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S. Shankaranarayanan

Publications and source records attributed to S. Shankaranarayanan.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Analytical computation of quasi-normal modes of slowly-rotating black-holes in dCS gravity

Using gravitational wave observations to search for deviations from general relativity in the strong-gravity regime has become an important research direction. Chern Simons (CS) gravity is one of the most frequently studied parity-violating models of strong gravity. It is known that the Kerr black-hole is not a solution for CS gravity. At the same time, the only rotating solution available in the literature for dynamical CS (dCS) gravity is the slow-rotating case most accurately known to quadratic order in spin. In this work, for the slow-rotating case (accurate to first order in spin), we derive the linear perturbation equations governing the metric and the dCS field accurate to linear order in spin and quadratic order in the CS coupling parameter ($α$) and obtain the quasi-normal mode (QNM) frequencies. After confirming the recent results of Wagle et al. (2021), we find an additional contribution to the eigenfrequency correction at the leading perturbative order of $α^2$. Unlike Wagle et al., we also find corrections to frequencies in the polar sector. We compute these extra corrections by evaluating the expectation values of the perturbative potential on unperturbed QNM wavefunctions along a contour deformed into the complex-$r$ plane. For $α=0.1 M^2$, we obtain the ratio of the imaginary parts of the dCS correction to the GR correction in the first QNM frequency (in the polar sector) to be $0.263$ implying significant change. For the $(2,2)-$mode, the dCS corrections make the imaginary part of the first QNM of the fundamental mode less negative, thereby decreasing the decay rate. Our results, along with future gravitational wave observations, can be used to test for dCS gravity and further constrain the CS coupling parameters. [abridged]

gr-qc↗

Helical magnetic fields from Riemann coupling lead to baryogenesis

The spectrum of energy density fluctuations, baryon asymmetry, and coherent large-scale magnetic fields are the three observables that provide crucial information on physics at very high energies. Inflation can only provide a mechanism to explain the density perturbations, and the origin of primordial magnetic fields and baryon asymmetry require physics beyond the standard models of cosmology and particle physics. In this work, we show that the mechanism that leads to primordial helical fields also leads to baryogenesis at the beginning of the radiation-dominated epoch. The model we consider here consists of mass dimension 6 operators that include Riemann coupling between gravity and electromagnetic field without extending the Standard Model of particle physics. We explicitly show that the generation of primordial helical magnetic fields leads to baryogenesis. We further show that the model predicts the observed amount of baryon asymmetry of the Universe for a range of reheating temperatures consistent with the observations.

hep-ph↗

Log to log-log crossover of entanglement in $(1+1)-$ dimensional massive scalar field

We study three different measures of quantum correlations -- entanglement spectrum, entanglement entropy, and logarithmic negativity -- for (1+1)-dimensional massive scalar field in flat spacetime. The entanglement spectrum for the discretized scalar field in the ground state indicates a cross-over in the zero-mode regime, which is further substantiated by an analytical treatment of both entanglement entropy and logarithmic negativity. The exact nature of this cross-over depends on the boundary conditions used -- the leading order term switches from a $\log$ to $\log-\log$ behavior for the Periodic and Neumann boundary conditions. In contrast, for Dirichlet, it is the parameters within the leading $\log-\log$ term that are switched. We show that this cross-over manifests as a change in the behavior of the leading order divergent term for entanglement entropy and logarithmic negativity close to the zero-mode limit. We thus show that the two regimes have fundamentally different information content. Furthermore, an analysis of the ground state fidelity shows us that the region between critical point $Λ=0$ and the crossover point is dominated by zero-mode effects, featuring an explicit dependence on the IR cutoff of the system. For the reduced state of a single oscillator, we show that this cross-over occurs in the region $Nam_f\sim \mathscr{O}(1)$.

hep-th↗

Cosmological perturbations in the interacting dark sector: Mapping fields and fluids

There is no unique way to describe the dark energy-dark matter interaction, as we have little information about the nature and dynamics of the dark sector. Hence, in many of the phenomenological dark matter fluid interaction models in the literature, the interaction strength $Q_ν$ in the dark sector is introduced by hand. Demanding that the interaction strength $Q_ν$ in the dark sector must have a field theory description, we obtain a unique form of interaction strength. We show the equivalence between the fields and fluids for the $f(R,χ)$ model where $f$ is an arbitrary, smooth function of $R$ and classical scalar field $χ$, which represents dark matter. Up to first order in perturbations, we show that the one-to-one mapping between the \emph{classical} field theory description and the phenomenological fluid description of interacting dark energy and dark matter exists \emph{only} for this unique form of interaction. We then classify the interacting dark energy models considered in the literature into two categories based on the field-theoretic description. We introduce a novel autonomous system and its stability analysis for the general interacting dark sector. We show that the dark-energy dominated epoch occurs earlier than the non-interacting systems for a specific scalar field potential and a range of coupling strengths.

gr-qc↗

Helical magnetic fields from Riemann coupling

We study the inflationary generation of helical magnetic fields from the Riemann coupling with the electromagnetic field. Most models in the literature introduce non-minimal coupling to the electromagnetic fields with a scalar field, hence, breaking the conformal invariance. In this work, we show that non-minimal coupling to the Riemann tensor generates sufficient primordial helical magnetic fields at all observable scales. We explicitly show that one of the helical states decay while the other helical mode increases, leading to a net non-zero helicity. Our model has three key features:~(i) the helical power-spectrum has a slight red-tilt for slow-roll inflation consistent with bounds from observations and free from backreaction problem, (ii) the energy density of the helical fields generated is at least one order of magnitude larger than the scalar-field coupled models, and (iii) unlike the scalar field coupled models, the generated helical fields are insensitive to the reheating dynamics. We show that our model generates the magnetic field of strength 0.01 PicoGauss over Mpc scale.

gr-qc↗

One-to-one correspondence between entanglement mechanics and black hole thermodynamics

We establish a one-to-one mapping between entanglement entropy, energy, and temperature (quantum entanglement mechanics) with black hole entropy, Komar energy, and Hawking temperature, respectively. We show this explicitly for 4-D spherically symmetric asymptotically flat and non-flat space-times with single and multiple horizons. We exploit an inherent scaling symmetry of entanglement entropy and identify scaling transformations that generate an infinite number of systems with the same entanglement entropy, distinguished only by their respective energies and temperatures. We show that this scaling symmetry is present in most well-known systems starting from the two-coupled harmonic oscillator to quantum scalar fields in spherically symmetric space-time. The scaling symmetry allows us to identify the cause of divergence of entanglement entropy to the generation of (near) zero-modes in the systems. We systematically isolate the zero-mode contributions using suitable boundary conditions. We show that the entanglement entropy and energy of quantum scalar field scale differently in space-times with horizons and flat space-time. The relation $E=2TS$, in analogy with the horizon's thermodynamic structure, is also found to be universally satisfied in the entanglement picture. We then show that there exists a one-to-one correspondence leading to the Smarr-formula of black hole thermodynamics for asymptotically flat and non-flat space-times.

gr-qc↗

Infinitely degenerate exact Ricci-flat solutions in f(R) gravity

We obtain an infinite number of exact static, Ricci-flat spherically symmetric vacuum solutions for a class of f(R) theories of gravity. We analytically derive two exact vacuum black-hole solutions for the same class of f(R) theories. The two black-hole solutions have the event-horizon at the same point; however, their asymptotic features are different. Our results suggest that no-hair theorem may not hold for generic modified gravity theories. We discuss the implications of our work to distinguish modified gravity theories from general relativity in gravitational wave detections.

gr-qc↗

Generation of CMB and Cosmological constant via bulk viscosity

A simple model of uniformly expanding, homogeneous Universe with a bulk viscosity is studied wherein the inflationary density decays due to viscous dissipation during the expansion phase of the Universe. The model is shown to generate the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB). We also demonstrate that, at late times, the inflationary density asymptotically approaches a small finite constant value.

gr-qc↗

Galileon scalar electrodynamics

We construct a consistent model of Galileon scalar electrodynamics. The model satisfies three essential requirements: (1) The action contains higher-order derivative terms, and obey the Galilean symmetry, (2) Equations of motion also satisfy Galilean symmetry and contain only up to second-order derivative terms in the matter fields and, hence do not suffer from instability, and (3) local U(1) gauge invariance is preserved. We show that the non-minimal coupling terms in our model are different from that of the real scalar Galileon models; however, they match with the Galileon real scalar field action. We show that the model can lead to an accelerated expansion in the early Universe. We discuss the implications of the model for cosmological inflation.

hep-th↗

Detectability of nGauss primordial magnetic fields in the B-mode polarization of CMB

The origin of large-scale magnetic fields in the Universe is still unknown. Observations suggest the presence of nGauss primordial magnetic fields at the last scattering surface. The presence of such fields will affect the evolution of cosmological perturbations and potentially leave an imprint on the CMB anisotropies. Here, we show that the B-mode power spectrum carries a clear signature of the stochastic primordial magnetic fields up to a few nGauss. Specifically, the presence of nGauss primordial magnetic fields changes the BB power spectrum at all scales. At large scales, the tensor modes contribute to the B-mode spectrum, while non-vanishing vector modes contribute at small scales. We show that the B-mode of CMB carry a distinct signature of the primordial magnetic fields. To validate our prediction, we use BICEP2 and POLARBEAR data and find that B-mode observations from the experiments are consistent with non-zero primordial fields. We also use the BICEP2 observations to constrain the primordial magnetic field. We provide a detailed analysis of the B-mode polarization of the CMB with primordial magnetic fields and investigate the implications for the upcoming CMB missions.

astro-ph.CO↗

Low-energy modified gravity signatures on the large-scale structures

A large number of dark energy and modified gravity models lead to the same expansion history of the Universe, hence, making it difficult to distinguish them from observations. To make the calculations transparent, we consider $f(R)$ gravity with a pressureless matter without making any assumption about the form of $f(R)$. Using the late-time expansion history realizations constructed by Shafieloo et al~\cite{2018-Shafieloo.etal-PRD}, we explicitly show for any $f(R)$ model that the Bardeen potentials $Ψ$ and $Φ$ evolve differently. For an arbitrary $f(R)$ model that leads to late-time accelerated expansion, we explicitly show that $|Ψ+ Φ|$ and its time-derivative evolves differently than the $Λ$CDM model at lower redshifts. We show that the $Ψ/Φ$ has a significant deviation from unity for larger wave-numbers. We discuss the implications of the results for the cosmological observations.

astro-ph.CO↗

Polymer quantization and advanced gravitational wave detector

We investigate the observable consequences of Planck scale effects in the advanced gravitational wave detector by polymer quantizing the optical field in the arms of the interferometer. We construct a new set of polymer-modified creation and annihilation operators to quantize the optical field. Employing these polymer-modified operators, we obtain the fluctuations in the radiation pressure on the end mirrors and the number of output photons. We compare our results with the standard quantization scheme and corrections from the Generalized Uncertainty Principle.

gr-qc↗

Distinguishing general relativity from Chern-Simons gravity using gravitational wave polarizations

Quasi-normal modes (QNMs) uniquely characterize the final black-hole. Till now, only the QNM frequency and damping time are used to test General relativity. In this work, we show explicitly that another property of the QNMs --- their polarization --- can be a reliable tool for probing gravity. We provide a consistent test for General relativity by considering Chern-Simons gravity. Distinguishing Chern-Simons gravity from General relativity using only template matching is highly challenging. Thus a parameter that can differentiate between Chern-Simons gravity and GR will be a suitable candidate for any modified theories of gravity. We discuss the implications of our result for the future gravitational wave detectors.

gr-qc↗

Strong gravity signatures in the polarization of gravitational waves

General Relativity is a hugely successful description of gravitation. However, both theory and observations suggest that General Relativity might have significant classical and quantum corrections in the Strong Gravity regime. Testing the strong field limit of gravity is one of the main objectives of the future gravitational wave detectors. One way to detect strong gravity is through the polarization of gravitational waves. For quasi-normal modes of black-holes in General Relativity, the two polarisation states of gravitational waves have the same amplitude and frequency spectrum. Using the principle of energy conservation, we show that, the polarisations differ for modified gravity theories. We obtain a diagnostic parameter for polarization mismatch that provides a unique way to distinguish General Relativity and modified gravity theories in gravitational wave detectors.

gr-qc↗

Exact inflationary solutions in exponential gravity

We consider a modified gravity model of the form $ f(R,ϕ)=R e^{h(ϕ)R} $, where the strong gravity corrections are taken to all orders and $ϕ$ is a self-interacting massless scalar field. We show that the conformal transformation of this model to Einstein frame leads to non-canonical kinetic term and negates the advantage of the Einstein frame. We obtain exact solutions for the background in the Jordan frame without performing conformal transformations and show that the model leads to inflation with exit. We obtain scalar and tensor power-spectrum in Jordan frame and show that the model leads to red-tilt. We discuss the implications of the same in the light of cosmological observations.

gr-qc↗

Divergence of entanglement entropy in quantum systems: Zero-modes

To this day, von Neumann definition of entropy remains the most popular measure of quantum entanglement. Much of the literature on entanglement entropy, particularly in the context of field theory, has focused on isolating the UV divergences. Zero-mode divergences of the entanglement entropy are less studied in this context, and apart from being easier to isolate, they offer an interesting insight into the physics of the system. To gain a better understanding of the system in this limit, we develop the free particle approximation of Harmonic oscillator, with which we investigate the properties of entropy divergence in continuous bi-partite quantum systems such as the coupled Harmonic oscillators and the Hydrogen atom. We also show zero-mode divergence of the entropy of environment-induced entanglement in a tri-partite oscillator system. We discuss the implications of our result for field theory and IR structure of gravity.

quant-ph↗

Higher derivative quartic vertex of $f(R)$ gravity in light-cone gauge

In the recent studies of four-dimensional Einstein-Hilbert action, quite a few interesting results such as the Kawai-Lewellen-Tye (KLT) relations, MHV-Lagrangian and quadratic forms have been reported. These results naturally raise an important question: Whether these results are valid for the modified theories of gravity in 4-dimensions? In this work, we consider $R+α\,R^2$ gravity and derive the complete quartic interaction vertex in light-cone gauge. We then discuss the implications of the results for KLT relations, and computing MHV amplitudes.

hep-th↗

Quasinormal modes as a distinguisher between general relativity and f(R) gravity: Charged black-holes

The ring-down phase of black-hole perturbations is governed by the Quasi-Normal modes (QNM) and offer valuable insight into the nature of the objects emitting them. In General relativity, we identify a dimensionless parameter that can estimate the charge of a black-hole from the energetics of quasi-normal modes. We then extend the analysis for f(R) theories of gravity. Using Isaacson's prescription to modified theories of gravity, we obtain an accurate and robust method to estimate the difference in the radiated energies in the scalar and vector modes due to modifications to general relativity. We then discuss how to quantify the deviation from general relativity.

gr-qc↗