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R. Parentani

Publications and source records attributed to R. Parentani.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv1999

Time in Cosmology

The notion of time in cosmology is revealed through an examination of transition matrix elements of radiative processes occurring in the cosmos. To begin with, the very concept of time is delineated in classical physics in terms of correlations between the succession of configurations which describe a process and a standard trajectory called the clock. The total is an isolated system of fixed energy. This is relevant for cosmology in that the universe is an isolated system which we take to be homogeneous and isotropic. Furthermore, in virtue of the constraint which arises from reparametrization invariance of time, it has total energy zero. Therefore the momentum of the scale factor is determined from the energy of matter. In the quantum theory this is exploited through use of the WKB approximation for the wave function of the scale factor, justified for a large universe. The formalism then gives rise to matrix elements describing matter processes. These are shown to take on the form of usual time dependent quantum amplitudes wherein the temporal dependence is given by a background which is once more fixed by the total energy of matter.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1998

The Background Field Approximation in (quantum) cosmology

We analyze the Hamilton-Jacobi action of gravity and matter in the limit where gravity is treated at the background field approximation. The motivation is to clarify when and how the solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation lead to the Schrödinger equation in a given background. To this end, we determine when and how the total action, solution of the constraint equations of General Relativity, leads to the HJ action for matter in a given background. This is achieved by comparing two neighboring solutions differing slightly in their matter energy content. To first order in the change of the 3-geometries, the change of the gravitational action equals the integral of the matter energy evaluated in the background geometry. Higher order terms are governed by the ``susceptibility'' of the geometry. These classical properties also apply to quantum cosmology since the conditions which legitimize the use of WKB gravitational waves are concomitant with those governing the validity of the background field approximation.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1998

On the Gravitational Back Reaction to Hawking Radiation

We show that a surface term should be added to the Einstein-Hilbert action in order to properly describe quantum transitions occurring around a black hole. The introduction of this boundary term has been advocated by Teitelboim and collaborators and it has been used in the computation of the black hole entropy. Here, we use it to compute the gravitational corrections to the transition amplitudes giving rise to Hawking radiation. This surface term implies that the probability to emit a particle is given by $e^{- ΔA/4}$ where $ΔA$ is the change in the area of the black hole horizon induced by the emission. Its inclusion at the level of the amplitudes therefore relates quantum black hole radiation to the first law of black hole dynamics. In both cases indeed, the term expressing the change in area directly results from the same boundary term introduced for the same reason: to obtain a well defined action principle.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1997

The notions of time and evolution in quantum cosmology

We re-examine the notions of time and evolution in the light of the mathematical properties of the solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation which are revealed by an extended adiabatic treatment. The main advantage of this treatment is to organize the solutions in series that make explicit both the connections with the corresponding Schrödinger equation as well as the modifications introduced by the quantum character of gravity. When the universe is macroscopic, the ordered character of the expansion leads to connections with the Schrödinger equation so precise that the interpretation of the solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation is unequivocally determined. On the contrary, when the expansion behaves quantum mechanically, i.e. in the presence of backscattering, major difficulties concerning the interpretation persist.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1997

The validity of the Background Field Approximation

In the absence of a tractable theory of quantum gravity, quantum matter field effects have been so far computed by treating gravity at the Background Field Approximation. The principle aim of this paper is to investigate the validity of this approximation which is not specific to gravity. To this end, for reasons of simplicity and clarity, we shall compare the descriptions of thermal processes induced by constant acceleration (i.e. the Unruh effect) in four dynamical frameworks. In this problem, the position of the ``heavy'' accelerated system plays the role of gravity. In the first framework, the trajectory is treated at the BFA: it is given from the outset and unaffected by radiative processes. In the second one, recoil effects induced by these emission processes are taken into account by describing the system's position by WKB wave functions. In the third one, the accelerated system is described by second quantized fields and in the fourth one, gravity is turned on. It is most interesting to see when and why transitions amplitudes evaluated in different frameworks but describing the same process do agree. It is indeed this comparison that determines the validity of the BFA. It is also interesting to notice that the abandonment of the BFA delivers new physical insights concerning the processes. For instance, in the fourth framework, the ``recoils'' of gravity show that the acceleration horizon area acts as an entropy in delivering heat to accelerated systems.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1997

Interacting Charged Particles in an Electric Field and the Unruh Effect

We compute the transition amplitudes between charged particles of mass $M$ and $m$ accelerated by a constant electric field and interacting by the exchange of quanta of a third field. We work in second quantization in order to take into account both recoil effects induced by transitions and the vacuum instability of the charged fields. In spite of both effects, when the exchanged particle is neutral, the equilibrium ratio of the populations is simply $\exp(π(M^2 - m^2)/eE)$. Thus, in the limit $(M-m)/M \to 0$, one recovers Unruh's result characterized by the temperature $a/2π$ where $a$ is the acceleration. When the exchanged particle is charged, its vacuum instability prevents a simple description of the equilibrium state. However, in the limit wherein the charge of the exchanged particle tends to zero, the equilibrium distribution is once more Boltzmanian, but characterized not only by a temperature but also by the electric potential felt by the exchanged particle. This work therefore confirms that thermodynamics in the presence of horizons does not rely on a semi-classical treatment. The relationship with thermodymanics of charged black holes is stressed.

hep-th↗
arXiv1997

Particle creation and non-adiabatic transitions in quantum cosmology

The aim of this paper is to compute transitions amplitudes in quantum cosmology, and in particular pair creation amplitudes and radiative transitions. To this end, we apply a double adiabatic development to the solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation restricted to mini-superspace wherein gravity is described by the scale factor $a$. The first development consists in working with instantaneous eigenstates, in $a$, of the matter Hamiltonian. The second development is applied to the gravitational part of the wave function and generalizes the usual WKB approximation. We then obtain an exact equation which replaces the Wheeler-DeWitt equation and determines the evolution, i.e. the dependence in $a$, of the coefficients of this double expansion. When working in the gravitational adiabatic approximation, the simplified equation delivers the unitary evolution of transition amplitudes occurring among instantaneous eigenstates. Upon abandoning this approximation, one finds that there is an additional coupling among matter states living in expanding and contracting universes. Moreover one has to face also the Klein paradox, i.e. the generation of backward waves from an initially forward wave. The interpretation and the consequences of these unusual features are only sketched in the present paper. Finally, the examples of pair creation and radiative transitions are analyzed in detail to establish when and how the above mentioned unitary evolution coincides with the Schr\" odinger evolution.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1997

Gravitational Instanton for Black Hole Radiation

Hawking radiation is derived from the existence of a euclidean instanton which lives in the euclidean black hole geometry. Upon taking into account the gravitational field of the instanton itself, its action is exactly equal to one quarter the change in the horizon area. This result also applies to the Schwinger process, the Unruh process, and particle creation in deSitter space. The implications for horizon thermodynamics are discussed.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1996

The Schwinger Mechanism, the Unruh Effect and the Production of Accelerated Black Holes

We compute the corrections to the transition amplitudes of an accelerated Unruh ``box'' that arise when the accelerated box is replaced by a ``two level ion'' immersed in a constant electric field and treated in second quantization. There are two kinds of corrections, those due to recoil effects induced by the momentum transfers and those due to pair creation. Taken together, these corrections show that there is a direct relationship between pair creation amplitudes described by the Heisenberg-Euler-Schwinger mechanism and the Unruh effect, i.e. the thermalisation of accelerated systems at temperature $a/ 2 π$ where $a$ is the acceleration. In particular, there is a thermodynamical consistency between both effects whose origin is that the euclidean action governing pair creation rates acts as an entropy in delivering the Unruh temperature. Upon considering pair creation of charged black holes in an electric field, these relationships explain why black holes are created from vacuum in thermal equilibrium, i.e. with their Hawking temperature equal to their Unruh temperature.

hep-th↗
arXiv1996

Time dependent Green functions from Wheeler De Witt solutions

The aim of this article is twofold. First we examine from a new angle the question of recovery of time in quantum cosmology. We construct Green functions for matter fields from the solutions of the Wheeler De Witt equation. For simplicity we work in a mini-superspace context. By evaluating these Green functions in a first order development of the energy ``increment'' induced by matrix elements of field operators, we show that the background geometry is the solution of Einstein equations driven by the mean matter energy and that it is this background which determines the time lapses separating the field operators. Then, by studying higher order corrections, we clarify the nature of the small dimensionless parameters which guarantee the validity of the approximations used. In this respect, we show that the formal expansion in the inverse Planck mass which is sometime presented as the ``standard procedure'' is illegitimate. Secondly, by the present analysis of Green functions, we prepare the study of quantum matter transitions in quantum cosmology. In a next article, we show that the time parametrization of transition amplitudes appears for the same reasons that it appeared in this article. This proves that the background is dynamically determined by the transition under examination.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1996

Time dependent perturbation theory from Wheeler De Witt solutions

We describe radiative processes in Quantum Cosmology, from the solutions of the Wheeler De Witt equation. By virtue of this constraint equation, the quantum propagation of gravity is modified by the matter interaction hamiltonian at the level of amplitudes. In this we generalize previous works where gravity was coupled only to expectation values of matter operators. By a ``reduction formula'' we show how to obtain transition amplitudes from the entangled gravity+matter system. Then we show how ``each'' transition among matter constituents of the universe determines dynamically ``its'' background from which a time parameter is defined. Finally, we leave the mini-superspace context by introducing an extended formalism in which the momenta of the exchanged quanta no longer vanish. Then, the concept of spatial displacement emerges from radiative processes like the time parametrization did, thereby unifying the way by which space and time intervals are recovered in quantum cosmology.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1996

Black Hole Horizon Fluctuations

It is generally admitted that gravitational interactions become large at an invariant distance of order $1$ from the black hole horizon. We show that due to the ``atmosphere'' of high angular particles near the horizon strong gravitational interactions already occur at an invariant distance of the order of $\sqrt[3]{M}$. The implications of these results for the origin of black hole radiation, the meaning of black hole entropy and the information puzzle are discussed.

hep-th↗
arXiv1995

Hawking Radiation Without Transplanckian Frequencies

In a recent work, Unruh showed that Hawking radiation is unaffected by a truncation of free field theory at the Planck scale. His analysis was performed numerically and based on a hydrodynamical model. In this work, by analytical methods, the mathematical and physical origin of Unruh's result is revealed. An alternative truncation scheme which may be more appropriate for black hole physics is proposed and analyzed. In both schemes the thermal Hawking radiation remains unaffected even though transplanckian energies no longer appear. The universality of this result is explained by working in momentum space. In that representation, in the presence of a horizon, the d'Alembertian equation becomes a singular first order equation. In addition, the boundary conditions corresponding to vacuum before the black hole formed are that the in--modes contain positive momenta only. Both properties remain valid when the spectrum is truncated and they suffice to obtain Hawking radiation.

hep-th↗
arXiv1995

From Vacuum Fluctuations to Radiation: Accelerated Detectors and Black Holes.(2)

The energy and particle fluxes emitted by an accelerated two level atom are analysed in detail. It is shown both perturbatively and non perturbatively that the total number of emitted photons is equal to the number of transitions characterizing thermal equilibrium thereby confirming that each internal transition is accompanied by the emission of a Minkowski quantum. The mean fluxes are then decomposed according to the final state of the atom and the notion of conditional flux is introduced. This notion is generalized so as to study the energy content of the vacuum fluctuations that induce the transitions of the accelerated atom. The physical relevance of these conditional fluxes is displayed and contact is made with the formalism of Aharonov et al. The same decomposition is then applied to isolate, in the context of black hole radiation, the energy content of the particular vacuum fluctuations which are converted into on mass shell quanta. It is shown that initially these fluctuations are located around the light like geodesic that shall generate the horizon and have exponentially large energy densities. Upon exiting from the star they break up into two pieces. The external one is red shifted and becomes an on mass shell quantum, the other, its ''partner", ends up in the singularity. We avail ourselves of this analysis to study back reaction effects to the production of a single quantum.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1994

A comment on fluctuations and stability limits with application to superheated black holes

We point out that, contrary to signs of heat capacities, thermodynamic fluctuations are simply and unequivocally related to onset of instabilities that show up near critical points. Fluctuation theory is then applied to \Schw\ \bh s surrounded by radiation. This shows that slowly evolving \bh s along quasi-equilibrium states in cavities greater than $10^6$ Planck length will not evaporate below the critical Hawking limit temperature despite the fact that pure radiation has a much higher entropy. (CQG in press, figure request to okamoto@gprx.miz.nao.ac.jp)

gr-qc↗
arXiv1994

From Vacuum Fluctuations to Radiation: Accelerated Detectors and Black Holes

The vacuum fluctuations that induce the transitions and the thermalisation of a uniformly accelerated two level atom are studied in detail. Their energy content is revealed through the weak measurement formalism of Aharonov et al. It is shown that each time the detector makes a transition it radiates a Minkowski photon. The same analysis is then applied to the conversion of vacuum fluctuations into real quanta in the context of black hole radiation. Initially these fluctuations are located around the light like geodesic that shall generate the horizon and carry zero total energy. However upon exiting from the star they break up into two pieces one of which gradually acquires positive energy and becomes a Hawking quantum, the other, its ''partner", ends up in the singularity. As time goes by the vacuum fluctuations generating Hawking quanta have exponentially large energy densities. This implies that back reaction effects are large.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1994

Source Vacuum Fluctuations of Black Hole Radiance

The emergence of Hawking radiation from vacuum fluctuations is analyzed in conventional field theories and their energy content is defined through the Aharonov weak value concept. These fluctuations travel in flat space-time and carry transplanckian energies sharply localized on cisplanckian distances. We argue that these features cannot accommodate gravitational nonlinearities. We suggest that the very emission of Hawking photons from tamed vacuum fluctuations requires the existence of an exploding set of massive fields. These considerations corroborate some conjectures of Susskind and may prove relevant for the back-reaction problem and for the unitarity issue.

gr-qc↗