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Micheal S. Berger

Publications and source records attributed to Micheal S. Berger.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

Observables in quantum field theory on a collapsing black hole background

We study the quantum radiation from a curved background using scalar observables constructed from the (1+1) dimensional renormalized stress-energy tensor (RSET). We compute energy density $\cal U$, flux $\cal F$ and pressure $\cal P$ for an arbitrary collapse scenario and an arbitrary observer. The results show a clear structure: $\cal F - \cal U$ represents the collapse-independent ingoing modes, $\cal F + \cal U$ represents the collapse-dependent outgoing modes and $\cal P - \cal U$ represents the trace anomaly. We also compute the observables constructed from the perception renormalized stress-energy tensor (PeRSET). We find they have the same collapse-dependent contribution comparing to their RSET-related counterparts. For free-falling observers, in particular, the PeRSET-related observables are the same as the corresponding RSET-related ones, except the energy densities differ by the trace anomaly.

gr-qc↗

A Froggatt-Nielsen flavor model for neutrino physics

Superheavy neutrinos can, via the seesaw model, provide a mechanism for lepton number violation. If they are combined with flavor violation as characterized by the Froggatt-Nielsen mechanism, then the phenomenology for the neutrinos in oscillation experiments, neutrinoless double beta decay, and other experiments can be described by a relatively few number of parameters. We describe the low-energy neutrino mass matrix and show that the results are consistent with currently available data.

hep-ph↗

Lorentz and CPT Violation in Top-Quark Production and Decay

The prospects are explored for testing Lorentz and CPT symmetry in the top-quark sector. We present the relevant Lagrange density, discuss physical observables, and describe the signals to be sought in experiments. For top-antitop pair production via quark or gluon fusion with subsequent semileptonic or hadronic decays, we obtain the matrix element in the presence of Lorentz violation using the narrow-width approximation. The issue of testing CPT symmetry in the top-quark sector is also addressed. We demonstrate that single-top production and decay is well suited to a search for CPT violation, and we present the matrix elements for single-top production in each of the four tree-level channels. Our results are applicable to searches for Lorentz violation and studies of CPT symmetry in collider experiments, including notably high-statistics top-antitop and single-top production at the Large Hadron Collider.

hep-ph↗

Properties of a Discrete Quantum Field Theory

A scalar quantum field theory defined on a discrete spatial coordinate is examined. The renormalization of the lattice propagator is discussed with an emphasis on the periodic nature of the associated momentum coordinate. The analytic properties of the scattering amplitudes indicate the development of a second branch point on which the branch cut from the optical theorem terminates.

hep-th↗

Free particle wavefunction in light of the minimum-length deformed quantum mechanics and some of its phenomenological implications

At a fundamental level the notion of particle (quantum) comes from quantum field theory. From this point of view we estimate corrections to the free particle wave function due to minimum-length deformed quantum mechanics to the first order in the deformation parameter. Namely, in the matrix element $<0 |\varPhi(t,\,\mathbf{x}) |\mathbf{p} >$ that in the standard case sets the free particle wave function $\propto \exp(i[\mathbf{p}\mathbf{x} - ε(\mathbf{p}) t])$ there appear three kinds of corrections when the field operator is calculated by using the minimum-length deformed quantum mechanics. Starting from the standard (not modified at the classical level) Lagrangian, after the field quantization we get a modified dispersion relation, and besides that we find that the particle's wave function contains a small fractions of an antiparticle wave function and the backscattered wave. The result leads to interesting implications for black hole physics.

gr-qc↗

Isospectral Potentials from Modified Factorization

Factorization of quantum mechanical potentials has a long history extending back to the earliest days of the subject. In the present paper, the non-uniqueness of the factorization is exploited to derive new isospectral non-singular potentials. Many one-parameter families of potentials can be generated from known potentials using a factorization that involves superpotentials defined in terms of excited states of a potential. For these cases an operator representation is available. If ladder operators are known for the original potential, then a straightforward procedure exists for defining such operators for its isospectral partners. The generality of the method is illustrated with a number of examples which may have many possible applications in atomic and molecular physics.

quant-ph↗

Second-order Supersymmetric Operators and Excited States

Factorization of quantum mechanical Hamiltonians has been a useful technique for some time. This procedure has been given an elegant description by supersymmetric quantum mechanics, and the subject has become well-developed. We demonstrate that the existence of raising and lowering operators for the harmonic oscillator (and many other potentials) can be extended to their supersymmetric partners. The use of double supersymmetry (or a factorization chain) is used to obtain non-singular isospectral potentials, and the explicit expressions for the ladder operators, wave functions and probability densities are provided. This application avoids the technical complexities of the most general approaches, and requires relatively modest methods from supersymmetric quantum mechanics.

quant-ph↗

Entanglement Entropy and Spatial Geometry

The entanglement entropy in a quantum field theory between two regions of space has been shown in simple cases to be proportional to the volume of the hypersurface separating the regions. We prove that this is true for a free scalar field in an arbitrary geometry with purely spatial curvature and obtain a complete asymptotic expansion for the entropy.

hep-th↗

Possible Equilibria of Interacting Dark Energy Models

Interacting dark energy and the holographic principle offer a possible way of addressing the cosmic coincidence problem as well as accounting for the size of the dark energy component. The equilibrium points of the Friedmann equations which govern the evolution behavior of dark energy, matter, and curvature components can determine the qualitative behavior of the cosmological models. These possible equilibria and their behavior are examined in a general framework, and some illustrative examples are presented.

gr-qc↗

Combined flavor symmetry violation and lepton number violation in neutrino physics

Heavy singlet neutrinos admit Majorana masses which are not possible for the Standard Model particles. This suggest new possibilities for generating the masses and mixing angles of light neutrinos. We present a model of neutrino physics which combines the source of lepton number violation with the flavor symmetry responsible for the hierarchy in the charged lepton and quark sector. This is accomplished by giving the scalar field effecting the lepton number violation a nonzero charge under the horizontal flavor symmetry. We find an economical model which is consistent with the measured values of the atmospheric and solar neutrino mass-squares and mixing angles.

hep-ph↗

Quantum Mechanics and the Generalized Uncertainty Principle

The generalized uncertainty principle has been described as a general consequence of incorporating a minimal length from a theory of quantum gravity. We consider a simple quantum mechanical model where the operator corresponding to position has discrete eigenvalues and show how the generalized uncertainty principle results for minimum uncertainty wave packets.

gr-qc↗

An Interacting Dark Energy Model for the Expansion History of the Universe

We explore a model of interacting dark energy where the dark energy density is related by the holographic principle to the Hubble parameter, and the decay of the dark energy into matter occurs at a rate comparable to the current value of the Hubble parameter. We find this gives a good fit to the observational data supporting an accelerating Universe, and the model represents a possible alternative interpretation of the expansion history of the Universe.

astro-ph↗

Interacting Dark Energy and the Cosmic Coincidence Problem

The introduction of an interaction for dark energy to the standard cosmology offers a potential solution to the cosmic coincidence problem. We examine the conditions on the dark energy density that must be satisfied for this scenario to be realized. Under some general conditions we find a stable attractor for the evolution of the Universe in the future. Holographic conjectures for the dark energy offer some specific examples of models with the desired properties.

gr-qc↗

Signals for Low Scale Gravity in the Process $γγ\to ZZ$

We investigate the sensitivity of future photon-photon colliders to low scale gravity scenarios via the process $γγ\to ZZ$ where the Kaluza-Klein boson exchange contributes only when the initial state photons have opposite helicity. We contrast this with the situation for the process $γγ\to γγ$ where the $t$ and $u$ channel also contribute. We include the one-loop Standard Model background whose interference with the graviton exchange determines the experimental reach in measuring any deviation from the Standard Model expectations and explore how polarization can be exploited to enhance the signal over background. We find that a 1 TeV linear collider has an experimental reach to mass scale of about 4 TeV in this channel.

hep-ph↗

Quark and Lepton Masses from a {\boldmath $U(1)\times Z_2$} Flavor Symmetry

We show that solutions for the masses and mixings of the quarks and leptons based on a $U(1)\times Z_2$ horizontal symmetry are possible. The seesaw mechanism is shown to work consistently in the presence of the discrete symmetry. The discrete symmetry results in the phenomenologically useful suppressions of elements of the Yukawa matrices. The quark and lepton masses, the CKM mixing angles, and the neutrino mixing angles are accomodated at the order of magnitude level.

hep-ph↗

Leptogenesis and Yukawa textures

We study a set of textures giving rise to correct masses and mixings of the charged fermions in the context of leptogenesis. The Dirac neutrino texture pattern is assumed to be identical with the up quark texture. The heavy Majonana neutrino mass matrix is obtained by inverting the type-I see-saw formula and using the neutrino masses and mixings required by the solar and atmospheric neutrino oscillation experiments as input. After making the feasibility study of the generated lepton asymmetry via the decay of the heavy right handed neutrino, we compute the generated baryon asymmetry by numerically solving the supersymmetric Boltzmann equations. We find for these models that both the hierarchy of the texture as well as the placement of the texture zeros are important to the viability of leptogenesis as the source of the observed baryon asymmetry of the universe.

hep-ph↗