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M. Giovannini

Publications and source records attributed to M. Giovannini.

42 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
arXiv1995

VON NEUMANN AND SHANNON-WEHRL ENTROPY FOR SQUEEZED STATES AND COSMOLOGICAL PARTICLE PRODUCTION

We show that the effective coarse graining of a two-mode squeezed density matrix, implicit in the Wehrl approaches to a semiclassical phase-space distribution, leads to results in agreement with previous different definitions of entropy for the process of pair production from the vacuum. We also present, in this context, a possible interpretation of the entropy growth as an amplification (due to the squeezing) of our lack of knowledge about the initial conditions, which gives rise to an effective decoherence of the squeezed density matrix.

hep-th↗
arXiv1995

Metric Perturbations in Dilaton-Driven Inflation

We compute the spectrum of scalar and tensor metric perturbations generated, as amplified vacuum fluctuations, during an epoch of dilaton-driven inflation of the type occurring naturally in string cosmology. In the tensor case the computation is straightforward while, in the scalar case, it is made delicate by the appearance of a growing mode in the familiar longitudinal gauge. In spite of this, a reliable perturbative calculation of perturbations far outside the horizon can be performed by resorting either to appropriate gauge invariant variables, or to a new coordinate system in which the growing mode can be "gauged down". The simple outcome of this complicated analysis is that both scalar and tensor perturbations exhibit nearly Planckian spectra, whose common "temperature" is related to some very basic parameters of the string-cosmology background.

hep-th↗
arXiv1993

Quantum Squeezing and Cosmological Entropy Production

The entropy growth in a cosmological process of pair production is completely determined by the associated squeezing parameter, and is insensitive to the number of particles in the initial state. The total produced entropy may represent a significant fraction of the entropy stored today in the cosmic black-body radiation, provided pair production originates from a change in the background metric at a curvature scale of the Planck order.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1993

Squeezed Thermal Vacuum and the Maximum Scale for Inflation

We consider the stimulated emission of gravitons from an initial state of thermal equilibrium, under the action of the cosmic gravitational background field. We find that the low-energy graviton spectrum is enhanced if compared with spontaneous creation from the vacuum; as a consequence, the scale of inflation must be lowered, in order not to exceed the observed CMB quadrupole anisotropy. This effect is particularly important for models based on a symmetry-breaking transition which require, as initial condition, a state of thermal equilibrium at temperatures of the order of the inflation scale.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1992

Dilaton Contributions to the Cosmic Gravitational Wave Background

We consider the cosmological amplification of a metric perturbation propagating in a higher-dimensional Brans-Dicke background, including a non trivial dilaton evolution. We discuss the properties of the spectral energy density of the produced gravitons (as well as of the associated squeezing parameter), and we show that the present observational bounds on the graviton spectrum provide significant information on the dynamical evolution of the early universe.

gr-qc↗