arXiv subjects

Carl Rosenzweig

Publications and source records attributed to Carl Rosenzweig.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

Does the Vacuum Gravitate on Microscopic Scales? Rydberg Atoms Indicate Probably Not

The cosmological constant presents one of the most fascinating and confounding problems in physics. A straightforward, seemingly robust prediction of quantum mechanics and general relativity is that the vacuum energy gravitates. Therefore, the cosmological constant should be enormous. It is minuscule. Since there is no understanding of why the cosmological constant is so small, it is important to test this idea in many different situations. In particular, given the span of distances in astronomy and particle physics, it is vital to test the gravitation of vacuum energy on as many distance scales as we can. Rydberg atoms open up a new set of distances for exploration. It is satisfying to measure the cosmological constant with an atom, but its main significance is extending measurements to microscopic distances. Here, too, there is no evidence of the gravitation of the vacuum. At scales of a micron and less, we place a limit of $7$ GeV on the scale of gravitating vacuum energy, well below the scale of $100$ GeV of the SM of particle physics.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Can Cosmology Provide a Test of Quantum Mechanics?

Inflation predicts that quantum fluctuations determine the large scale structure of the Universe. This raises the striking possibility that quantum mechanics, developed to describe nature at short distances, can be tested by studying nature at its most immense -- cosmology. We illustrate the potential of such a test by adapting the simplest form of the inflationary paradigm. A nonlinear generalization of quantum mechanics modifies predictions for the cosmological power spectrum. If we assume that the nonlinear parameter $b$ is a comoving quantity observational cosmology, within the context of single field inflation, is sufficiently precise to place a stringent limit, $b\leq 3\times 10^{-37}$ eV, on the current, physical size of the nonlinear term.

gr-qc↗

arXiv1998

Second Stage String Fragmentation Model

A string model, advocated by Bowler, provides a physical and intuitive picture of heavy quark fragmentation. When supplemented by an ad hoc factor of (1-z), to suppress fragmentation near z=1, it supplies an excellent fit to the data. We extend Bowler's model by accounting for the further decay of the massive mesonic states produced by the initial string breaking. We find that each subsequent string break and cascade decay beyond the first, introduces a factor of (1-z). Furthermore we find that including a finite mass for the quarks, which pop out of the vacuum and split the string, forces the first string breaking to produce massive states requiring further decay. This sequence terminates at the second stage of fragmentation where only relatively "light" heavy meson systems are formed. Thus we naturally account for the phenomenologically required factor of (1-z). We also predict that the ratio of (primary) fragments-vector/(vector plus scalar) should be .61. Our second stage string fragmentation model provides an appealing picture of heavy quark fragmentation.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1997

Deconfinement Transition and Flux-String Models

Flux-string models can be used to study the deconfining phase transition. In this note, we study the models proposed by Patel. We also study the large N_c limits of Patel's model. To discuss the validity of the mean field theory results, the one-loop Coleman-Weinberg effective potential is calculated for N_c=3. We argue that the quantum corrections vanish at large N_c when the energy of the so-called baryonic vertices scale with N_c.

hep-th↗

arXiv1994

Stability of the Black Hole Horizon and the Landau Ghost

The stability of the black hole horizon is demanded by both cosmic censorship and the generalized second law of thermodynamics. We test the consistency of these principles by attempting to exceed the black hole extremality condition in various process in which a U(1) charge is added to a nearly extreme Reissner--Nordström black hole charged with a {\it different\/} type of U(1) charge. For an infalling spherical charged shell the attempt is foiled by the self--Coulomb repulsion of the shell. For an infalling classical charge it fails because the required classical charge radius exceeds the size of the black hole. For a quantum charge the horizon is saved because in order to avoid the Landau ghost, the effective coupling constant cannot be large enough to accomplish the removal.

gr-qc↗