arXiv subjects

J. Fernando Barbero G.

Publications and source records attributed to J. Fernando Barbero G..

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Separable Hilbert space for loop quantization

We discuss, within the simplified context provided by the polymeric harmonic oscillator, a construction leading to a separable Hilbert space that preserves some of the most important features of the spectrum of the Hamiltonian operator. This construction may be applied to other polymer quantum mechanical systems, including those of loop quantum cosmology, and is likely generalizable to certain formulations of full loop quantum gravity. It is helpful to sidestep some of the physically relevant issues that appear in that context, in particular those related to superselection and the definition of suitable ensembles for the statistical mechanics of these types of systems.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2014

Bivariate Generating Functions for a Class of Linear Recurrences: General Structure

We consider Problem 6.94 posed in the book Concrete Mathematics by Graham, Knuth, and Patashnik, and solve it by using bivariate exponential generating functions. The family of recurrence relations considered in the problem contains many cases of combinatorial interest for particular choices of the six parameters that define it. We give a complete classification of the partial differential equations satisfied by the exponential generating functions, and solve them in all cases. We also show that the recurrence relations defining the combinatorial numbers appearing in this problem display an interesting degeneracy that we study in detail. Finally, we obtain for all cases the corresponding univariate row generating polynomials.

math.CO↗

arXiv2013

Hamiltonian treatment of linear field theories in the presence of boundaries: a geometric approach

The purpose of this paper is to study in detail the constraint structure of the Hamiltonian and symplectic-Lagrangian descriptions for the scalar and electromagnetic fields in the presence of spatial boundaries. We carefully discuss the implementation of the geometric constraint algorithm of Gotay, Nester and Hinds with special emphasis on the relevant functional analytic aspects of the problem. This is an important step towards the rigorous understanding of general field theories in the presence of boundaries, very especially when these fail to be regular. The geometric approach developed in the paper is also useful with regard to the interpretation of the physical degrees of freedom and the nature of the constraints when both gauge symmetries and boundaries are present.

math-ph↗

arXiv2013

Band structure in the polymer quantization of the harmonic oscillator

We discuss the detailed structure of the spectrum of the Hamiltonian for the polymerized harmonic oscillator and compare it with the spectrum in the standard quantization. As we will see the non-separability of the Hilbert space implies that the point spectrum consists of bands similar to the ones appearing in the treatment of periodic potentials. This feature of the spectrum of the polymeric harmonic oscillator may be relevant for the discussion of the polymer quantization of the scalar field and may have interesting consequences for the statistical mechanics of these models.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2012

Prime numbers, quantum field theory and the Goldbach conjecture

Motivated by the Goldbach conjecture in Number Theory and the abelian bosonization mechanism on a cylindrical two-dimensional spacetime we study the reconstruction of a real scalar field as a product of two real fermion (so-called \textit{prime}) fields whose Fourier expansion exclusively contains prime modes. We undertake the canonical quantization of such prime fields and construct the corresponding Fock space by introducing creation operators $b_{p}^†$ --labeled by prime numbers $p$-- acting on the vacuum. The analysis of our model, based on the standard rules of quantum field theory and the assumption of the Riemann hypothesis, allow us to prove that the theory is not renormalizable. We also comment on the potential consequences of this result concerning the validity or breakdown of the Goldbach conjecture for large integer numbers.

math-ph↗

arXiv2012

Quantum isolated horizons and black hole entropy

We give a short introduction to the approaches currently used to describe black holes in loop quantum gravity. We will concentrate on the classical issues related to the modeling of black holes as isolated horizons, give a short discussion of their canonical quantization by using loop quantum gravity techniques, and a description of the combinatorial methods necessary to solve the counting problems involved in the computation of the entropy.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2011

The thermodynamic limit and black hole entropy in the area ensemble

We discuss the thermodynamic limit in the canonical area ensemble used in loop quantum gravity to model quantum black holes. The computation of the thermodynamic limit is the rigorous way to obtain a smooth entropy from the counting entropy given by a direct determination of the number of microstates compatible with macroscopic quantities (the energy in standard statistical mechanics or the area in the framework presented here). As we will show in specific examples the leading behavior of the smoothed entropy for large horizon areas is the same as the counting entropy but the subleading contributions differ. This is important because these corrections determine the concavity or convexity of the entropy as a function of the area.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2011

Detailed black hole state counting in loop quantum gravity

We give a complete and detailed description of the computation of black hole entropy in loop quantum gravity by employing the most recently introduced number-theoretic and combinatorial methods. The use of these techniques allows us to perform a detailed analysis of the precise structure of the entropy spectrum for small black holes, showing some relevant features that were not discernible in previous computations. The ability to manipulate and understand the spectrum up to the level of detail that we describe in the paper is a crucial step towards obtaining the behavior of entropy in the asymptotic (large horizon area) regime.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2011

Statistical description of the black hole degeneracy spectrum

We use mathematical methods based on generating functions to study the statistical properties of the black hole degeneracy spectrum in loop quantum gravity. In particular we will study the persistence of the observed effective quantization of the entropy as a function of the horizon area. We will show that this quantization disappears as the area increases despite the existence of black hole configurations with a large degeneracy. The methods that we describe here can be adapted to the study of the statistical properties of the black hole degeneracy spectrum for all the existing proposals to define black hole entropy in loop quantum gravity.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2010

Quantization of Midisuperspace Models

We give a comprehensive review of the quantization of midisuperspace models. Though the main focus of the paper is on quantum aspects, we also provide an introduction to several classical points related to the definition of these models. We cover some important issues, in particular, the use of the principle of symmetric criticality as a very useful tool to obtain the required Hamiltonian formulations. Two main types of reductions are discussed: those involving metrics with two Killing vector fields and spherically symmetric models. We also review the more general models obtained by coupling matter fields to these systems. Throughout the paper we give separate discussions for standard quantizations using geometrodynamical variables and those relying on loop quantum gravity inspired methods.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2009

The combinatorics of the SU(2) black hole entropy in loop quantum gravity

We use the combinatorial and number-theoretical methods developed in previous work by the authors to study black hole entropy in the new proposal put forward by Engle, Noui and Perez. Specifically we give the generating functions relevant for the computation of the entropy and use them to derive its asymptotic behavior including the value of the Immirzi parameter and the coefficient of the logarithmic correction.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2009

Flux-area operator and black hole entropy

We show that, for space-times with inner boundaries, there exists a natural area operator different from the standard one used in loop quantum gravity. This new flux-area operator has equidistant eigenvalues. We discuss the consequences of substituting the standard area operator in the Ashtekar-Baez-Corichi-Krasnov definition of black hole entropy by the new one. Our choice simplifies the definition of the entropy and allows us to consider only those areas that coincide with the one defined by the value of the level of the Chern-Simons theory describing the horizon degrees of freedom. We give a prescription to count the number of relevant horizon states by using spin components and obtain exact expressions for the black hole entropy. Finally we derive its asymptotic behavior, discuss several issues related to the compatibility of our results with the Bekenstein-Hawking area law and the relation with Schwarzschild quasi-normal modes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2008

On the computation of black hole entropy in loop quantum gravity

We discuss some issues related to the computation of black hole entropy in loop quantum gravity from the novel point of view provided by the recent number-theoretical methods introduced by the authors and their collaborators. In particular we give exact expressions, in the form of integral transforms, for the black hole entropy in terms of the area. We do this by following several approaches based both on our combinatorial techniques and also on functional equations similar to those employed by Meissner in his pioneering work on this subject. To put our results in perspective we compare them with those of Meissner. We will show how our methods confirm some of his findings, extend the validity of others, and correct some mistakes. At the end of the paper we will discuss the delicate issue of the asymptotics of black hole entropy.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2008

Quantum Einstein-Rosen waves: Coherent states and n-point functions

We discuss two different types of issues concerning the quantization of Einstein-Rosen waves. First of all we study in detail the possibility of using the coherent states corresponding to the dynamics of the auxiliary, free Hamiltonian appearing in the description of the model to study the full dynamics of the system. For time periods of arbitrary length we show that this is only possible for states that are close, in a precise mathematical sense, to the vacuum. We do this by comparing the quantum evolutions defined by the auxiliary and physical Hamiltonians on the class of coherent states. In the second part of the paper we study the structure of n-point functions. As we will show their detailed behavior differs from the one corresponding to standard perturbative quantum field theories. We take this as a manifestation of the fact that the correct approximation scheme for physically interesting objects in these models does not lead to a power series expansion in the relevant coupling constant but to a more complicated asymptotic behavior.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2008

Generating functions for black hole entropy in Loop Quantum Gravity

We introduce, in a systematic way, a set of generating functions that solve all the different combinatorial problems that crop up in the study of black hole entropy in Loop Quantum Gravity. Specifically we give generating functions for: The different sources of degeneracy related to the spectrum of the area operator, the solutions to the projection constraint, and the black hole degeneracy spectrum. Our methods are capable of handling the different countings proposed and discussed in the literature. The generating functions presented here provide the appropriate starting point to extend the results already obtained for microscopic black holes to the macroscopic regime --in particular those concerning the area law and the appearance of an effectively equidistant area spectrum.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2008

Black hole state counting in Loop Quantum Gravity: A number theoretical approach

We give a practical method to exactly compute black hole entropy in the framework of Loop Quantum Gravity. Along the way we provide a complete characterization of the relevant sector of the spectrum of the area operator, including degeneracies, and determine the number of solutions to the projection constraint analytically. We use a computer implementation of the proposed algorithm to confirm and extend previous results on the detailed structure of the black hole degeneracy spectrum.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2008

Quantum Geometry and Quantum Gravity

The purpose of this contribution is to give an introduction to quantum geometry and loop quantum gravity for a wide audience of both physicists and mathematicians. From a physical point of view the emphasis will be on conceptual issues concerning the relationship of the formalism with other more traditional approaches inspired in the treatment of the fundamental interactions in the standard model. Mathematically I will pay special attention to functional analytic issues, the construction of the relevant Hilbert spaces and the definition and properties of geometric operators: areas and volumes.

math-ph↗

arXiv2008

Quantum unitary evolution of linearly polarized S^1\times S^2 and S^3 Gowdy models coupled to massless scalar fields

The purpose of this paper is to study in detail the problem of defining unitary evolution for linearly polarized S^1 x S^2 and S^3 Gowdy models (in vacuum or coupled to massless scalar fields). We show that in the Fock quantizations of these systems no choice of acceptable complex structure leads to a unitary evolution for the original variables. Nonetheless, unitarity can be recovered by suitable redefinitions of the basic fields. These are dictated by the time dependent conformal factors that appear in the description of the standard deparameterized form of these models as field theories in certain curved backgrounds. We also show the unitary equivalence of the Fock quantizations obtained from the SO(3)-symmetric complex structures for which the dynamics is unitarily implemented.

gr-qc↗