SearcharxivSearch

arXiv subjects

Justo Lopez-Sarrion

Publications and source records attributed to Justo Lopez-Sarrion.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

Tree-level unitarity, causality and higher-order Lorentz and CPT violation

Higher-order effects of CPT and Lorentz violation within the SME effective framework including Myers-Pospelov dimension-five operator terms are studied. The model is canonically quantized by giving special attention to the arising of indefinite-metric states or ghosts in an indefinite Fock space. As is well-known, without a perturbative treatment that avoids the propagation of ghost modes or any other approximation, one has to face the question of whether unitarity and microcausality are preserved. In this work, we study both possible issues. We found that microcausality is preserved due to the cancellation of residues occurring in pairs or conjugate pairs when they become complex. Also, by using the Lee-Wick prescription, we prove that the $S$ matrix can be defined as perturbatively unitary for tree-level $2\to 2$ processes with an internal fermion line.

hep-th

Non-Perturbative Aspects of Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

Spontaneous symmetry breaking is studied in the ultralocal limit of a scalar quantum field theory, that is when $E\approx m$ (or infrared limit). In this limit we show that a $ φ^4$ theory in the euclidean space in four-dimensions describes naturally instantons. Furthermore, in the infrared limit we show that there is an exact map between $ φ^4$ with self-dual Yang-Mills theories. The spontaneous symmetry breaking in the infrared limit for a Higgs portal is also considered and we demonstrate how states of higher energy becomes unstable and spread converting a false vacuum in a true one.

hep-th

Ghost condensation and Ostrogradskian instability on low derivative backgrounds

We show a new class of interaction terms with higher derivatives that can be added to every low derivative real scalar, such that the theory is degenerate, and the equation of motion remains of second order. In contrast to previous setups, the necessary constraints that eliminate the ghosts also have a clear physical motivation: they impose and preserve at all times the low derivative dynamics of the real scalar as a background, on top of which, the fluctuations induced by these higher derivative terms are degenerate, and ghost-free. We summarize the setup for these constrained ghost-free real scalars in a two-step prescription. In contrast to some models with first-order derivative interactions with applications for dark energy and inflation, these theories with necessarily constrained second-order derivative self-interactions do not modify the speed of propagation, neither the cone of influence for the field equations, which are prescribed by the low derivative background that is also essential to eliminate the ghost; hence, avoiding the potential superluminality issues of the former.

hep-th

Cosmic Neutrino Background as a Ferromagnet

If cosmic background neutrinos interact very weakly with each other, through spin-spin interactions, then they may have experienced a phase transition, leading to a ferromagnetic ordering. The small magnetic field resulting from ferromagnetic ordering -- if present before galaxy formation -- could act as a primordial seed of the magnetic fields observed in several galaxies. Our findings suggest that the magnetization could occur in the right epoch, if the exchange boson of neutrino-neutrino interaction is a massless boson beyond the Standard Model, with a coupling constant of $2.2\times 10^{-13} \left(\frac{m_ν}{10^{-4}\,\rm{eV}}\right)^2<g<2.3\times 10^{-7}$. The estimation of the magnetic seed is $2.3 \times 10^{-27}\,\rm{G}\lesssim B_{\rm CNB}\lesssim 6.8\times 10^{-10}G$.

hep-ph

Myers-Pospelov Model as an Ensemble of Pais-Uhlenbeck Oscillators: Unitarity and Lorentz Invariance Violation

We study a generalization of a Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator for fermionic variables. Next, we consider an ensemble of these oscillators and we identify a particular case of the Myers-Pospelov model which is relevant for effective theories of quantum gravity. Finally, by taking the advantage of this connection, we analyze, for this model, the unitarity at one loop order in the low energy regime where no ghost states can be created on-shell. This energy regime is the relevant one when we consider the Myers-Pospelov model as a true effective theory coming from new space-time structure.

hep-th

Microcausality and quantization of the fermionic Myers-Pospelov model

We study the fermionic sector of the Myers and Pospelov theory with a general background $n$. The spacelike case without temporal component is well defined and no new ingredients came about, apart from the explicit Lorentz invariance violation. The lightlike case is ill defined and physically discarded. However, the other case where a nonvanishing temporal component of the background is present, the theory is physically consistent. We show that new modes appear as a consequence of higher time derivatives. We quantize the timelike theory and calculate the microcausality violation which turns out to occur near the light cone.

hep-th

Higher time derivatives, stability and Fermi Statistics

We show that statistics is crucial for the instability problem derived from higher time derivatives. In fact, and contrary to previous statements, we check that when dealing with Fermi systems, the Hamiltonian is well bounded and the quantum states are normalizable. Although, ghost states are still present, they do not affect unitarity under certain conditions. We first analyze a quantum oscillator involving Grassman variables and then we generalize it to a Dirac field. Finally, we discuss some physical implications

hep-th

Noncommutative Wess-Zumino-Witten actions and their Seiberg-Witten invariance

We analyze the noncommutative two-dimensional Wess-Zumino-Witten model and its properties under Seiberg-Witten transformations in the operator formulation. We prove that the model is invariant under such transformations even for the noncritical (non chiral) case, in which the coefficients of the kinetic and Wess-Zumino terms are not related. The pure Wess-Zumino term represents a singular case in which this transformation fails to reach a commutative limit. We also discuss potential implications of this result for bosonization.

hep-th

CPT/Lorentz Invariance Violation and Neutrino Oscillation

We analyze the consequences of violation of Lorentz and $CPT$ invariance in the massless neutrino sector by deforming the canonical anti-commutation relations for the fields. We show that, for particular choices of the deformation, oscillation between massless neutrino species takes place when only Lorentz invariance is violated. On the other hand, if both Lorentz and $CPT$ invariances are violated, we show that there is no oscillation between massless neutrino species. Comparing with the existing experimental data on neutrino oscillations, we obtain bounds on the parameter for Lorentz invariance violation.

hep-ph

CPT/Lorentz Invariance Violation and Quantum Field Theory

Analogies between the noncommutative harmonic oscillator and noncommutative fields are analyzed. Following this analogy we construct examples of quantum fields theories with explicit CPT and Lorentz symmetry breaking. Some applications to baryogenesis and neutrino oscillation are also discussed

hep-th

Finite Temperature Induced Fermion Number In The Nonlinear sigma Model In (2+1) Dimensions

We compute the finite temperature induced fermion number for fermions coupled to a static nonlinear sigma model background in (2+1) dimensions, in the derivative expansion limit. While the zero temperature induced fermion number is well known to be topological (it is the winding number of the background), at finite temperature there is a temperature dependent correction that is nontopological -- this finite T correction is sensitive to the detailed shape of the background. At low temperature we resum the derivative expansion to all orders, and we consider explicit forms of the background as a CP^1 instanton or as a baby skyrmion.

hep-th