arXiv subjects

Gerasimos Rigopoulos

Publications and source records attributed to Gerasimos Rigopoulos.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Effective long wavelength scalar dynamics in de Sitter

We discuss the effective infrared theory governing a light scalar's long wavelength dynamics in de Sitter spacetime. We show how the separation of scales around the physical curvature radius $k/a \sim H$ can be performed consistently with a window function and how short wavelengths can be integrated out in the Schwinger-Keldysh path integral formalism. At leading order, and for time scales $Δt \gg H^{-1}$, this results in the well-known Starobinsky stochastic evolution. However, our approach allows for the computation of quantum UV corrections, generating an effective potential on which the stochastic dynamics takes place. The long wavelength stochastic dynamical equations are now second order in time, incorporating temporal scales $Δt \sim H^{-1}$ and resulting in a Kramers equation for the probability distribution - more precisely the Wigner function - in contrast to the more usual Fokker-Planck equation. This feature allows us to non-perturbatively evaluate, within the stochastic formalism, not only expectation values of field correlators, but also the stress-energy tensor of $ϕ$.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Thermal Interpretation of Infrared Dynamics in de Sitter

The infrared dynamics of a light, minimally coupled scalar field in de Sitter spacetime with Ricci curvature $R=12H$, averaged over horizon sized regions of physical volume $V_H=\frac{4π}{3}\left(\frac{1}{H}\right)^3$, can be interpreted as Brownian motion in a medium with de Sitter temperature $T_{DS}=\frac{\hbar H}{2π}$. We demonstrate this by directly deriving the effective action of scalar field fluctuations with wavelengths larger than the de Sitter curvature radius and generalizing Starobinsky's seminal results on stochastic inflation. The effective action describes stochastic dynamics and the fluctuating force drives the field to an equilibrium characterized by a thermal Gibbs distribution at temperature $T_{DS}$ which corresponds to a de Sitter invariant state. Hence, approach towards this state can be interpreted as thermalization. We show that the stochastic kinetic energy of the coarse-grained description corresponds to the norm of $\partial_μϕ$ and takes a well defined value per horizon volume $\frac{1}{2}\langle \left(\nablaϕ\right)^2\rangle = - \frac{1}{2}T_{DS}/V_H$. This approach allows for the non-perturbative computation of the de Sitter invariant stress energy tensor $\langle T_{μν} \rangle$ for an arbitrary scalar potential.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Renormalizing a Viscous Fluid Model for Large Scale Structure Formation

Using the Stochastic Adhesion Model (SAM) as a simple toy model for cosmic structure formation, we study renormalization and the removal of the cutoff dependence from loop integrals in perturbative calculations. SAM shares the same symmetry with the full system of continuity+Euler equations and includes a viscosity term and a stochastic noise term, similar to the effective theories recently put forward to model CDM clustering. We show in this context that if the viscosity and noise terms are treated as perturbative corrections to the standard eulerian perturbation theory, they are necessarily non-local in time. To ensure Galilean Invariance higher order vertices related to the viscosity and the noise must then be added and we explicitly show at one-loop that these terms act as counter terms for vertex diagrams. The Ward Identities ensure that the non-local-in-time theory can be renormalized consistently. Another possibility is to include the viscosity in the linear propagator, resulting in exponential damping at high wavenumber. The resulting local-in-time theory is then renormalizable to one loop, requiring less free parameters for its renormalization.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

Feynman Diagrams for Stochastic Inflation and Quantum Field Theory in de Sitter Space

We consider a massive scalar field with quartic self-interaction $λ/4!\,ϕ^4$ in de~Sitter spacetime and present a diagrammatic expansion that describes the field as driven by stochastic noise. This is compared with the Feynman diagrams in the Keldysh basis of the Amphichronous (Closed-Time-Path) Field Theoretical formalism. For all orders in the expansion, we find that the diagrams agree when evaluated in the leading infrared approximation, i.e. to leading order in $m^2/H^2$, where $m$ is the mass of the scalar field and $H$ is the Hubble rate. As a consequence, the correlation functions computed in both approaches also agree to leading infrared order. This perturbative correspondence shows that the stochastic Theory is exactly equivalent to the Field Theory in the infrared. The former can then offer a non-perturbative resummation of the Field Theoretical Feynman diagram expansion, including fields with $0\leq m^2\ll\sqrt λH^2$ for which the perturbation expansion fails at late times.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

The adhesion model as a field theory for cosmological clustering

The adhesion model has been proposed in the past as an improvement of the Zel'dovich approximation, providing a good description of the formation of the cosmic web. We recast the model as a field theory for cosmological large scale structure, adding a stochastic force to account for power generated from very short, highly non-linear scales that is uncorrelated with the initial power spectrum. The dynamics of this Stochastic Adhesion Model (SAM) is reminiscent of the well known Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation with the difference that the viscosity and the noise spectrum are time dependent. Choosing the viscosity proportional to the growth factor $D$ restricts the form of noise spectrum through a 1-loop renormalization argument. For this choice, the SAM field theory is renormalizable to one loop. We comment on the suitability of this model for describing the non-linear regime of the CDM power spectrum and its utility as a relatively simple approach to cosmological clustering.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

A Relativistic view on large scale N-body simulations

We discuss the relation between the output of Newtonian N-body simulations on scales that approach or exceed the particle horizon to the description of General Relativity. At leading order, the Zeldovich approximation is correct on large scales, coinciding with the General Relativistic result. At second order in the initial metric potential, the trajectories of particles deviate from the second order Newtonian result and hence the validity of 2LPT initial conditions should be reassessed when used in very large simulations. We also advocate using the expression for the synchronous gauge density as a well behaved measure of density fluctuations on such scales.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

On the accuracy of N-body simulations at very large scales

We examine the deviation of Cold Dark Matter particle trajectories from the Newtonian result as the size of the region under study becomes comparable to or exceeds the particle horizon. To first order in the gravitational potential, the general relativistic result coincides with the Zel'dovich approximation and hence the Newtonian prediction on all scales. At second order, General Relativity predicts corrections which overtake the corresponding second order Newtonian terms above a certain scale of the order of the Hubble radius. However, since second order corrections are very much suppressed on such scales, we conclude that simulations which exceed the particle horizon but use Newtonian equations to evolve the particles, reproduce the correct trajectories very well. The dominant relativistic corrections to the power spectrum on scales close to the horizon are at most of the order of $\sim 10^{-5}$ at $z=49$ and $\sim 10^{-3}$ at $z=0$. The differences in the positions of real space features are affected at a level below $10^{-6}$ at both redshifts. Our analysis also clarifies the relation of N-body results to relativistic considerations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Infrared Correlations in de Sitter Space: Field Theoretic vs. Stochastic Approach

We consider massive λϕ^4 theory in de Sitter background. The mass of the scalar field ϕis chosen small enough, such that the amplification of superhorizon momentum modes leads to a significant enhancement of infrared correlations, but large enough such that perturbation theory remains valid. Using the Closed-Time-Path approach, we calculate the infrared corrections to the two-point function of ϕto 2-loop order. To this approximation, we find agreement with the correlation found using stochastic methods. When breaking the results down to individual Feynman diagrams obtained by the two different methods, we observe that these agree as well.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

Initial conditions for cold dark matter particles and General Relativity

We describe the irrotational dust component of the universe in terms of a relativistic gradient expansion and transform the resulting synchronous metric to a Newtonian coordinate system. The two metrics are connected via a space-like displacement field and a time-like perturbation, providing a relativistic generalization of the transformation from Lagrangian to Eulerian coordinates. The relativistic part of the displacement field generates already at initial time a non-local density perturbation at second order. This is a purely relativistic effect since it originates from space-time mixing. We give two options, the passive and the active approach, on how to include the relativistic corrections for example in N-body simulations. In the passive approach we treat the corrections as a non-Gaussian modification of the initial Gaussian field (primordial non-Gaussianity could be incorporated as well). The induced non-Gaussianity depends on scale and the redshift at which initial conditions are set, with f_NL ~ few for small enough scales and redshifts. In the active approach we show how to use the relativistic trajectory to obtain the initial displacement and velocity of particles for N-body simulations without modifying the initial Gaussian field.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Fluctuation-dissipation and equilibrium for scalar fields in de Sitter

The infrared dynamics of a minimally coupled scalar field in de Sitter spacetime can be described as Brownian motion of a particle in a medium of de Sitter temperature $T_{DS}=\frac{H}{2π}$. The system obeys a fluctuation-dissipation relation and its equilibrium distribution is Maxwell-Boltzmann, implying kinetic and potential energies of comparable magnitudes. The transition to equilibrium is a semi-classical process beyond the scope of perturbation theory for interacting fields. The stochastic kinetic energy of the field causes de Sitter spacetime to cool down slowly with a corresponding decrease of the effective vacuum energy.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

Zel'dovich approximation and General Relativity

We show how the Zel'dovich approximation and the second order displacement field of Lagrangian perturbation theory can be obtained from a general relativistic gradient expansion in ΛCDM cosmology. The displacement field arises as a result of a second order non-local coordinate transformation which brings the synchronous/comoving metric into a Newtonian form. We find that, with a small modification, the Zel'dovich approximation holds even on scales comparable to the horizon. The corresponding density perturbation is not related to the Newtonian potential via the usual Poisson equation but via a modified Helmholtz equation. This is a consequence of causality not present in the Newtonian theory. The second order displacement field receives relativistic corrections that are subdominant on short scales but are comparable to the second order Newtonian result on scales approaching the horizon. The corrections are easy to include when setting up initial conditions in large N-body simulations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

A non-linear approximation for perturbations in ΛCDM

We describe inhomogeneities in a ΛCDM universe with a gradient series expansion and show that it describes the gravitational evolution far into the non-linear regime and beyond the capacity of standard perturbation theory at any order. We compare the gradient expansion with exact inhomogeneous ΛLTB solutions (Lemaître-Tolman-Bondi metric with the inclusion of a cosmological constant) describing growing structure in a ΛCDM universe and find that the expansion approximates the exact solution well, following the collapse of an over-density all the way into a singularity.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

A gradient expansion for cosmological backreaction

We address the issue of cosmological backreaction from non-linear structure formation by constructing an approximation for the time evolved metric of a dust dominated universe based on a gradient expansion. Our metric begins as a perturbation of a flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker state described by a nearly scale invariant, Gaussian, power-law distribution, and evolves in time until non-linear structures have formed. After describing and attempting to control for certain complications in the implementation of this approach, this metric then forms a working model of the universe. We numerically calculate the evolution of the average scale factor in this model and hence the backreaction. We argue that, despite its limitations, this model is more realistic than previous models that have confronted the issue of backreaction. We find that the \emph{instantaneous} effects of backreaction in this model could be as large as $\sim10%$ of the background. This suggests that a proper understanding of the \emph{cumulative} effects of backreaction could be crucial for precision cosmology and any future exploration of the dark sector.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Fluctuations along supersymmetric flat directions during Inflation

We consider a set of scalar fields, consisting of a single flat direction and one or several non-flat directions. We take our cue from the MSSM, considering separately D-flat and F-flat directions, but our results apply to any supersymmetric scenario containing flat directions. We study the field fluctuations during pure de Sitter Inflation, following the evolution of the infrared modes by numerically solving the appropriate Langevin equations. We demonstrate that for the Standard Model U(1), SU(2) or SU(3) gauge couplings, as well as for large enough Yukawa couplings, the fluctuations along the non-flat directions effectively block the fluctuations along the flat directions. The usual expected behaviour <ϕ^2> \propto N, with N the number of efolds, may be strongly violated, depending on the coupling strengths. As a consequence, those cosmological considerations, which are derived assuming that during inflation flat directions fluctuate freely, should be revised.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Non-metric chaotic inflation

We consider inflation within the context of what is arguably the simplest non-metric extension of Einstein gravity. There non-metricity is described by a single graviscalar field with a non-minimal kinetic coupling to the inflaton field $Ψ$, parameterized by a single parameter $γ$. We discuss the implications of non-metricity for chaotic inflation and find that it significantly alters the inflaton dynamics for field values $Ψ\gtrsim M_P/γ$, dramatically changing the qualitative behaviour in this regime. For potentials with a positive slope non-metricity imposes an upper bound on the possible number of e-folds. For chaotic inflation with a monomial potential, the spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio receive small corrections dependent on the non-metricity parameter. We also argue that significant post-inflationary non-metricity may be generated.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Gauge invariance and non-Gaussianity in Inflation

We clarify the role of gauge invariance for the computation of quantum non-Gaussian correlators in inflation. A gauge invariant generating functional for n-point functions is given and the special status of the spatially flat gauge is pointed out. We also comment on the relation between gauge transformations, field redefinitions, the choice of $t={\rm const}$ hypersurfaces and the use of boundary terms in computations of non-Gaussianity.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Self Regulation of Infrared Correlations for Massless Scalar Fields during Inflation

Self-energies of a minimally coupled scalar field with quartic and trilinear interactions are calculated in a de Sitter background, using a position space propagator. For quartic interactions, we recover earlier results for the seagull diagram, namely that it contributes an effective mass for the scalar field at leading order in the infrared enhancement in a steady-state de Sitter background. We further show that the sunset diagram also contributes to this effective mass and argue that these two contributions are sufficient in order to determine a self-consistent dynamical mass. In addition, trilinear interactions also induce a dynamical mass for the scalar field which we calculate. Since an interacting scalar field in de Sitter acquires a dynamical mass through these loop corrections, the infrared divergences of the two-point correlator are naturally self-regulated.

hep-th↗

arXiv2010

Path Integral for Inflationary Perturbations

The quantum theory of cosmological perturbations in single field inflation is formulated in terms of a path integral. Starting from a canonical formulation, we show how the free propagators can be obtained from the well known gauge-invariant quadratic action for scalar and tensor perturbations, and determine the interactions to arbitrary order. This approach does not require the explicit solution of the energy and momentum constraints, a novel feature which simplifies the determination of the interaction vertices. The constraints and the necessary imposition of gauge conditions is reflected in the appearance of various commuting and anti-commuting auxiliary fields in the action. These auxiliary fields are not propagating physical degrees of freedom but need to be included in internal lines and loops in a diagrammatic expansion. To illustrate the formalism we discuss the tree-level 3-point and 4-point functions of the inflaton perturbations, reproducing the results already obtained by the methods used in the current literature. Loop calculations are left for future work.

gr-qc↗