arXiv subjects

Eric Raiten

Publications and source records attributed to Eric Raiten.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv1993

Tachyon Condensates and String Theoretic Inflation

Cosmological solutions of the beta function equations for the background fields of the closed bosonic string are investigated at the one-loop level. Following recent work of Kostelecky and Perry, it is assumed that the spatial sections of the space-time are conformally flat. Working in the sigma-model frame, the non-trivial tachyon potential is utilized to determine solutions with sufficient inflation to solve the smoothness and flatness problems. The graceful exit and density perturbation constraints can also be successfully implemented.

hep-th↗

arXiv1992

Exact Path Integrals by Equivariant Cohomology

It is a common belief among field theorists that path integrals can be computed exactly only in a limited number of special cases, and that most of these cases are already known. However recent developments, which generalize the WKBJ method using equivariant cohomology, appear to contradict this folk wisdom. At the formal level, equivariant localization would seem to allow exact computation of phase space path integrals for an arbitrary partition function! To see how, and if, these methods really work in practice, we have applied them in explicit quantum mechanics examples. We show that the path integral for the 1-d hydrogen atom, which is not WKBJ exact, is localizable and computable using the more general formalism. We find however considerable ambiguities in this approach, which we can only partially resolve. In addition, we find a large class of quantum mechanics examples where the localization procedure breaks down completely.

hep-th↗

arXiv1992

All Or Nothing: On the Small Fluctuations of Two-Dimensional String-Theoretic Black Holes

A comprehensive analysis of small fluctuations about two-dimensional string-theoretic and string-inspired black holes is presented. It is shown with specific examples that two-dimensional black holes behave in a radically different way from all known black holes in four dimensions. For both the $SL(2,R)/U(1)$ black hole and the two-dimensional black hole coupled to a massive dilaton with constant field strength, it is shown that there are a {\it continuous infinity} of solutions to the linearized equations of motion, which are such that it is impossible to ascertain the classical linear response. It is further shown that the two-dimensional black hole coupled to a massive, linear dilaton admits {\it no small fluctuations at all}. We discuss possible implications of our results for the Callan-Giddings-Harvey-Strominger black hole.

hep-th↗