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Massimo Blasone

Publications and source records attributed to Massimo Blasone.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
arXiv2019

Dynamical generation of field mixing via flavor vacuum condensate

In this paper we study dynamical chiral symmetry breaking of a generic quantum field theoretical model with global chiral flavor symmetry. By purely algebraic means we analyze the vacuum structure for different symmetry breaking schemes and show explicitly how the ensuing non-trivial flavor vacuum condensate characterizes the phenomenon of field mixing. In addition, with the help of Ward-Takahashi identities we demonstrate the emergence of a correct number of Nambu-Goldstone modes in the physical spectrum.

hep-th↗
arXiv2019

Time-energy uncertainty relation for neutrino oscillations in curved spacetime

We derive the Mandelstam-Tamm time-energy uncertainty relation for neutrino oscillations in a generic stationary curved spacetime. In particular, by resorting to Stodolsky covariant formula of the quantum mechanical phase, we estimate gravity effects on the neutrino energy uncertainty. Deviations from the standard Minkowski result are explicitly evaluated in Schwarzschild, Lense-Thirring and Rindler (uniformly accelerated) geometries. Finally, we discuss how spacetime could affect the characteristic neutrino oscillation length in connection with the recent view of flavor neutrinos as unstable particles.

hep-th↗
arXiv2019

Neutrino oscillations in the Unruh radiation

The study of the decay of an accelerated proton recently provided a theoretical proof of the Unruh effect. On the basis of general covariance of Quantum Field Theory, indeed, it was found that the decay rates in the inertial and comoving frames do coincide only when the thermal nature of the accelerated vacuum is taken into account. Such an analysis was then extended to the case with neutrino mixing. In this Letter, we show that, by further embedding neutrino oscillations in the above framework, general covariance necessarily entails the use of flavor neutrinos as asymptotic states, as well as the occurrence of neutrino oscillations in the Unruh thermal bath.

hep-th↗
arXiv2019

Flavor neutrino states for pedestrians

In this paper we discuss the ontology of flavor states of oscillating neutrinos. While an heuristic approach to this subject, experimentally successful in the high energy regime, is generally adopted, a logically consistent definition of flavor states describing neutrinos produced and detected in weak processes is still desirable and essential from a theoretical perspective. Here we briefly review basic facts and present some arguments which suggest that the definition of flavor states as eigenstates of flavor charges is the most reasonable one.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2018

Neutrino oscillations in accelerated frames

We discuss neutrino oscillations in vacuum from the point of view of a uniformly accelerated observer. A covariant definition of quantum phase is introduced with the aim of generalizing the standard expression of the oscillation amplitude to the accelerating frame. By way of illustration, we address a simplified two-flavor model with relativistic neutrinos, showing that inertial effects on the usual Pontecorvo formula are intimately related to the energy redshift. Phenomenological aspects are preliminarily analyzed in the context of atmospheric neutrinos. Finally, we discuss a gedanken experiment in order to investigate our formalism in regime of extreme acceleration.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2018

Equivalence principle violation at finite temperature in scalar-tensor gravity

We analyze possible violations of the Equivalence Principle in scalar-tensor gravity at finite temperature $T.$ Before we present an approach where the Equivalence Principle violation is achieved within the framework of Quantum Field Theory. After, we rely on an alternative approach first proposed by Gasperini, which leads to the same outcome obtained in the framework of Quantum Field Theory (one-loop corrections) at finite $T$. Finally, we exhibit the application of the above formalism both to a generic diagonal metric, cast in spherical coordinates, and to the Brans-Dicke theory. In the last case, we show that it is possible to put a significant constraint on the free parameter of the theory by means of experimental bounds on the Equivalence Principle.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2018

Casimir effect for mixed fields

We analyze the Casimir effect for a flavor doublet of mixed scalar fields con- fined inside a one-dimensional finite region. In the framework of the unitary inequivalence between mass and flavor representations in quantum field theory, we employ two alternative approaches to derive the Casimir force: in the first case, the zero-point energy is evaluated for the vacuum of fields with definite mass, then similar calculations are performed for the vacuum of fields with defi- nite flavor. We find that signatures of mixing only appear in the latter context, showing the result to be independent of the mixing parameters in the former.

hep-th↗
arXiv2018

Flavor Energy uncertainty relations for neutrino oscillations in quantum field theory

In the context of quantum field theory, we derive flavor energy uncertainty relations for neutrino oscillations. By identifying the non conserved flavor charges with the clock observables, we arrive at the Mandelstam Tamm version of time energy uncertainty relations. In the ultrarelativistic limit these relations yield the well known condition for neutrino oscillations. Ensuing non relativistic corrections to the latter are explicitly evaluated. The analogy among flavor states and unstable particles and a novel interpretation of our uncertainty relations, based on the unitary inequivalence of Fock spaces for flavor and massive neutrinos, are also discussed.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2018

Effects of Lorentz boosts on Dirac bispinor entanglement

In this paper we describe the transformation properties of quantum entanglement encoded in a pair of spin 1/2 particles described via Dirac bispinors. Due to the intrinsic parity-spin internal structure of the bispinors, the joint state is a four-qubit state exhibiting multipartite entanglement, and to compute global correlation properties we consider the averaged negativities over each possible bi-partition. We also consider specific bipartitions, such as the spin-spin and the particle-particle bipartitions. The particle-particle entanglement, between all degrees of freedom of one particle and all degrees of freedom of the other particle, is invariant under boosts if each particle has a definite momentum, although the spin-spin entanglement is degraded for high speed boosts. Correspondingly, the mean negativities are not invariant since the boost drives changes into correlations encoded in specific bipartitions. Finally, the results presented in the literature about spin-momentum entanglement are recovered by considering the projection of bispinorial states into positive intrinsic parity, and some striking differences between the appropriate approach for this case and the one usually treated in the literature are discussed.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2018

Unified formalism for Thermal Quantum Field Theories: a geometric viewpoint

In this paper we study a unified formalism for Thermal Quantum Field Theories, i.e., for the Matsubara approach, Thermo Field Dynamics and the Path Ordered Method. To do so, we employ a mechanism akin to the Hawking effect which explores a relationship between the concept of temperature and spacetimes endowed with event-horizons. In particular, we consider an eight dimensional static spacetime, the so-called eta-xi spacetime, which we show to form an appropriate geometric background for generic Thermal Quantum Field Theories. Within this framework, the different formalisms of Thermal Field Theory are unified in a very natural way via various analytical continuations and the set of time-paths used in the Path Ordered Method is interpreted in geometric terms. We also explain reported inconsistencies inherent in the Thermo Field Dynamics through the appearance of horizons (and ensuing loss of information) in the eta-xi spacetime.

hep-th↗
arXiv2018

Casimir effect in Post-Newtonian Gravity with Lorentz-violation

We study the Casimir effect in the framework of Standard Model Extension (SME). Employing the weak field approximation, the vacuum energy density ε and the pressure for a massless scalar field confined between two nearby parallel plates in a static spacetime background are calculated. In particular, through the analysis of ε, we speculate a constraint on the Lorentz-violating term s00 which is lower than the bounds currently available for this quantity. After that, the correction to the pressure given by the gravitational sector of SME is presented. Finally, we remark that our outcome has an intrinsic validity that goes beyond the treated case of a point-like source of gravity.

hep-th↗
arXiv2018

Role of neutrino mixing in accelerated proton decay

The inverse beta decay of accelerated protons has been analyzed both in the laboratory frame (where the proton is accelerated) and in the comoving frame (where the proton is at rest and interacts with the Fulling-Davies-Unruh thermal bath of electrons and neutrinos). The equality between the two rates has been exhibited as an evidence of the necessity of Fulling-Davies-Unruh effect for the consistency of Quantum Field Theory formalism. Recently, it has been argued that neutrino mixing can spoil such a result, potentially opening new scenarios in neutrino physics. In the present paper, we analyze in detail this problem and we find that, assuming flavor neutrinos to be fundamental and working within a certain approximation, the agreement can be restored.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2018

Modified Unruh effect from Generalized Uncertainty Principle

We consider a generalized uncertainty principle (GUP) corresponding to a deformation of the fundamental commutator obtained by adding a term quadratic in the momentum. From this GUP, we compute corrections to the Unruh effect and related Unruh temperature, by first following a heuristic derivation, and then a more standard field theoretic calculation. In the limit of small deformations, we recover the thermal character of the Unruh radiation. Corrections to the temperature at first order in the deforming parameter are compared for the two approaches, and found to be in agreement as for the dependence on the cubic power of the acceleration of the reference frame. The dependence of the shifted temperature on the frequency is also pointed out and discussed.

hep-th↗
arXiv2018

Global Dirac bispinor entanglement under Lorentz boosts

The effects of Lorentz boosts on the quantum entanglement encoded by a pair of massive spin one-half particles are described according to the Lorentz covariant structure described by Dirac bispinors. The quantum system considered incorporates four degrees of freedom -- two of them related to the bispinor intrinsic parity and other two related to the bispinor spin projection, i.e. the Dirac particle helicity. Because of the natural multipartite structure involved, the Meyer-Wallach global measure of entanglement is preliminarily used for computing global quantum correlations, while the entanglement separately encoded by spin degrees of freedom is measured through the negativity of the reduced two-particle spin-spin state. A general framework to compute the changes on quantum entanglement induced by a boost is developed, and then specialized to describe three particular anti-symmetric two-particle states. According to the obtained results, two-particle spin-spin entanglement cannot be created by the action of a Lorentz boost in a spin-spin separable anti-symmetric state. On the other hand, the maximal spin-spin entanglement encoded by anti-symmetric superpositions is degraded by Lorentz boosts driven by high-speed frame transformations. Finally, the effects of boosts on chiral states are shown to exhibit interesting invariance properties, which can only be obtained through such a Lorentz covariant formulation of the problem.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2018

Graphene lattice-layer entanglement under non-Markovian phase noise

The evolution of single particle excitations of bilayer graphene under effects of non-Markovian noise is described with focus on the decoherence process of lattice-layer (LL) maximally entangled states. Once that the noiseless dynamics of an arbitrary initial state is identified by the correspondence between the tight-binding Hamiltonian for the AB-stacked bilayer graphene and the Dirac equation -- which includes pseudovector- and tensor-like field interactions -- the noisy environment is described as random fluctuations on bias voltage and mass terms. The inclusion of noisy dynamics reproduces the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes: a non-Markovian noise model with a well-defined Markovian limit. Considering that an initial amount of entanglement shall be dissipated by the noise, two profiles of dissipation are identified. On one hand, for eigenstates of the noiseless Hamiltonian, deaths and revivals of entanglement are identified along the oscillation pattern for long interaction periods. On the other hand, for departing LL Werner and Cat states, the entanglement is suppressed although, for both cases, some identified memory effects compete with the pure noise-induced decoherence in order to preserve the the overall profile of a given initial state.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2017

Generalized generating functional for mixed-representation Green's functions: A quantum mechanical approach

When one tries to take into account the non-trivial vacuum structure of Quantum Field Theory, the standard functional-integral tools such as generating functionals or transitional amplitudes, are often quite inadequate for such purposes. Here we propose a generalized generating functional for Green's functions which allows to easily distinguish among a continuous set of vacua that are mutually connected via unitary canonical transformations. In order to keep our discussion as simple as possible, we limit ourselves to Quantum Mechanics where the generating functional of Green's functions is constructed by means of phase-space path integrals. The quantum-mechanical setting allows to accentuate the main logical steps involved without embarking on technical complications such as renormalization or inequivalent representations that should otherwise be addressed in the full-fledged Quantum Field Theory. We illustrate the inner workings of the generating functional obtained by discussing Green's functions among vacua that are mutually connected via translations and dilatations. Salient issues, including connection with Quantum Field Theory, vacuum-to-vacuum transition amplitudes and perturbation expansion in the vacuum parameter are also briefly discussed.

hep-th↗
arXiv2017

Non-thermal signature of the Unruh effect in field mixing

Mixing transformations for a uniformly accelerated observer (Rindler observer) are analyzed within the quantum field theory framework as a basis for investigating gravitational effects on flavor oscillations. In particular, the case of two charged boson fields with different masses is discussed. In spite of such a minimal setting, the standard Unruh radiation is found to loose its characteristic thermal interpretation due to the interplay between the Bogolubov transformation hiding in field mixing and the one arising from the Rindler spacetime structure. The modified spectrum detected by the Rindler observer is explicitly calculated in the limit of small mass difference.

hep-th↗