-varying equation of state. In particular, it accounts for the possibility of early dark energy. The quintessence potential can be reconstructed in terms of the present fraction in dark energy, the present equation of state and the amount of early dark energy.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Critical Phenomena in Continuous Dimension

We present a calculation of critical phenomena directly in continuous dimension d employing an exact renormalization group equation for the effective average action. For an Ising-type scalar field theory we calculate the critical exponents nu(d) and eta(d) both from a lowest--order and a complete first--order derivative expansion of the effective average action. In particular, this can be used to study critical behavior as a function of dimensionality at fixed temperature.

hep-th↗

arXiv2004

Temperature dependence of antiferromagnetic order in the Hubbard model

We suggest a method for an approximative solution of the two dimensional Hubbard model close to half filling. It is based on partial bosonisation, supplemented by an investigation of the functional renormalisation group flow. The inclusion of both the fermionic and bosonic fluctuations leads in lowest order to agreement with the Hartree-Fock result or Schwinger-Dyson equation and cures the ambiguity of mean field theory . We compute the temperature dependence of the antiferromagnetic order parameter and the gap below the critical temperature. We argue that the Mermin-Wagner theorem is not practically applicable for the spontaneous breaking of the continuous spin symmetry in the antiferromagnetic state of the Hubbard model. The long distance behavior close to and below the critical temperature is governed by the renormalisation flow for the effective interactions of composite Goldstone bosons and deviates strongly from the Hartree-Fock result.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2003

Spinor Gravity

A unified description of all interactions could be based on a higher-dimensional theory involving only spinor fields. The metric arises as a composite object and the gravitational field equations contain torsion-corrections as compared to Einstein gravity. Lorentz symmetry in spinor space is only global, implying new goldstone-boson-like gravitational particles beyond the graviton. However, the Schwarzschild and Friedman solutions are unaffected at one loop order. Our generalized gravity seems compatible with all present observations.

hep-th↗

arXiv2003

Phase transition between three- and two-flavor QCD?

We explore the possibility that QCD may undergo a phase transition as a function of the strange quark mass. This would hint towards models with ``spontaneous color symmetry breaking'' in the vacuum. For two light quark flavors we classify possible colored quark-antiquark, diquark and gluon condensates that are compatible with a spectrum of integer charged states and conserved isospin and baryon number. The ``quark mass phase transition'' would be linked to an unusual realization of baryon number in QCD$_2$ and could be tested in lattice simulations. We emphasize, however, that at the present stage the Higgs picture of the vacuum cannot predict a quark mass phase transition - a smooth crossover remains as a realistic alternative. Implications of the Higgs picture for the high density phase transition in QCD$_2$ suggest that this transition is characterized by the spontaneous breaking of isospin for nuclear and quark matter.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2003

Crossover quintessence and cosmological history of fundamental "constants"

Crossover quintessence predicts that the time variation of fundamental couplings is substantially faster at redshift $z\approx 2$ than over the past few billion years. This could reconcile the reported time variation of the fine structure constant from quasar absorption lines with severe bounds from archeo-nuclear physics and high precision tests of the equivalence principle. We present a model that is consistent with all present data on time varying couplings, tests of the equivalence principle and cosmology.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2003

Quark and Nuclear Matter in the Linear Chiral Meson Model

We present an analytical description of the phase transitions from a nucleon gas to nuclear matter and from nuclear matter to quark matter within the same model. The equation of state for quark and nuclear matter is encoded in the effective potential of a linear sigma model. We exploit an exact differential equation for its dependence upon the chemical potential $μ$ associated to conserved baryon number. An approximate solution for vanishing temperature is used to discuss possible phase transitions as the baryon density increases. For a nucleon gas and nuclear matter we find a substantial density enhancement as compared to quark models which neglect the confinement to baryons. The results point out that the latter models are not suitable to discuss the phase diagram at low temperature.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2003

Probing Quintessence with Time Variation of Couplings

Many models of quintessence predict a time variation of the fundamental constants as well as a composition-dependent gravity like long-range force mediated by the cosmon. We present bounds for the cosmon coupling to matter and radiation within a grand unified framework. The unification scale, the unified gauge coupling and the Fermi scale are allowed to vary independently. We find that the variation of the weak scale compared to the nucleon mass is severely restricted. The violation of the equivalence principle turns out to be substantially larger than in models where only the electromagnetic fine structure constant varies with time. We also show that in contrast to gravity the local cosmon field in a condensed object does not decouple from the cosmological evolution. In consequence, the cosmon interaction constitutes a possible quantitative link between cosmological observations and several areas of high precision experiments concerning the local time or space variation of couplings and tests of the equivalence principle.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2003

Conformal fixed point, Cosmological Constant and Quintessence

We connect a possible solution for the ``cosmological constant problem'' to the existence of a (postulated) conformal fixed point in a fundamental theory. The resulting cosmology leads to quintessence, where the present acceleration of the expansion of the universe is linked to a crossover in the flow of coupling constants.

hep-th↗

arXiv2003

Cosmology with varying scales and couplings

The time variation of fundamental mass scales can have profound cosmological implications. We investigate a particular model of crossover quintessence which is compatible with all present cosmological observations. This model can also reconcile the reported time variation of the fine structure constant from quasar absorption lines with the bounds from archeo-nuclear physics and tests of the equivalence principle.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2002

Quantum correlations in classical statistics

Quantum correlations can be naturally formulated in a classical statistical system of infinitely many degrees of freedom. This realizes the underlying non-commutative structure in a classical statistical setting. We argue that the quantum correlations offer a more robust description with respect to the precise definition of observables.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2002

Phase transition and critical behaviour of the d=3 Gross-Neveu model

A second order phase transition for the three dimensional Gross-Neveu model is established for one fermion species N=1. This transition breaks a paritylike discrete symmetry. It constitutes its peculiar universality class with critical exponent ν= 0.63 and scalar and fermionic anomalous dimension η_σ= 0.31 and η_ψ= 0.11, respectively. We also compute critical exponents for other N. Our results are based on exact renormalization group equations.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2002

Can Structure Formation Influence the Cosmological Evolution?

The backreaction of structure formation influences the cosmological evolution equation for the homogenous and isotropic average metric. In a cold dark matter universe this effect leads only to small corrections unless a substantial fraction of matter is located in regions where strong gravitational fields evolve in time. A``cosmic virial theorem'' states that the sum of gravitational and matter pressure vanishes and therefore relates the average kinetic energy to a suitable average of the Newtonian potential. In presence of a scalar ``cosmon'' field mediating quintessence, however, cosmology could be modified if local cosmon fluctuations grow large. We speculate that this may trigger the accelerated expansion of the universe after the formation of structure.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

Quantum correlations from incomplete classical statistics

We formulate incomplete classical statistics for situations where the knowledge about the probability distribution outside a local region is limited. The information needed to compute expectation values of local observables can be collected in a quantum mechanical state vector, whereas further statistical information about the probability distribution outside the local region becomes irrelevant. The translation of the available information between neighboring local regions is expressed by a Hamilton operator. A quantum mechanical operator can be associated to each local observable, such that expectation values of ``classical'' observables can be computed by the usual quantum mechanical rules. The requirement that correlation functions should respect equivalence relations for local obeservables induces a non-commutative product in classical statistics, in complete correspondence to the quantum mechanical operator product. We also discuss the issue of interference and the complex structure of quantum mechanics within our classical statistical setting.

hep-th↗

arXiv2002

Critical exponents of the Gross-Neveu model from the effective average action

The phase transition of the Gross-Neveu model with N fermions is investigated by means of a non-perturbative evolution equation for the scale dependence of the effective average action. The critical exponents and scaling amplitudes are calculated for various values of N in d=3. It is also explicitely verified that the Neveu-Yukawa model belongs to the same universality class as the Gross-Neveu model.

hep-th↗

arXiv2002

Equation of State for Helium-4 from Microphysics

We compute the free energy of helium-4 near the lambda transition based on an exact renormalization-group equation. An approximate solution permits the determination of universal and nonuniversal thermodynamic properties starting from the microphysics of the two-particle interactions. The method does not suffer from infrared divergences. The critical chemical potential agrees with experiment. This supports a specific formulation of the functional integral that we have proposed recently. Our results for the equation of state reproduce the observed qualitative behavior. Despite certain quantitative shortcomings of our approximation, this demonstrates that ab initio calculations for collective phenomena become possible by modern renormalization-group methods.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗