arXiv subjects

Mairi Sakellariadou

Publications and source records attributed to Mairi Sakellariadou.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Accelerated expansion of the Universe without an inflaton and resolution of the initial singularity from Group Field Theory condensates

We study the expansion of the Universe using an effective Friedmann equation obtained from the dynamics of GFT (Group Field Theory) isotropic condensates. The evolution equations are classical, with quantum correction terms to the Friedmann equation given in the form of effective fluids coupled to the emergent classical background. The occurrence of a bounce, which resolves the initial spacetime singularity, is shown to be a general property of the model. A promising feature of this model is the occurrence of an era of accelerated expansion, without the need to introduce an inflaton field with an appropriately chosen potential. We discuss possible viability issues of this scenario as an alternative to inflation.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Cosmological implications of interacting Group Field Theory models: cyclic Universe and accelerated expansion

We study the cosmological implications of interactions between spacetime quanta in the Group Field Theory (GFT) approach to Quantum Gravity from a phenomenological perspective. Our work represents a first step towards understanding Early Universe Cosmology by studying the dynamics of the emergent continuum spacetime, as obtained from a fundamentally discrete microscopic theory. In particular, we show how GFT interactions lead to a recollapse of the Universe while preserving the bounce replacing the initial singularity, which has already been shown to occur in the free case. It is remarkable that cyclic cosmologies are thus obtained in this framework without any a priori assumption on the geometry of spatial sections of the emergent spacetime. Furthermore, we show how interactions make it possible to have an early epoch of accelerated expansion, which can be made to last for an arbitrarily large number of e-folds, without the need to introduce an ad hoc potential for the scalar field.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Impact of nonlinear effective interactions on GFT quantum gravity condensates

We present the numerical analysis of effectively interacting Group Field Theory (GFT) models in the context of the GFT quantum gravity condensate analogue of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for real Bose-Einstein condensates including combinatorially local interaction terms. Thus we go beyond the usually considered construction for free models. More precisely, considering such interactions in a weak regime, we find solutions for which the expectation value of the number operator N is finite, as in the free case. When tuning the interaction to the strongly nonlinear regime, however, we obtain solutions for which N grows and eventually blows up, which is reminiscent of what one observes for real Bose-Einstein condensates, where a strong interaction regime can only be realized at high density. This behaviour suggests the breakdown of the Bogoliubov ansatz for quantum gravity condensates and the need for non-Fock representations to describe the system when the condensate constituents are strongly correlated. Furthermore, we study the expectation values of certain geometric operators imported from Loop Quantum Gravity in the free and interacting cases. In particular, computing solutions around the nontrivial minima of the interaction potentials, one finds, already in the weakly interacting case, a nonvanishing condensate population for which the spectra are dominated by the lowest nontrivial configuration of the quantum geometry. This result indicates that the condensate may indeed consist of many smallest building blocks giving rise to an effectively continuous geometry, thus suggesting the interpretation of the condensate phase to correspond to a geometric phase.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Aspects of the Bosonic Spectral Action: Successes and Challenges

A short introduction on elements of noncommutative geometry, which offers a purely geometric interpretation of the Standard Model and implies a higher derivative gravitational theory, is presented. Physical consequences of almost commutative manifolds are briefly discussed and cosmological consequences of the gravitational sector, which is shown not to be plagued by linear instability, are highlighted. Successes and challenges are discussed. A novel spectral action proposal based on zeta function regularisation is briefly presented.

hep-th↗

arXiv2016

Graviton propagation within the context of the D-material universe

Motivated by the recent breakthrough of the detection of Gravitational Waves (GW) from coalescent black holes by the aLIGO interferometers, we study the propagation of GW in the {\sl D-material universe}, which we have recently shown to be compatible with large-scale structure and inflationary phenomenology. The medium of D-particles induces an effective mass for the graviton, as a consequence of the formation of recoil-velocity field condensates due to the underlying Born-Infeld dynamics. There is a competing effect, due to a super-luminal refractive index, as a result of the gravitational energy of D-particles acting as a dark matter component, with which propagating gravitons interact. We examine conditions for the condensate under which the latter effect is sub-leading. We argue that if quantum fluctuations of the recoil velocity are relatively strong, which can happen in the current era of the universe, then the condensate, and hence the induced mass of the graviton, can be several orders of magnitude larger than the magnitude of the cosmological constant today. Hence, we constrain the graviton mass using aLIGO and pulsar timing observations (which give the most stringent bounds at present). In such a sub-luminal graviton case, there is also a gravitational Cherenkov effect for ordinary high energy cosmic matter, which is further constrained by means of ultra-high-energy cosmic ray observations. Assuming cosmic rays of extragalactic origin, the bounds on the quantum condensate strength, based on the gravitational Cherenkov effect, are of the same order as those from aLIGO measurements, in contrast to the case where a galactic origin of the cosmic rays is assumed, in which case the corresponding bounds are much weaker.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Effective cosmological constant induced by stochastic fluctuations of Newton's constant

We consider implications of the microscopic dynamics of spacetime for the evolution of cosmological models. We argue that quantum geometry effects may lead to stochastic fluctuations of the gravitational constant, which is thus considered as a macroscopic effective dynamical quantity. Consistency with Riemannian geometry entails the presence of a time-dependent dark energy term in the modified field equations, which can be expressed in terms of the dynamical gravitational constant. We suggest that the late-time accelerated expansion of the Universe may be ascribed to quantum fluctuations in the geometry of spacetime rather than the vacuum energy from the matter sector.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

The D-material universe

In a previous publication by some of the authors (N.E.M., M.S. and M.F.Y.), we have argued that the "D-material universe", that is a model of a brane world propagating in a higher-dimensional bulk populated by collections of D-particle stringy defects, provides a model for the growth of large-scale structure in the universe via the vector field in its spectrum. The latter corresponds to D-particle recoil velocity excitations as a result of the interactions of the defects with stringy matter and radiation on the brane world. In this article, we first elaborate further on the results of the previous study on the galactic growth era and analyse the circumstances under which the D-particle recoil velocity fluid may "mimic" dark matter in galaxies. A lensing phenomenology is also presented for some samples of galaxies, which previously were known to provide tension for modified gravity (TeVeS) models. The current model is found in agreement with these lensing data. Then we discuss a cosmic evolution for the D-material universe by analysing the conditions under which the late eras of this universe associated with large-scale structure are connected to early epochs, where inflation takes place. It is shown that inflation is induced by dense populations of D-particles in the early universe, with the role of the inflaton field played by the condensate of the D-particle recoil-velocity fields under their interaction with relativistic stringy matter, only for sufficiently large brane tensions and low string mass scales compared to the Hubble scale. On the other hand, for large string scales, where the recoil-velocity condensate fields are weak, inflation cannot be driven by the D-particle defects alone. In such cases inflation may be driven by dilaton (or other moduli) fields in the underlying string theory.

hep-th↗

arXiv2016

Linear stability of noncommutative spectral geometry

We consider the spectral action within the context of a 4-dimensional manifold with torsion and show that, in the vacuum case, the equations of motion reduce to Einstein's equations, securing the linear stability of the theory. To subsequently investigate the nonvacuum case, we consider the spectral action of an almost commutative torsion geometry and show that the Hamiltonian is bounded from below, a result which guarantees the linear stability of the theory.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Semiclassical solutions of generalized Wheeler-DeWitt cosmology

We consider an extension of WDW minisuperpace cosmology with additional interaction terms that preserve the linear structure of the theory. General perturbative methods are developed and applied to known semiclassical solutions for a closed Universe filled with a massless scalar. The exact Feynman propagator of the free theory is derived by means of a conformal transformation in minisuperspace. As an example, a stochastic interaction term is considered and first order perturbative corrections are computed. It is argued that such an interaction can be used to describe the interaction of the cosmological background with the microscopic d.o.f. of the gravitational field. A Helmoltz-like equation is considered for the case of interactions that do not depend on the internal time and the corresponding Green's kernel is obtained exactly.The possibility of linking this approach to fundamental theories of Quantum Gravity is investigated.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Astrophysical constraints on extended gravity models

We investigate the propagation of gravitational waves in the context of fourth order gravity nonminimally coupled to a massive scalar field. Using the damping of the orbital period of coalescing stellar binary systems, we impose constraints on the free parameters of extended gravity models. In particular, we find that the variation of the orbital period is a function of three mass scales which depend on the free parameters of the model under consideration; we can constrain these mass scales from current observational data.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Spectral action with zeta function regularization

In this paper we propose a novel definition of the bosonic spectral action using zeta function regularization, in order to address the issues of renormalizability and spectral dimensions. We compare the zeta spectral action with the usual (cutoff based) spectral action and discuss its origin, predictive power, stressing the importance of the issue of the three dimensionful fundamental constants, namely the cosmological constant, the Higgs vacuum expectation value, and the gravitational constant. We emphasize the fundamental role of the neutrino Majorana mass term for the structure of the bosonic action.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Aspects of the Bosonic Spectral Action

A brief description of the elements of noncommutative spectral geometry as an approach to unification is presented. The physical implications of the doubling of the algebra are discussed. Some high energy phenomenological as well as various cosmological consequences are presented. A constraint in one of the three free parameters, namely the one related to the coupling constants at unification, is obtained, and the possible role of scalar fields is highlighted. A novel spectral action approach based upon zeta function regularisation, in order to address some of the issues of the traditional bosonic spectral action based on a cutoff function and a cutoff scale, is discussed.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Noncommutative spectral geometry, Bogoliubov transformations and neutrino oscillations

In this report we show that neutrino mixing is intrinsically contained in Connes' noncommutative spectral geometry construction, thanks to the introduction of the doubling of algebra, which is connected to the Bogoliubov transformation. It is known indeed that these transformations are responsible for the mixing, turning the mass vacuum state into the flavor vacuum state, in such a way that mass and flavor vacuum states are not unitary equivalent. There is thus a red thread that binds the doubling of algebra of Connes' model to the neutrino mixing.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Theoretical constraints on brane inflation and cosmic superstring radiation

We analyze theoretical constraints on the consistency of brane inflation leading to cosmic superstring formation and on the subsequent radiation of these cosmic superstrings. We first investigate the implications of recently elucidated supergravity constraints on models of brane inflation. We show that both D3/D7 and D3/anti-D3 brane inflation are subject to non-trivial constraints. Both models can be shown to satisfy those constraints, but for the case of D3/D7 there may be important consequences for the inflationary mechanism. We then analyze the strong theoretical constraints on the types of allowed radiation by cosmic superstrings, should they be formed; such constraints do not apply to their field theoretical analogues. We argue that in a warped background where one might expect axionic radiation to be enhanced relative to gravitational radiation, neithe F-strings nor D-strings can emit axionic radiation, while FD-strings cannot give rise to Neveu-Schwarz--Neveu-Schwarz particle emission, and their Ramond-Ramond particle emission is not well-defined.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Cusps and pseudo-cusps in strings with Y-junctions

We study the occurrence of cuspy events on a light string stretched between two Y-junctions with fixed heavy strings. We first present an analytic study and give a solid criterion to discriminate between cuspy and non-cuspy string configurations. We then describe a numerical code, built to test this analysis. Our numerical investigation allows us to look at the correlations between string network's parameters and the occurrence of cuspy phenomena. We show that the presence of large amplitude waves on the light string leads to cuspy events. We then relate the occurrence of cuspy events to features like the number of vibration modes on the string or the string's root-mean-square velocity.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

How well do we understand the thermal history of the Universe? Implications of the recent BICEP2 data

Applying Grand Unified Theories in the context of the early Universe, cosmic strings are an unavoidable partner of the inflaton field. To render such models compatible with the CMB temperature anisotropies, the inflationary scale has to be lower than the 2x10^{16} GeV value deduced from the tensor-to-scalar ratio announced from the BICEP2 collaboration. Some questions are consequently raised about our understanding of the thermal history of the Universe.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

On degenerate models of cosmic inflation

In this article we discuss the role of current and future CMB measurements in pinning down the model of inflation responsible for the generation of primordial curvature perturbations. By considering a parameterization of the effective field theory of inflation with a modified dispersion relation arising from heavy fields, we derive the dependence of cosmological observables on the scale of heavy physics $Λ_{\rm UV}$. Specifically, we show how the $f_{\rm NL}$ non-linearity parameters are related to the phase velocity of curvature perturbations at horizon exit, which is parameterized by $Λ_{\rm UV}$. Bicep2 and Planck findings are shown to be consistent with a value $Λ_{\rm UV} \sim Λ_{\rm GUT}$. However, we find a degeneracy in the parameter space of inflationary models that can only be resolved with a detailed knowledge of the shape of the non-Gaussian bispectrum.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Does Gravity's Rainbow induce Inflation without an Inflaton?

We study aspects of quantum cosmology in the presence of a modified space-time geometry. In particular, within the context of Gravity's Rainbow modified geometry, motivated from quantum gravity corrections at the Planck energy scale, we show that the distortion of the metric leads to a Wheeler-De Witt equation whose solution admits outgoing plane waves. Hence, a period of cosmological inflation may arise without the need for introducing an inflaton field.

gr-qc↗