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S. Liberati

Publications and source records attributed to S. Liberati.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2023

Rescuing the Unruh Effect in Lorentz Violating Gravity

While the robustness of Hawking radiation in the presence of UV Lorentz breaking is well-established, the Unruh effect has posed a challenge, with a large literature concluding that even the low-energy restoration of Lorentz invariance may not be sufficient to sustain this phenomenon. Notably, these previous studies have primarily focused on Lorentz-breaking matter on a conventional Rindler wedge. In this work, we demonstrate that considering the complete structure of Lorentz-breaking gravity, specifically the presence of a hypersurface orthogonal aether field, leads to the selection of a new Rindler wedge configuration characterized by a uniformly accelerated aether flow. This uniform acceleration provides a reference scale for comparison with the Lorentz-breaking one, thus ensuring the persistence of the Unruh effect in this context. We establish this by calculating the expected temperature using a Bogolubov approach, and by analyzing the response of a uniformly accelerated detector. We suggest that this resilience of the Unruh effect opens interesting possibilities towards future developments for using it as a tool to constrain Lorentz breaking theories of gravity.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2023

Hawking Radiation in Lorentz Violating Gravity: A Tale of Two Horizons

Since their proposal, Lorentz violating theories of gravity have posed a potential threat to black hole thermodynamics, as superluminal signals appeared to be incompatible with the very black hole notion. Remarkably, it was soon realized that in such theories causally disconnected regions of space-time can still exist thanks to the presence of universal horizons: causal barriers for signals of arbitrary high speed. Several investigations, sometimes with contrasting results, have been performed so to determine if these horizons can be associated with healthy thermodynamic properties similar to those associated with Killing horizons in General Relativity. In this work we offer what we deem to be the final picture emerging from this and previous studies. In summary we show that: 1) there is a thermal, and most of all species-independent, emission associated to universal horizons, determined by their surface gravity; 2) due to the modified dispersion relation of the matter fields, the low energy part of the emitted spectrum is affected by the presence of the Killing horizon, in a way similar to an effective refractive index, leading at low energies (w.r.t. the Lorentz breaking scale) to an emission that mimics a standard Hawking spectrum (i.e. one determined by the Killing horizon surface gravity); 3) the whole picture is compatible with a globally well defined vacuum state i.e. an Unruh state associated with preferred observers, which however at very low energies it is basically indistinguishable from the standard Unruh vacuum associated to metric free-falling observers. One can then conclude that Hawking radiation is remarkably resilient even within the context of gravitational theories entailing the breakdown of local Lorentz invariance.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2023

On the Resilience of Black Hole Evaporation: Gravitational Tunneling through Universal Horizons

Using a quantum tunneling derivation, we show the resilience of Hawking radiation in Lorentz violating gravity. In particular, we show that the standard derivation of the Hawking effect in relativistic quantum field theory can be extended to Lorentz breaking situations thanks to the presence of universal horizons (causal boundaries for infinite speed signals) inside black hole solutions. Correcting previous studies, we find that such boundaries are characterized by a universal temperature governed by their surface gravity. We also show that within the tunneling framework, given the pole structure and the tunneling path, only a vacuum state set in the preferred frame provides a consistent picture. Our results strongly suggest that the robustness of black hole thermodynamics is ultimately linked to the consistency of quantum field theories across causal boundaries.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2022

Gravitational Tunneling in Lorentz Violating Gravity

Black holes in Lorentz violating gravity, such as Einstein--Aether or Horava--Lifshitz Gravity, are drastically different from their general relativistic siblings. Although they allow for superluminal motion in their vicinity, they still exhibit an absolute causal boundary in the form of a universal horizon. By working in the tunneling picture for a gravitating scalar field, we show that universal horizons emit Hawking radiation in a manner akin to standard results in General Relativity, with a temperature controlled by the high-energy behavior of the dispersion relation of the gravitating field, and in agreement with alternative derivations in the literature. Our results substantiate the link between the universal horizon and thermodynamics in Lorentz violating theories.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2022

Space-time thermodynamics in momentum dependent geometries

A possible way to capture the effects of quantum gravity in spacetime at a mesoscopic scale, for relatively low energies, is through an energy dependent metric, such that particles with different energies probe different spacetimes. In this context, a clear connection between a geometrical approach and modifications of the special relativistic kinematics has been shown in the last few years. In this work, we focus on the geometrical interpretation of the relativistic deformed kinematics present in the framework of doubly special relativity, where a relativity principle is present. In this setting, we study the effects of a momentum dependence of the metric for a uniformly accelerated observer. We show how the local Rindler wedge description gets affected by the proposed observer dependent metric, while the local Rindler causal structure is not, leading to a standard local causal horizon thermodynamic description. For the proposed modified metric, we can reproduce the derivation of Einstein's equations as the equations of state for the thermal Rindler wedge. The conservation of the Einstein tensor leads to the same privileged momentum basis obtained in other works of some of the present authors, so supporting its relevance.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2022

Exploring black hole mechanics in cotangent bundle geometries

The classical and continuum limit of a quantum gravitational setting could lead, at mesoscopic regimes, to a very different notion of geometry w.r.t. the pseudo-Riemannian one of special and general relativity. A possible way to characterize this modified space-time notion is by a momentum dependent metric, in such a way that particles with different energies could probe different spacetimes. Indeed, doubly special relativity theories, deforming the special relativistic kinematics while maintaining a relativity principle, have been understood within a geometrical context, by considering a curved momentum space. The extension of these momentum spaces to curved spacetimes and its possible phenomenological implications have been recently investigated. Following this line of research, we address here the first two laws of black holes thermodynamics in the context of a cotangent bundle metric, depending on both momentum and space-time coordinates, compatible with the relativistic deformed kinematics of doubly special relativity.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2022

Quantum gravity phenomenology at the dawn of the multi-messenger era -- A review

The exploration of the universe has recently entered a new era thanks to the multi-messenger paradigm, characterized by a continuous increase in the quantity and quality of experimental data that is obtained by the detection of the various cosmic messengers (photons, neutrinos, cosmic rays and gravitational waves) from numerous origins. They give us information about their sources in the universe and the properties of the intergalactic medium. Moreover, multi-messenger astronomy opens up the possibility to search for phenomenological signatures of quantum gravity. On the one hand, the most energetic events allow us to test our physical theories at energy regimes which are not directly accessible in accelerators; on the other hand, tiny effects in the propagation of very high energy particles could be amplified by cosmological distances. After decades of merely theoretical investigations, the possibility of obtaining phenomenological indications of Planck-scale effects is a revolutionary step in the quest for a quantum theory of gravity, but it requires cooperation between different communities of physicists (both theoretical and experimental). This review is aimed at promoting this cooperation by giving a state-of-the art account of the interdisciplinary expertise that is needed in the effective search of quantum gravity footprints in the production, propagation and detection of cosmic messengers.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2021

Black hole surface gravity in doubly special relativity geometries

In a quantum gravity theory, spacetime at mesoscopic scales can acquire a novel structure very different from the classical concept of general relativity. A way to effectively characterize the quantum nature of spacetime is through a momentum dependent space-time metric. There is a vast literature showing that this geometry is related to deformed relativistic kinematics, which is precisely a way to capture residual effects of a quantum gravity theory. In this work, we study the notion of surface gravity in a momentum dependent Schwarzschild black hole geometry. We show that using the two main notions of surface gravity in general relativity we obtain a momentum independent result. However, there are several definitions of surface gravity, all of them equivalent in general relativity when there is a Killing horizon. We show that in our scheme, despite the persistence of a Killing horizon, these alternative notions only agree in a very particular momentum basis, obtained in a previous work, so further supporting its physical relevance.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2020

On Black Hole Temperature in Horndeski Gravity

It has been observed that for black holes in certain family of Horndeski gravity theories Wald's entropy formula does not lead to the correct first law for black hole thermodynamics. For this family of Horndeski theories speeds of propagation of gravitons and photons are in general different and gravitons move on an effective metric different than the one seen by photons. We show that the temperature of the black hole should be modified from surface gravity over $2π$ to include effects of this effective metric. The modified temperature, with the entropy unambiguously computed by the solution phase space method, yields the correct first law. Our results have far reaching implications for the Hawking radiation and species problem, going beyond the Horndeski theories.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2020

Towards a geometrical interpretation of rainbow geometries for quantum gravity phenomenology

In the literature, there are several papers establishing a correspondence between a deformed kinematics and a nontrivial (momentum dependent) metric. In this work, we study in detail the relationship between the trajectories given by a deformed Hamiltonian and the geodesic motion obtained from a geometry in the cotangent bundle, finding that both trajectories coincide when the Hamiltonian is identified with the squared distance in momentum space. Moreover, following the natural structure of the cotangent bundle geometry, we construct the space-time curvature tensor, from which we obtain generalized Einstein equations. Since the metric is not invariant under momentum diffeomorphisms (changes of momentum coordinates) we note that, in order to have a conserved Einstein tensor (in the same sense of general relativity), a privileged momentum basis appears, a completely new result that cannot be found in absence of space-time curvature, which settles a long standing ambiguity of this geometric approach. After that, we consider in an expanding universe the geodesic motion and the Raychaudhuri's equations, and we show how to construct vacuum solutions to the Einstein equations. Finally, we make a comment about the possible phenomenological implications of our framework.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2020

Constraints on the deformation scale of a geometry in the cotangent bundle

There are several studies proposing phenomenological consequences of a deformation of special and general relativity. Here, we cast novel constraints on the deformation parameter of a metric in the cotangent bundle accounting for a curved momentum space. In an expanding universe, we study three possible observations that could restrict our model, focusing on the deformations of velocity, redshift and luminosity distance, which in the aforementioned framework, depend on the energy of the particles. We find that for an energy dependent velocity there would be no time delay for massless particles since also the observed distance to the source depends on the energy. For the redshift and luminosity distance we see that a scale of the order of some keV could be compatible with our model. This shows that the constraints on the high-energy scale parametrizing the momentum dependent deviation from a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker metric are at the moment weak due to the fact that the precision (rather than energies) needed in the observational constraints are extremely high. However, this is not the case when considering the synchrotron radiation. Indeed, the observation of such emission from the Crab Nebula, for deformations leading to subluminal propagation at high energies, leads to a constraint for the high-energy scale of the order of 1 PeV.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2020

Phenomenological consequences of a geometry in the cotangent bundle

A deformed relativistic kinematics can be understood within a geometrical framework through a maximally symmetric momentum space. However, when considering this kind of approach, usually one works in a flat spacetime and in a curved momentum space. In this paper, we will discuss a possible generalization to take into account both curvatures and some possible observable effects. We will first explain how to construct a metric in the cotangent bundle in order to have a curved spacetime with a nontrivial geometry in momentum space and the relationship with an action in phase space characterized by a deformed Casimir. Then, we will study within this proposal two different space-time geometries. In the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe, we will see the modifications in the geodesics (redshift, luminosity distance and geodesic expansion) due to a momentum dependence of the metric in the cotangent bundle. Also, we will see that when the spacetime considered is a Schwarzschild black hole, one still has a common horizon for particles with different energies, differently from a Lorentz invariance violation case. However, the surface gravity computed as the peeling off of null geodesics is energy dependent.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2009

Revisiting the semiclassical gravity scenario for gravitational collapse

The existence of extremely dark and compact astronomical bodies is by now a well established observational fact. On the other hand, classical General Relativity predicts the existence of black holes which fit very well with the observations, but do lead to important conceptual problems. In this contribution we ask ourselves the straightforward question: Are the dark and compact objects that we have observational evidence for black holes in the sense of General Relativity? By revising the semiclassical scenario of stellar collapse we find out that as the result of a collapse some alternative objects could be formed which might supplant black holes.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2009

Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics of Spacetime: the Role of Gravitational Dissipation

In arXiv:gr-qc/9504004 it was shown that the Einstein equation can be derived as a local constitutive equation for an equilibrium spacetime thermodynamics. More recently, in the attempt to extend the same approach to the case of $f(R)$ theories of gravity, it was found that a non-equilibrium setting is indeed required in order to fully describe both this theory as well as classical GR (arXiv:gr-qc/0602001). Here, elaborating on this point, we show that the dissipative character leading to a non-equilibrium spacetime thermodynamics is actually related -- both in GR as well as in $f(R)$ gravity -- to non-local heat fluxes associated with the purely gravitational/internal degrees of freedom of the theory. In particular, in the case of GR we show that the internal entropy production term is identical to the so called tidal heating term of Hartle-Hawking. Similarly, for the case of $f(R)$ gravity, we show that dissipative effects can be associated with the generalization of this term plus a scalar contribution whose presence is clearly justified within the scalar-tensor representation of the theory. Finally, we show that the allowed gravitational degrees of freedom can be fixed by the kinematics of the local spacetime causal structure, through the specific Equivalence Principle formulation. In this sense, the thermodynamical description seems to go beyond Einstein's theory as an intrinsic property of gravitation.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2007

Modified Dispersion Relations from the Renormalization Group of Gravity

We show that the running of gravitational couplings, together with a suitable identification of the renormalization group scale can give rise to modified dispersion relations for massive particles. This result seems to be compatible with both the frameworks of effective field theory with Lorentz invariance violation and deformed special relativity. The phenomenological consequences depend on which of the frameworks is assumed. We discuss the nature and strength of the available constraints for both cases and show that in the case of Lorentz invariance violation, the theory would be strongly constrained.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2007

Quantum gravity phenomenology via Lorentz violations

The search for a quantum theory of gravity has been one of the main aims of theoretical physics for many years by now. However the efforts in this direction have been often hampered by the lack of experimental/observational tests able to select among, or at least constrain, the numerous quantum gravity models proposed so far. This situation has changed in the last decade thanks to the realization that some QG inspired violations of Lorentz symmetry could be constrained using current experiments and observations. This study it is not only allowing us to test at higher and higher energies a fundamental symmetry of spacetime but it is also providing us with hints and perspectives about the fundamental nature of gravity.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2006

Modified Special Relativity on a fluctuating spacetime

It was recently proposed that deformations of the relativistic symmetry, as those considered in Deformed Special Relativity (DSR), can be seen as the outcome of a measurement theory in the presence of non-negligible (albeit small) quantum gravitational fluctuations [1,2]. In this paper we explicitly consider the case of a spacetime described by a flat metric endowed with stochastic fluctuations and, for a free particle, we show that DSR-like nonlinear relations between the spaces of the measured and classical momenta, can result from the average of the stochastic fluctuations over a scale set be the de Broglie wavelength of the particle. As illustrative examples we consider explicitly the averaging procedure for some simple stochastic processes and discuss the physical implications of our results.

gr-qc↗