arXiv subjects

Gert Aarts

Publications and source records attributed to Gert Aarts.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

Effective convergence of the 2PI-1/N expansion for nonequilibrium quantum fields

The 1/N expansion of the two-particle irreducible effective action offers a powerful approach to study quantum field dynamics far from equilibrium. We investigate the effective convergence of the 1/N expansion in the O(N) model by comparing results obtained numerically in 1+1 dimensions at leading, next-to-leading and next-to-next-to-leading order in 1/N as well as in the weak coupling limit. A comparison in classical statistical field theory, where exact numerical results are available, is made as well. We focus on early-time dynamics and quasi-particle properties far from equilibrium and observe rapid effective convergence already for moderate values of 1/N or the coupling.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Stochastic quantization at finite chemical potential

A nonperturbative lattice study of QCD at finite chemical potential is complicated due to the complex fermion determinant and the sign problem. Here we apply the method of stochastic quantization and complex Langevin dynamics to this problem. We present results for U(1) and SU(3) one link models and QCD at finite chemical potential using the hopping expansion. The phase of the determinant is studied in detail. Even in the region where the sign problem is severe, we find excellent agreement between the Langevin results and exact expressions, if available. We give a partial understanding of this in terms of classical flow diagrams and eigenvalues of the Fokker-Planck equation.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2008

Thermal effects on slow-roll dynamics

A description of the transition from the inflationary epoch to radiation domination requires the understanding of quantum fields out of thermal equilibrium, particle creation and thermalisation. This can be studied from first principles by solving a set of truncated real-time Schwinger-Dyson equations, written in terms of the mean field (inflaton) and the field propagators, derived from the two-particle irreducible effective action. We investigate some aspects of this problem by considering the dynamics of a slow-rolling mean field coupled to a second quantum field, using a ϕ^2χ^2 interaction. We focus on thermal effects. It is found that interactions lead to an earlier end of slow-roll and that the evolution afterwards depends on details of the heatbath.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2007

Charmonium at high temperature in two-flavor QCD

We compute charmonium spectral functions in 2-flavor QCD on anisotropic lattices using the maximum entropy method. Our results suggest that the S-waves (J/psi and eta_c) survive up to temperatures close to 2Tc, while the P-waves (chi_c0 and chi_c1) melt away below 1.2Tc.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2007

Transport and spectral functions in high-temperature QCD

The current status of transport coefficients in relativistic field theories at high temperature is reviewed. I contrast weak coupling results obtained using kinetic theory/diagrammatic techniques with strong coupling results obtained using gauge/gravity duality, and describe the recent developments in extracting transport coefficients and spectral functions from lattice QCD simulations. The fate of quarkonium at high temperature as seen from the lattice is briefly mentioned as well.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2007

Spectral functions at small energies and the electrical conductivity in hot, quenched lattice QCD

In lattice QCD, the Maximum Entropy Method can be used to reconstruct spectral functions from euclidean correlators obtained in numerical simulations. We show that at finite temperature the most commonly used algorithm, employing Bryan's method, is inherently unstable at small energies and give a modification that avoids this. We demonstrate this approach using the vector current-current correlator obtained in quenched QCD at finite temperature. Our first results indicate a small electrical conductivity above the deconfinement transition.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2007

Particle creation and warm inflation

During cosmological inflation, it has been suggested that fields coupled to the inflaton can be excited by the slow-rolling inflaton into a quasi-stable non-vacuum state. Within this scenario of ``warm inflation'', this could allow for a smooth transition to a radiation dominated Universe without a separate reheating stage and a modification of the slow roll evolution, as the heat-bath backreacts on the inflaton through friction. In order to study this from first principles, we investigate the dynamics of a scalar field coupled to the inflaton and N light scalar boson fields, using the 2PI-1/N expansion for nonequilibrium quantum fields. As a first step we restrict ourselves to Minkowski spacetime, interpret the inflaton as a time-dependent background, and use vacuum initial conditions. We find that the dominant effect is particle creation at late stages of the evolution due to the effective time-dependent mass. The further transfer of energy to the light degrees of freedom and subsequent equilibration only occurs after the end of inflation. As a consequence, the adiabatic constraint, which is assumed in most studies of warm inflation, is not satisfied when starting from an initial vacuum state.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2007

Meson spectral functions with chirally symmetric lattice fermions

In order to enhance our understanding of spectral functions in lattice QCD obtained with the help of the Maximum Entropy Method, we study meson spectral functions for lattice fermions with chiral symmetry. In particular we analyse lattice artefacts for standard overlap, overlap hypercube and domain wall fermions in the free field limit. We also present first results for pseudoscalar spectral functions in dynamical QCD with 2+1 flavours of domain wall fermions, using data generated by the UKQCD and RBC collaborations on QCDOC machines.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2006

Spectral functions at non-zero momentum in hot QCD

We present results for meson spectral functions at non-zero momentum at temperatures both below and above Tc, obtained in quenched simulations for a number of valence quark masses. For the lightest quark masses, a clear difference between the spectral functions on cold and hot lattices is observed.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2006

Meson spectral functions at nonzero momentum in hot QCD

We present preliminary results for meson spectral functions at nonzero momentum, obtained from quenched lattice QCD simulations at finite temperature using the Maximal Entropy Method. Twisted boundary conditions are used to have access to many momenta p~T. For light quarks, we observe a drastic modification when heating the system from below to above Tc. In particular, for the vector spectral density we find a nonzero spectral weight at all energies.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2006

Nonequilibrium dynamics in the O(N) model to next-to-next-to-leading order in the 1/N expansion

Nonequilibrium dynamics in quantum field theory has been studied extensively using truncations of the 2PI effective action. Both 1/N and loop expansions beyond leading order show remarkable improvement when compared to mean-field approximations. However, in truncations used so far, only the leading-order parts of the self energy responsible for memory loss, damping and equilibration are included, which makes it difficult to discuss convergence systematically. For that reason we derive the real and causal evolution equations for an O(N) model to next-to-next-to-leading order in the 2PI-1/N expansion. Due to the appearance of internal vertices the resulting equations appear intractable for a full-fledged 3+1 dimensional field theory. Instead, we solve the closely related three-loop approximation in the auxiliary-field formalism numerically in 0+1 dimensions (quantum mechanics) and compare to previous approximations and the exact numerical solution of the Schroedinger equation.

hep-th↗

arXiv2005

Mesons at high temperature in Nf=2 QCD

We report first results for spectral functions of charmonium in 2-flavour QCD. The spectral functions are determined from vector and pseudoscalar correlators on a dynamical, anisotropic lattice. J/psi and eta_c are found to survive well into the deconfined phase before melting away at T<~2T_c. Current systematic uncertainties prevent us from drawing any definite conclusions at this stage.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2005

On meson spectral functions at high temperature and nonzero momentum

In the high-temperature phase of QCD meson spectral functions at nonzero momentum are expected to have a nontrivial and interesting structure. In order to provide a reference point for lattice studies employing e.g. the Maximal Entropy Method, we discuss several characteristics of meson spectral functions in the infinite-temperature limit. We report on ongoing work in quenched QCD with staggered fermions.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2005

Continuum and lattice meson spectral functions at nonzero momentum and high temperature

We analyse discretization effects in the calculation of high-temperature meson spectral functions at nonzero momentum and fermion mass on the lattice. We do so by comparing continuum and lattice spectral functions in the infinite temperature limit. Complete analytical results for the spectral densities in the continuum are presented, along with simple expressions for spectral functions obtained with Wilson and staggered fermions on anisotropic lattices. We comment on the use of local and point split currents.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2005

Transport coefficients in large N_f gauge theories with massive fermions

We compute the shear viscosity and the electrical conductivity in gauge theories with massive fermions at leading order in the large N_f expansion. The calculation is organized using the 1/N_f expansion of the 2PI effective action to next-to-leading order. We show explicitly that the calculation is gauge fixing independent and consistent with the Ward identity. We find that these transport coefficients depend in a nontrivial manner on the coupling constant and fermion mass. For large mass, both the shear viscosity and the electrical conductivity go to zero.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

Transport coefficients and the 2PI effective action in the large N limit

We discuss the computation of transport coefficients in large N_f QCD and the O(N) model for massive particles. The calculation is organized using the 1/N expansion of the 2PI effective action to next-to-leading order. For the gauge theory, we verify gauge fixing independence and consistency with the Ward identity. In the gauge theory, we find a nontrivial dependence on the fermion mass.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

Shear Viscosity in the O(N) Model

We compute the shear viscosity in the O(N) model at first nontrivial order in the large N expansion. The calculation is organized using the 1/N expansion of the 2PI effective action (2PI-1/N expansion) to next-to-leading order, which leads to an integral equation summing ladder and bubble diagrams. We also consider the weakly coupled theory for arbitrary N, using the three-loop expansion of the 2PI effective action. In the limit of weak coupling and vanishing mass, we find an approximate analytical solution of the integral equation. For general coupling and mass, the integral equation is solved numerically using a variational approach. The shear viscosity turns out to be close to the result obtained in the weak-coupling analysis.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2003

Transport coefficients from the 2PI effective action

We show that the lowest nontrivial truncation of the two-particle irreducible (2PI) effective action correctly determines transport coefficients in a weak coupling or 1/N expansion at leading (logarithmic) order in several relativistic field theories. In particular, we consider a single real scalar field with cubic and quartic interactions in the loop expansion, the O(N) model in the 2PI-1/N expansion, and QED with a single and many fermion fields. Therefore, these truncations will provide a correct description, to leading (logarithmic) order, of the long time behavior of these systems, i.e. the approach to equilibrium. This supports the promising results obtained for the dynamics of quantum fields out of equilibrium using 2PI effective action techniques.

hep-ph↗