arXiv subjects

F. G. Alvarenga

Publications and source records attributed to F. G. Alvarenga.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2003

Troubles with quantum anistropic cosmological models: Loss of unitarity

The anisotropic Bianchi I cosmological model coupled with perfect fluid is quantized in the minisuperspace. The perfect fluid is described by using the Schutz formalism which allows to attribute dynamical degrees of freedom to matter. A Schrödinger-type equation is obtained where the matter variables play the role of time. However, the signature of the kinetic term is hyperbolic. This Schrödinger-like equation is solved and a wave packet is constructed. The norm of the resulting wave function comes out to be time dependent, indicating the loss of unitarity in this model. The loss of unitarity is due to the fact that the effective Hamiltonian is hermitian but not self-adjoint. The expectation value and the bohmian trajectories are evaluated leading to different cosmological scenarios, what is a consequence of the absence of a unitary quantum structure. The consistency of this quantum model is discussed as well as the generality of the absence of unitarity in anisotropic quantum models.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2002

The clustering of dark energy

A cosmological model with pressurelless matter and a fluid of negative pressure is studied. At perturbative level, fluctuations of both fluids are considered. It is shown that at least at very large scales, the fluid of negative pressure, which represents the dark energy content of the universe, clusters like the dust fluid. Numerical integration reveals that this behaviour may also occur at scales smaller than the Hubble radius.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

Anisotropic quantum cosmological models: a discrepancy between many-worlds and dBB interpretations

In the isotropic quantum cosmological perfect fluid model, the initial singularity can be avoided, while the classical behaviour is recovered asymptotically. We verify if initial anisotropies can also be suppressed in a quantum version of a classical anisotropic model where gravity is coupled to a perfect fluid. Employing a Bianchi I cosmological model, we obtain a "Schrödinger-like" equation where the matter variables play de role of time. This equation has a hyperbolic signature. It can be explicitly solved and a wave packet is constructed. The expectation value of the scale factor, evaluated in the spirit of the many-worlds interpretation, reveals an isotropic Universe. On the other hand, the bohmian trajectories indicate the existence of anisotropies. This is an example where the Bohm-de Broglie and the many-worlds interpretations are not equivalent. It is argued that this inequivalence is due to the hyperbolic structure of the "Schrödinger-like" equation.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2002

Quantum cosmological perfect fluid models

Perfect fluid Friedmann-Robertson-Walker quantum cosmological models for an arbitrary barotropic equation of state $p = αρ$ are constructed using Schutz's variational formalism. In this approach the notion of time can be recovered. By superposition of stationary states, finite-norm wave-packet solutions to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation are found. The behaviour of the scale factor is studied by applying the many-worlds and the ontological interpretations of quantum mechanics. Singularity-free models are obtained for $α< 1$. Accelerated expansion at present requires $- 1/3 > α> - 1$.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2001

An analysis of helium primordial nucleosynthesis with a variable cosmological coupling

The synthesis of helium in the early Universe depends on many input parameters, including the value of the gravitational coupling during the period when the nucleosynthesis takes place. We compute the primordial abundance of helium as function of the gravitational coupling, using a semi-analytical method, in order to track the influence of $G$ in the primordial nucleosynthesis. To be specific, we construct a cosmological model with varying $G$, using the Brans-Dicke theory. The greater the value of $G$ at nucleosynthesis period, the greater the abundance of helium predicted. Using the observational data for the abundance of the primordial helium, constraints for the time variation of $G$ are established.

gr-qc↗