arXiv subjects

Massimo Giovannini

Publications and source records attributed to Massimo Giovannini.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

arXiv2006

Dynamical back-reaction of relic gravitons

The dynamical effects of the tensor modes of the geometry are investigated in the context of curvature bounces. Since the bouncing behaviour implies sharp deviations from a radiation-dominated evolution, significant back-reaction effects of relic gravitons may be expected at short wavelengths. After developing a general iterative framework for the calculation of dynamical back-reaction effects, explicit analytical and numerical examples are investigated for different parametrizations of the energy-momentum pseudo-tensor(s) of the produced gravitons. The reported results suggest that dynamical back-reaction effects are a necessary ingredient for a consistent description of bouncing models at late times.

hep-th↗

arXiv2005

Magnetized CMB anisotropies

Possible effects of large-scale magnetic fields on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) are reviewed. Depending on the specific branch of the spectrum of plasma excitations, magnetic fields are treated either within a two-fluid plasma description or within an effective (one-fluid) approach. The uniform field approximation is contrasted with the fully inhomogeneous field approximation. It is argued that the interplay between CMB physics and large-scale magnetic fields will represent a rather interesting cross-disciplinary arena along the next few years.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Cosmological perturbations for imperfect fluids

Interacting fluids, endowed with bulk viscous stresses, are discussed in a unified perspective with the aim of generalizing the treatment of cosmological perturbation theory to the case where both fluctuating decay rates and fluctuating bulk viscosity coefficients are simultaneously present in the relativistic plasma. A gauge-invariant treatment of the qualitatively new phenomena arising in this context is provided. In a complementary approach, faithful gauge-fixed descriptions of the gravitational and hydrodynamical fluctuations are developed and exploited. To deepen the interplay between bulk viscous stresses and fluctuating decay rates, illustrative examples are proposed and discussed both analytically and numerically. Particular attention is paid to the coupled evolution of curvature and entropy fluctuations when, in the relativistic plasma, at least one of the interacting fluids possesses a fluctuating bulk viscosity coefficient. It is argued that this class of models may be usefully employed as an effective description of the decay of the inflaton as well as of other phenomena involving imperfect relativistic fluids.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Gradient expansion(s) and dark energy

Motivated by recent claims stating that the acceleration of the present Universe is due to fluctuations with wavelength larger than the Hubble radius, we present a general analysis of various perturbative solutions of fully inhomogeneous Einstein equations supplemented by a perfect fluid. The equivalence of formally different gradient expansions is demonstrated. If the barotropic index vanishes, the deceleration parameter is always positive semi-definite.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Homogeneous and isotropic big rips?

We investigate the way big rips are approached in a fully inhomogeneous description of the space-time geometry. If the pressure and energy densities are connected by a (supernegative) barotropic index, the spatial gradients and the anisotropic expansion decay as the big rip is approached. This behaviour is contrasted with the usual big-bang singularities. A similar analysis is performed in the case of sudden (quiescent) singularities and it is argued that the spatial gradients may well be non-negligible in the vicinity of pressure singularities.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Inhomogeneous dusty Universes and their deceleration

Exact results stemming directly from Einstein equations imply that inhomogeneous Universes endowed with vanishing pressure density can only decelerate, unless the energy density of the Universe becomes negative. Recent proposals seem to argue that inhomogeneous (but isotropic) space-times, filled only with incoherent matter,may turn into accelerated Universes for sufficiently late times. To scrutinize these scenarios, fully inhomogeneous Einstein equations are discussed in the synchronous system. In a dust-dominated Universe, the inhomogeneous generalization of the deceleration parameter is always positive semi-definite implying that no acceleration takes place.

hep-th↗

arXiv2005

Theoretical tools for CMB physics

This review presents, in a self-consistent manner, those analytical tools that are relevant for the analysis of the physics of CMB anisotropies generated in different theoretical models of the early Universe. After introducing the physical foundations of the Sachs-Wolfe effect, the origin and evolution of the scalar, tensor and vector modes of the geometry is treated in both gauge-invariant and gauge-dependent descriptions. Some of the recent progresses in the theory of cosmological perturbations are scrutinized with particular attention to their implications for the adiabatic and isocurvature paradigms, whose description is reviewed both within conventional fluid approaches and within the the Einstein-Boltzmann treatment. Open problems and theoretical challenges for a unified theory of the early Universe are outlined in light of their implications for the generation of large-scale anisotropies in the CMB sky and in light of the generation of stochastic backgrounds of relic gravitons between few Hz and the GHz.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Interacting viscous mixtures

Gravitational and hydrodynamical perturbations are analysed in a relativistic plasma containing a mixture of interacting fluids characterized by a non-negligible bulk viscosity coefficient. The energy-momentum transfer between the cosmological fluids, as well as the fluctuations of the bulk viscosity coefficients, are analyzed simultaneously with the aim of deriving a generalized set of evolution equations for the entropy and curvature fluctuations. For typical length scales larger than the Hubble radius, the fluctuations of the bulk viscosity coefficients and of the decay rate provide source terms for the evolution of both the curvature and the entropy fluctuations. According to the functional dependence of the bulk viscosity coefficient on the energy densities of the fluids composing the system, the mixing of entropy and curvature perturbations is scrutinized both analytically and numerically.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2005

Curvature perturbations from dimensional decoupling

The scalar modes of the geometry induced by dimensional decoupling are investigated. In the context of the low energy string effective action, solutions can be found where the spatial part of the background geometry is the direct product of two maximally symmetric Euclidean manifolds whose related scale factors evolve at a dual rate so that the expanding dimensions first accelerate and then decelerate while the internal dimensions always contract. After introducing the perturbative treatment of the inhomogeneities, a class of five-dimensional geometries is discussed in detail. Quasi-normal modes of the system are derived and the numerical solution for the evolution of the metric inhomogeneities shows that the fluctuations of the internal dimensions provide a term that can be interpreted, in analogy with the well-known four-dimensional situation, as a non-adiabatic pressure density variation. Implications of this result are discussed with particular attention to string cosmological scenarios.

hep-th↗

arXiv2004

Rotational inhomogeneities from pre-big bang?

The evolution of the rotational inhomogeneities is investigated in the specific framework of four-dimensional pre-big bang models. While minimal (dilaton-driven) scenarios do not lead to rotational fluctuations, in the case of non-minimal (string-driven) models, fluid sources are present in the pre-big bang phase. The rotational modes of the geometry, coupled to the divergenceless part of the velocity field, can then be amplified depending upon the value of the barotropic index of the perfect fluids. In the light of a possible production of rotational inhomogeneities, solutions describing the coupled evolution of the dilaton field and of the fluid sources are scrutinized in both the string and Einstein frames. In semi-realistic scenarios, where the curvature divergences are regularized by means of a non-local dilaton potential, the rotational inhomogeneities are amplified during the pre-big bang phase but they decay later on. Similar analyses can also be performed when a contraction occurs directly in the string frame metric.

hep-th↗

arXiv2004

Magnetized initial conditions for CMB anisotropies

This paper introduces a systematic treatment of the linear theory of scalar gravitational perturbations in the presence of a fully inhomogeneous magnetic field. The analysis is conducted both in the synchronous and in the conformally Newtonian gauges. The cosmological plasma is assumed to be composed of cold dark mattter, baryons, photons, neutrinos. The problem of super-horizon initial conditions for the fluid variables of the various species and for the coupled system of Boltzmann-Einstein equations is discussed in the presence of an inhomogeneous magnetic field. The tight coupling approximation for the Boltzmann hierarchy is extended to the case where gravitating magnetic fields are included.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Magnetized birefringence and CMB polarization

The polarization plane of the cosmic microwave background radiation can be rotated either in a magnetized plasma or in the presence of a quintessential background with pseudoscalar coupling to electromagnetism. A unified treatment of these two phenomena is presented for cold and warm electron-ion plasmas at the pre-recombination epoch. The electron temperature is only relevant to the relativistic correction of the cold plasma results. The spectrum of plasma excitations is obtained from a generalized Appleton--Hartree equation, describing simultaneously the high-frequency propagation of electromagnetic waves in a magnetized plasma with a dynamical quintessence field. It is shown that these two effects are comparable for the plausible range of parameters allowed by present constraints. It is then argued that the generalized expressions derived in the present study may be relevant for direct searches of a possible rotation of the cosmic microwave background polarization.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

Old ideas and new twists in string cosmology

Some of the phenomenological implications of string cosmological models are reviewed, with particular attention to the spectra of the tensor, scalar and vector modes of the geometry. A class of self-dual string cosmological models is presented. These solutions provide an effective description of cold bounces, where a phase of accelerated contraction smoothly evolves into an epoch of decelerated Friedmann--Robertson--Walker expansion dominated by the dilaton. Some of the general problems of the scenario (continuity of the perturbations, reheating, dilaton stabilization,...) can be successfully discussed in this framework.

hep-th↗

arXiv2004

Vector fluctuations from multidimensional curvature bounces

It is argued that in the case of a smooth transition across a (dilaton-driven) curvature bounce the growing mode of the vector fluctuations matches continuously with a decaying mode at later times. Analytical examples of this observation are given both in the presence and in the absence of fluid sources. In the case of multidimensional bouncing models the situation is different, since the system of differential equations describing the vector modes of the geometry has a richer structure. The amplification of the vector modes of the geometry is specifically investigated in a regular five-dimensional bouncing curvature model where scale factors of the external and internal manifolds evolve at a dual rate. Vector fluctuations, in this case, can be copiously produced and are continuous across the bounce. The relevance of these results is critically illustrated.

hep-th↗

arXiv2004

Heating up the cold bounce

Self-dual string cosmological models provide an effective example of bouncing solutions where a phase of accelerated contraction smoothly evolves into an epoch of decelerated Friedmann--Robertson--Walker expansion dominated by the dilaton. While the transition to the expanding regime occurs at sub-Planckian curvature scales, the Universe emerging after the bounce is cold, with sharply growing gauge coupling. However, since massless gauge bosons (as well as other massless fields) are super-adiabatically amplified, the energy density of the maximally amplified modes re-entering the horizon after the bounce can efficiently heat the Universe. As a consequence the gauge coupling reaches a constant value, which can still be perturbative.

hep-th↗

arXiv2004

The Magnetized Universe

Cosmology, high-energy physics and astrophysics are converging on the study of large-scale magnetic fields. While the experimental evidence for the existence of large-scale magnetization in galaxies, clusters and superclusters is rather compelling, the origin of the phenomenon remains puzzling especially in light of the most recent observations. The purpose of the present review is to describe the physical motivations and some of the open theoretical problems related to the existence of large-scale magnetic fields.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

Tracking Curvaton(s)?

The ratio of the curvaton energy density to that of the dominant component of the background sources may be constant during a significant period in the evolution of the Universe. The possibility of having tracking curvatons, whose decay occurs prior to the nucleosynthesis epoch, is studied. It is argued that the tracking curvaton dynamics is disfavoured since the value of the curvature perturbations prior to curvaton decay is smaller than the value required by observations. It is also argued, in a related context, that the minimal inflationary curvature scale compatible with the curvaton paradigm may be lowered in the case of low-scale quintessential inflation.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2003

Assigning Quantum-Mechanical Initial Conditions to Cosmological Perturbations

Quantum-mechanical initial conditions for the fluctuations of the geometry can be assigned in excess of a given physical wavelength. The two-point functions of the scalar and tensor modes of the geometry will then inherit corrections depending on which Hamiltonian is minimized at the initial stage of the evolution. The energy density of the background geometry is compared with the energy-momentum pseudo-tensor of the fluctuations averaged over the initial states, minimizing each different Hamiltonian. The minimization of adiabatic Hamiltonians leads to initial states whose back-reaction on the geometry is negligible. The minimization of non-adiabatic Hamiltonians, ultimately responsible for large corrections in the two-point functions, is associated with initial states whose energetic content is of the same order as the energy density of the background.

hep-th↗