Cosmological effects of neutrino mixing
We report on the recent result that a contribution to the dark energy can be achieved by the vacuum condensate induced by neutrino mixing phenomenon.
hep-th↗
arXiv subjects
G. Vitiello
Publications and source records attributed to G. Vitiello.
Dark energy, cosmological constant and neutrino mixing
The today estimated value of dark energy can be achieved by the vacuum condensate induced by neutrino mixing phenomenon. Such a tiny value is recovered for a cut-off of the order of Planck scale and it is linked to the sub eV neutrino mass scale. Contributions to dark energy from auxiliary fields or mechanisms are not necessary in this approach.
hep-th↗
Neutrino mixing as a source of dark energy
We show that the vacuum condensate due to neutrino mixing in quantum field theory (QFT) contributes to the dark energy budget of the universe which gives rise to the accelerated behavior of cosmic flow. The mechanism of neutrino mixing is therefore a possible candidate to contribute to the cosmological dark energy.
astro-ph↗
Quantum fields with topological defects
Domain walls, strings and monopoles are extended objects, or defects, of quantum origin with topologically non--trivial properties and macroscopic behavior. They are described in Quantum Field Theory in terms of inhomogeneous condensates. We review the related formalism in the framework of the spontaneous breakdown of symmetry.
math-ph↗
Entangled Quantum Fields near the Event Horizon and Entropy
By fully exploiting the existence of the unitarily inequivalent representations of quantum fields, we exhibit the entanglement between inner and outer particles, with respect to the event horizon of a black hole. We compute the entanglement entropy and we find that the nonunitarity of the mapping, between the vacua in the flat and the curved frames, makes the entanglement very robust.
hep-th↗
Neutrino mixing contribution to the cosmological constant
We show that the non-perturbative vacuum structure associated with neutrino mixing leads to a non-zero contribution to the value of the cosmological constant. Such a contribution comes from the specific nature of the mixing phenomenon. Its origin is completely different from the one of the ordinary contribution of a massive spinor field. We estimate this neutrino mixing contribution by using the natural cut--off appearing in the quantum field theory formalism for neutrino mixing and oscillation.
gr-qc↗
Non-Commutative Geometry and Measurements of Polarized Two Photon Coincidence Counts
Employing Maxwell's equations as the field theory of the photon, quantum mechanical operators for spin, chirality, helicity, velocity, momentum, energy and position are derived. The photon ``Zitterbewegung'' along helical paths is explored. The resulting non-commutative geometry of photon position and the quantum version of the Pythagorean theorem is discussed. The distance between two photons in a polarized beam of given helicity is shown to have a discrete spectrum. Such a spectrum should become manifest in measurements of two photon coincidence counts. The proposed experiment is briefly described.
hep-th↗
Group theoretical aspects of neutrino mixing in Quantum Field Theory
By resorting to recent results on the Quantum Field Theory of mixed particles, we discuss some aspects of three flavor neutrino mixing. Particular emphasis is given to the related algebraic structures and their deformation in the presence of CP violation. A novel geometric phase related to CP violation is introduced.
hep-ph↗
Observables in the Quantum Field Theory of neutrino mixing and oscillations
We report about recent results on the Quantum Field Theory of neutrino mixing and oscillations. A discussion of the relevant observables for flavor fields is given, leading to oscillation formulas which exhibit corrections with respect to the usual ones.
hep-ph↗
Quantum limit of deterministic theories
We show that the quantum linear harmonic oscillator can be obtained in the large $N$ limit of a classical deterministic system with SU(1,1) dynamical symmetry. This is done in analogy with recent work by G.'t Hooft who investigated a deterministic system based on SU(2). Among the advantages of our model based on a non--compact group is the fact that the ground state energy is uniquely fixed by the choice of the representation.
quant-ph↗
Dissipation, Emergent Quantization and Quantum Fluctuations
We review some aspects of the quantization of the damped harmonic oscillator. We derive the exact action for a damped mechanical system in the frame of the path integral formulation of the quantum Brownian motion problem developed by Schwinger and by Feynman and Vernon. The doubling of the phase-space degrees of freedom for dissipative systems and thermal field theories is discussed and the doubled variables are related to quantum noise effects. The 't Hooft proposal, according to which the loss of information due to dissipation in a classical deterministic system manifests itself in the quantum features of the system, is analyzed and the quantum spectrum of the harmonic oscillator is shown to be originated from the dissipative character of the original classical deterministic system.
quant-ph↗
Quantum dissipation induced noncommutative geometry
The quantum statistical dynamics of a position coordinate x coupled to a reservoir requires theoretically two copies of the position coordinate within the reduced density matrix description. One coordinate moves forward in time while the other coordinate moves backward in time. It is shown that quantum dissipation induces, in the plane of the forward and backward motions, a noncommutative geometry. The noncommutative geometric plane is a consequence of a quantum dissipation induced phase interference which is closely analogous to the Aharanov-Bohm effect.
quant-ph↗
Quantization, group contraction and zero point energy
We study algebraic structures underlying 't Hooft's construction relating classical systems with the quantum harmonic oscillator. The role of group contraction is discussed. We propose the use of SU(1,1) for two reasons: because of the isomorphism between its representation Hilbert space and that of the harmonic oscillator and because zero point energy is implied by the representation structure. Finally, we also comment on the relation between dissipation and quantization.
quant-ph↗
Quantization of scalar fields in curved background, deformed Hopf algebra and entanglement
A suitable deformation of the Hopf algebra of the creation and annihilation operators for a complex scalar field, initially quantized in Minkowski space--time, induces the canonical quantization of the same field in a generic gravitational background. The deformation parameter q turns out to be related to the gravitational field. The entanglement of the quantum vacuum appears to be robust against interaction with the environment.
quant-ph↗
Hopf algebra, thermodynamics and entanglement in quantum field theory
The quantum deformation of the Hopf algebra describes the skeleton of quantum field theory, namely its characterizing feature consisting in the existence of infinitely many unitarily inequivalent representations of the canonical commutation relations. From this we derive the thermal properties of quantum field theory, with the entropy playing the role of the generator of the non-unitary time evolution. The entanglement of the quantum vacuum appears to be robust against interaction with the environment: on cannot ``unknot the knots" in the infinite volume limit.
quant-ph↗
Domain formation in noninstantaneous symmetry breaking phase transitions
In the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau harmonic potential approximation, we present a possible modeling of the time-dependence of the frequency of the order parameter mode suitable to account for the formation of correlated domains in non-instantaneous symmetry breaking phase transitions. An interesting spectrum of possibilities for the size and the life-time of these domains emerges, which appears to be consistent with the conclusions of other, differently grounded analysis.
cond-mat↗
Understanding flavor mixing in Quantum Field Theory
We report on recent results showing that a rich non-perturbative vacuum structure is associated with flavor mixing in Quantum Field Theory. We treat explicitly the case of mixing among three generations of Dirac fermions. Exact oscillation formulas are presented exhibiting new features with respect to the usual ones. CP and T violation are also discussed.
hep-th↗
On topological defect formation in the process of symmetry breaking phase transitions
By resorting to some results in quantum field theories with spontaneous breakdown of symmetry we show that an explanation based on microscopic dynamics can be given of the fact that topological defect formation is observed during the process of non-equilibrium phase transitions characterized by a non-zero order parameter. We show that the Nambu-Goldstone particle acquires an effective non-zero mass due to the boundary (finite volume) effects and this is related with the size of the defect. We also relate such volume effect with temperature effect.
cond-mat↗