arXiv subjects

Yi Zhu

Publications and source records attributed to Yi Zhu.

284 records · Page 16Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Feynman Diagrams for Stochastic Inflation and Quantum Field Theory in de Sitter Space

We consider a massive scalar field with quartic self-interaction $λ/4!\,ϕ^4$ in de~Sitter spacetime and present a diagrammatic expansion that describes the field as driven by stochastic noise. This is compared with the Feynman diagrams in the Keldysh basis of the Amphichronous (Closed-Time-Path) Field Theoretical formalism. For all orders in the expansion, we find that the diagrams agree when evaluated in the leading infrared approximation, i.e. to leading order in $m^2/H^2$, where $m$ is the mass of the scalar field and $H$ is the Hubble rate. As a consequence, the correlation functions computed in both approaches also agree to leading infrared order. This perturbative correspondence shows that the stochastic Theory is exactly equivalent to the Field Theory in the infrared. The former can then offer a non-perturbative resummation of the Field Theoretical Feynman diagram expansion, including fields with $0\leq m^2\ll\sqrt λH^2$ for which the perturbation expansion fails at late times.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Boltzmann-Equation Based Derivation of Balance Laws in Irreversible Thermodynamics

In this paper we propose a novel approach to construct macroscopic balance equations and constitutive equations describing various irreversible phenomena. It is based on the general principles of non-equilibrium thermodynamics and consists of four basic steps: picking suitable state variables, choosing a strictly concave entropy function, separating entropy fluxes and production rates properly, and determining a dissipation matrix. Our approach takes the advantage of both EIT and GENERIC formalisms, and shows a direct correspondence with Levermore's moment closure hierarchies for the Boltzmann equation. This result may put various macroscopic modeling approaches starting from the general principles of non-equilibrium thermodynamics on a solid microscopic foundation based on the Boltzmann equation.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2014

Microscopic description of neutron emission rates in compound nuclei

The neutron emission rates in thermal excited nuclei are conventionally described by statistical models with a phenomenological level density parameter that depends on excitation energies, deformations and mass regions. In the microscopic view of hot nuclei, the neutron emission rates can be determined by the external neutron gas densities without any free parameters. Therefore the microscopic description of thermal neutron emissions is desirable that can impact several understandings such as survival probabilities of superheavy compound nuclei and neutron emissivity in reactors. To describe the neutron emission rates microscopically, the external thermal neutron gases are self-consistently obtained based on the Finite-Temperature Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (FT-HFB) approach. The results are compared with the statistical model to explore the connections between the FT-HFB approach and the statistical model. The Skyrme FT-HFB equation is solved by HFB-AX in deformed coordinate spaces. Based on the FT-HFB approach, the thermal properties and external neutron gas are properly described with the self-consistent gas substraction procedure. Then neutron emission rates can be obtained based on the densities of external neutron gases. The thermal statistical properties of $^{238}$U and $^{258}$U are studied in detail in terms of excitation energies. The thermal neutron emission rates in $^{238, 258}$U and superheavy compound nuclei $_{112}^{278}$Cn and $_{114}^{292}$Fl are calculated, which agree well with the statistical model by adopting an excitation-energy-dependent level density parameter. The coordinate-space FT-HFB approach can provide reliable microscopic descriptions of neutron emission rates in hot nuclei, as well as microscopic constraints on the excitation energy dependence of level density parameters for statistical models.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2014

Testing Inflation and Curvaton Scenarios with CMB Distortions

Prior to recombination, Silk damping causes the dissipation of energy from acoustic waves into the monopole of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), resulting in spectral distortions. These can be used to probe the primordial scalar power spectrum on smaller scales than it is possible with CMB anisotropies. An enhancement of power on these scales is nevertheless required for the resulting distortions to be detectable by future experiments like PIXIE. In this paper, we examine all 49 single-field inflation models listed by Martin et al. in the Encyclopaedia Inflationaris [1] and find that only one of these may lead to a detectable level of distortions in a tuned region of its parameter space, namely the original hybrid model. Three effective multi-field scenarios are also studied: with softly and suddenly turning trajectories, and with a mild waterfall trajectory. Softly turning trajectories do not induce distortions at any detectable level, whereas a sudden turn in the field space or a mild waterfall trajectory predicts a peak (plus damped oscillations in the sudden turn case) in the scalar power spectrum, which can lead to an observable amount of CMB distortions. Finally, another scenario leading to potentially detectable distortions involves a curvaton whose blue spectrum is subdominant on CMB angular scales and overtakes the inflaton spectrum on smaller scales. In this case however, we show that the bounds from ultra compact minihaloes are not satisfied. Expectations for an ultimate PRISM-class experiment characterized by an improvement in sensitivity by a factor of ten are discussed for some models.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

Conservation-dissipation formalism of irreversible thermodynamics

We propose a conservation-dissipation formalism (CDF) for coarse-grained descriptions of irreversible processes. This formalism is based on a stability criterion for non-equilibrium thermodynamics. The criterion ensures that non-equilibrium states tend to equilibrium in long time. As a systematic methodology, CDF provides a feasible procedure in choosing non-equilibrium state variables and determining their evolution equations. The equations derived in CDF have a unified elegant form. They are globally hyperbolic, allow a convenient definition of weak solutions, and are amenable to existing numerics. More importantly, CDF is a genuinely nonlinear formalism and works for systems far away from equilibrium. With this formalism, we formulate novel thermodynamics theories for heat conduction in rigid bodies and non-isothermal compressible Maxwell fluid flows as two typical examples. In these examples, the non-equilibrium variables are exactly the conjugate variables of the heat fluxes or stress tensors. The new theory generalizes Cattaneo's law or Maxwell's law in a regularized and nonlinear fashion.

math-ph↗

arXiv2013

Non-Gaussianities and Curvature Perturbations from Hybrid Inflation

For the original hybrid inflation as well as the supersymmetric F-term and D-term hybrid models, we calculate the level of non-gaussianities and the power spectrum of curvature perturbations generated during the waterfall, taking into account the contribution of entropic modes. We focus on the regime of mild waterfall, in which inflation continues for more than about 60 e-folds N during the waterfall. We find that the associated f_nl parameter goes typically from f_nl \simeq -1 / N_exit in the regime with N >> 60, where N_exit is the number of e-folds between the time of Hubble exit of a pivot scale and the end of inflation, down to f_nl ~-0.3 when N \gtrsim 60, i.e. much smaller in magnitude than the current bound from Planck. Considering only the adiabatic perturbations, the power spectrum is red, with a spectral index n_s = 1 - 4 / N_exit, in the case N >> 60, whereas in the case N \gtrsim 60, it increases up to unity. Including the contribution of entropic modes does not change the observable predictions in the first case. However, in the second case, they are a relevant source for the power spectrum of curvature perturbations, of which the amplitude increases by several orders of magnitudes and can lead to black hole formation. We conclude that due to the important contribution of entropic modes, the parameter space leading to a mild waterfall phase is excluded by CMB observations for all the considered models.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Infrared Correlations in de Sitter Space: Field Theoretic vs. Stochastic Approach

We consider massive λϕ^4 theory in de Sitter background. The mass of the scalar field ϕis chosen small enough, such that the amplification of superhorizon momentum modes leads to a significant enhancement of infrared correlations, but large enough such that perturbation theory remains valid. Using the Closed-Time-Path approach, we calculate the infrared corrections to the two-point function of ϕto 2-loop order. To this approximation, we find agreement with the correlation found using stochastic methods. When breaking the results down to individual Feynman diagrams obtained by the two different methods, we observe that these agree as well.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Nonlinear dynamics of wave packets in PT-symmetric optical lattices near the phase transition point

Nonlinear dynamics of wave packets in PT-symmetric optical lattices near the phase-transition point are analytically studied. A nonlinear Klein-Gordon equation is derived for the envelope of these wave packets. A variety of novel phenomena known to exist in this envelope equation are shown to also exist in the full equation including wave blowup, periodic bound states and solitary wave solutions.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2011

Can the Reissner-Nordström black hole or Schwarzschild black hole be the stable Planck-scale particle accelerator?

It is shown that the extremal Reissner-Nordström black hole, the non-extremal one with multiple scattering particles, and the Schwarzschild black hole with radial head-on particles are stable under the collision of the particles near the horizon, if the back-reaction effect and the effect generated by gravity of particles are involved. Moreover, the collision near Reissner-Nordström black holes with astrophysically typical mass can not generate the Planck-scale center-of-mass energy. However, the head-on collision near the typical primordial black hole could just occur at the Planck-energy scale.

hep-th↗

arXiv2011

Fano Hypersurfaces in Positive Characteristic

We prove that a general Fano hypersurface in a projective space over an algebraically closed field of arbitrary characteristic is separably rationally connected.

math.AG↗

arXiv2011

General stationary charged black holes as charged particle accelerators

We study the possibility of getting infinite energy in the center of mass frame of colliding charged particles in a general stationary charged black hole. For black holes with two-fold degenerate horizon, it is found that arbitrary high center-of-mass energy can be attained, provided that one of the particle has critical angular momentum or critical charge, and the remained parameters of particles and black holes satisfy certain restriction. For black holes with multiple-fold degenerate event horizons, the restriction is released. For non-degenerate black holes, the ultra-high center-of-mass is possible to be reached by invoking the multiple scattering mechanism. We obtain a condition for the existence of innermost stable circular orbit with critical angular momentum or charge on any-fold degenerate horizons, which is essential to get ultra-high center-of-mass energy without fine-tuning problem. We also discuss the proper time spending by the particle to reach the horizon and the duality between frame dragging effect and electromagnetic interaction. Some of these general results are applied to braneworld small black holes.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

Separatrix Map Analysis for Fractal Scatterings in Weak Interactions of Solitary Waves

Previous studies have shown that fractal scatterings in weak interactions of solitary waves in the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equations are described by a universal second-order separatrix map. In this paper, this separatrix map is analyzed in detail, and hence a complete characterization of fractal scatterings in these weak interactions is obtained. In particular, scaling laws of these fractals are derived analytically for different initial conditions, and these laws are confirmed by direct numerical simulations. In addition, an analytical criterion for the occurrence of fractal scatterings is given explicitly.

nlin.SI↗

arXiv2008

A Universal Map for Fractal Structures in Weak Solitary Wave Interactions

Fractal scatterings in weak solitary wave interactions is analyzed for generalized nonlinear Schrödiger equations (GNLS). Using asymptotic methods, these weak interactions are reduced to a universal second-order map. This map gives the same fractal scattering patterns as those in the GNLS equations both qualitatively and quantitatively. Scaling laws of these fractals are also derived.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2007

Universal fractal structures in the weak interaction of solitary waves in generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equations

Weak interactions of solitary waves in the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equations are studied. It is first shown that these interactions exhibit similar fractal dependence on initial conditions for different nonlinearities. Then by using the Karpman-Solov'ev method, a universal system of dynamical equations is derived for the velocities, amplitudes, positions and phases of interacting solitary waves. These dynamical equations contain a single parameter, which accounts for the different forms of nonlinearity. When this parameter is zero, these dynamical equations are integrable, and the exact analytical solutions are derived. When this parameter is non-zero, the dynamical equations exhibit fractal structures which match those in the original wave equations both qualitatively and quantitatively. Thus the universal nature of fractal structures in the weak interaction of solitary waves is analytically established. The origin of these fractal structures is also explored. It is shown that these structures bifurcate from the initial conditions where the solutions of the integrable dynamical equations develop finite-time singularities. Based on this observation, an analytical criterion for the existence and locations of fractal structures is obtained. Lastly, these analytical results are applied to the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equations with various nonlinearities such as the saturable nonlinearity, and predictions on their weak interactions of solitary waves are made.

nlin.CD↗