Adiabatic Perturbations Research Articles

Intrinsic phonon effects on analog quantum simulators with ultracold trapped ions

Linear Paul traps have been used recently to simulate the transverse field Ising model with long-range spin-spin couplings. We study the intrinsic effects of phonon creation (from the initial phonon ground state) on the spin-state probability and spin entanglement for such quantum spin simulators. While it has often been assumed that phonon effects are benign because they play no role in the pure Ising model, they can play a significant role when a transverse field is added to the model. We use a many-body factorization of the quantum time-evolution operator of the system, adiabatic perturbation theory and exact numerical integration of the Schr\"odinger equation in a truncated spin-phonon Hilbert space followed by a tracing out of the phonon degrees of freedom to study this problem. We find that moderate phonon creation often makes the probabilities of different spin states behave differently from the static spin Hamiltonian. In circumstances in which phonon creation is minor, the spin dynamics state probabilities converge to the static spin Hamiltonian prediction at the cost of reducing the spin entanglement. We show how phonon creation can severely impede the observation of kink transitions in frustrated spin systems when the number of ions increases. Many of our results also have implications for quantum simulation in a Penning trap.

Massive cosmological scalar perturbations

We study the cosmological perturbations of the new bimetric gravity proposed by Hassan and Rosen [J. High Energy Phys. 02 (2012) 126] as a representation of massive gravity. The mass term in the model, in addition to ensuring ghost freedom for both metrics, causes the two scale factors to mix at the cosmological level, and this affects the cosmological perturbation of the model. We find two combinations corresponding to the entropy and adiabatic perturbations of the theory. In this sense we show that the adiabatic perturbations could be a source for the entropy perturbations. So in addition to the adiabatic perturbations, entropy perturbations can also be present in this theory. We also show that the adiabatic perturbations are not constant at the superhorizon scales, implying that the theory could not be used to describe the inflationary epoch, even if it can impose some corrections to the standard inflationary scenarios.

Gauge-invariant perturbations at second order in two-field inflation

We study the second-order gauge-invariant adiabatic and isocurvature perturbations in terms of the scalar fields present during inflation, along with the related fully non-linear space gradient of these quantities. We discuss the relation with other perturbation quantities defined in the literature. We also construct the exact cubic action of the second-order perturbations (beyond any slow-roll or super-horizon approximations and including tensor perturbations), both in the uniform energy-density gauge and the flat gauge in order to settle various gauge-related issues. We thus provide the tool to calculate the exact non-Gaussianity beyond slow-roll and at any scale.

Conformal symmetries of adiabatic modes in cosmology

We remark on the existence of non-linearly realized conformal symmetries for scalar adiabatic perturbations in cosmology. These conformal symmetries are present for any cosmological background, beyond any slow-roll or quasi-de Sitter approximation. The dilatation transformation shiftsthe curvature perturbation by a constant, and corresponds to the well-known symmetry under spatial rescaling. We argue that the scalar sector is also invariantunder special conformal transformations, which shift the curvature perturbation by a term linear in the spatial coordinates. We discuss whether these conformal symmetriescan be extended to include tensor perturbations. Tensor modes introduce their own set of non-linearly realized symmetries. We identify an infinite set of largegauge transformations which maintain the transverse, traceless gauge condition, while shifting the tensor mode non-trivially.

Forecasting isocurvature models with CMB lensing information: Axion and curvaton scenarios

Some inflationary models predict the existence of isocurvature primordial fluctuations, in addition to the well known adiabatic perturbation. Such mixed models are not yet ruled out by available data sets. In this paper we explore the possibility of obtaining better constraints on the isocurva- ture contribution from future astronomical data. We consider the axion and curvaton inflationary scenarios, and use Planck satellite experimental specifications together with SDSS galaxy survey to forecast for the best parameter error estimation by means of the Fisher information matrix formal- ism. In particular, we consider how CMB lensing information can improve this forecast. We found substantial improvements for all the considered cosmological parameters. In the case of isocurvature amplitude this improvement is strongly model dependent, varying between less than 1% and above 20% around its fiducial value. Furthermore, CMB lensing enables the degeneracy break between the isocurvature amplitude and correlation phase in one of the models. In this sense, CMB lensing information will be crucial in the analysis of future data.

Cosmological constraints from CMB distortion

We examine bounds on adiabatic and isocurvature density fluctuations from $\ensuremath{\mu}$-type spectral distortions of the CMB. Studies of such distortions are complementary to CMB measurements of the spectral index and its running and will help to constrain these parameters on significantly smaller scales. We show that a detection on the order of $\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}7}$ would strongly be at odds with the standard cosmological model of a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of adiabatic perturbations. Further, we find that given the current CMB constraints on the isocurvature mode amplitude, a nearly scale-invariant isocurvature mode (common in many curvaton models) cannot produce significant $\ensuremath{\mu}$ distortion. Finally, we show that future experiments will strongly constrain the amplitude of the isocurvature modes with a highly blue spectrum as predicted by certain axion models.

Contribution from cosmological scalar perturbations to the angular velocity spectrum of extragalactic sources

The possibility of the influence of adiabatic scalar perturbations on the angular velocity spectrum of extragalactic sources is considered. The multipole expansion coefficients of the angular velocity field in terms of vector spherical harmonics are calculated. We show that there is no contribution from adiabatic perturbations to the angular spectrum for a spatially flat Universe at the dusty stage, while there is a contribution only to the electric multiple coefficients at the stage of Λ-term domination. The cases of long-wavelength and short-wavelength perturbations are considered separately. The relationship between the multipole angular velocity spectrum and the primordial scalar perturbation spectrum is discussed.

Adiabatic theorem for quantum systems with spectral degeneracy

By stating the adiabatic theorem of quantum mechanics in a clear and rigorous way, we establish a necessary condition and a sufficient condition for its validity, where the latter is obtained employing our recently developed adiabatic perturbation theory. Also, we simplify further the sufficient condition into a useful and simple practical test at the expenses of its mathematical rigor. We present results for the most general case of quantum systems, i.e., those with degenerate energy spectra. These conditions are of upmost importance to assess the validity of practical implementations of non-Abelian braiding and adiabatic quantum computation. To illustrate the degenerate adiabatic approximation, and the necessary and sufficient conditions for its validity, we analyze in depth an exactly solvable time-dependent degenerate problem.

Primordial non-Gaussianity from mixed inflaton-curvaton perturbations

We characterise the primordial perturbations produced due to both inflaton and curvaton fluctuations in models where the curvaton has a quadratic, cosine or hyperbolic potential, and the inflaton potential is characterised by the usual slow-roll parameters. Isocurvature curvaton field perturbations can produce significant non-Gaussianity in the primordial density field, in contrast with adiabatic inflaton field perturbations which produce negligible non-Gaussianity for canonical scalar fields. A non-self-interacting curvaton with quadratic potential produces a local-type non-Gaussianity that is well described by the non-linearity parameter fNL, which may be scale-dependent when the inflaton perturbations dominate the power spectrum. We show how observational bounds on non-linearity parameters and the tensor-scalar ratio can be used to constrain curvaton and inflaton parameters. We find a consistency relation between the bispectrum and trispectrum parameters in a mixed inflaton-curvaton model for a quadratic curvaton potential. Self-interaction terms in the curvaton potential can lead to both a large trispectrum parameter, gNL, and scale-dependence of the non-linearity parameters.

Multifield consequences for D-brane inflation

We analyse the multifield behaviour in D-brane inflation when contributions from the bulk are taken into account. For this purpose, we study a large number of realisations of the potential; we find the nature of the inflationary trajectory to be very consistent despite the complex construction. Inflation is always canonical and occurs in the vicinity of an inflection point. Extending the transport method to non-slow-roll and to calculate the running, we obtain distributions for observables. The spectral index is typically blue and the running positive, putting the model under moderate pressure from WMAP7 constraints. The local fNL and tensor-to-scalar ratio are typically unobservably small, though we find approximately 0.5% of realisations to give observably large local fNL. Approximating the potential as sum-separable, we are able to give fully analytic explanations for the trends in observed behaviour. Finally we find the model suffers from the persistence of isocurvature perturbations, which can be expected to cause further evolution of adiabatic perturbations after inflation. We argue this is a typical problem for models of multifield inflation involving inflection points and renders models of this type technically unpredictive without a description of reheating.

Dissipative perturbations for the [formula omitted] Rosenau–Hyman equation

Compactons are compactly supported solitary waves for nondissipative evolution equations with nonlinear dispersion. In applications, these model equations are accompanied by dissipative terms which can be treated as small perturbations. We apply the method of adiabatic perturbations to compactons governed by the K(n,n) Rosenau–Hyman equation in the presence of dissipative terms preserving the “mass” of the compactons. The evolution equations for both the velocity and the amplitude of the compactons are determined for some linear and nonlinear dissipative terms: second-, fourth-, and sixth-order in the former case, and second- and fourth-order in the latter one. The numerical validation of the method is presented for a fourth-order, linear, dissipative perturbation which corresponds to a singular perturbation term.

Effective field theory of multi-field inflation a la Weinberg

We generalise Weinberg's effective field theory approach to multiple-field inflation.In addition to standard terms in the Lagrangian we consider terms containing up to the fourth derivative of the scalar fields and the metric. The results illustrate the possible shapes of the interactions which will yield non-Gaussianity.Generally we find that the speed of sound differs from, but is close to unity,however large non-Gaussianities are possible in the multi-field case.The non-Gaussianity of the adiabatic mode and the entropy mode are correlated in shape and amplitude with the amount of the non-Gaussianity depending on the curvature of the classical field path in phase-space. We emphasize that in general the time derivative of adiabatic and entropy perturbations do not invariant due to the shift symmetry. However we find two specific combinations of them are invariant under such a symmetry and these combinations should be employed to construct an effective field theory of multi-field inflation.

Effective theories of single field inflation when heavy fields matter

We compute the low energy effective field theory (EFT) expansion for single-field inflationary models that descend from a parent theory containing multiple other scalar fields. By assuming that all other degrees of freedom in the parent theory are sufficiently massive relative to the inflaton, it is possible to derive an EFT valid to arbitrary order in perturbations, provided certain generalized adiabaticity conditions are respected. These conditions permit a consistent low energy EFT description even when the inflaton deviates off its adiabatic minimum along its slowly rolling trajectory. By generalizing the formalism that identifies the adiabatic mode with the Goldstone boson of this spontaneously broken time translational symmetry prior to the integration of the heavy fields, we show that this invariance of the parent theory dictates the entire non-perturbative structure of the descendent EFT. The couplings of this theory can be written entirely in terms of the reduced speed of sound of adiabatic perturbations. The resulting operator expansion is distinguishable from that of other scenarios, such as standard single inflation or DBI inflation. In particular, we re-derive how certain operators can become transiently strongly coupled along the inflaton trajectory, consistent with slow-roll and the validity of the EFT expansion, imprinting features in the primordial power spectrum, and we deduce the relevant cubic operators that imply distinct signatures in the primordial bispectrum which may soon be constrained by observations.

THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE: A MEASUREMENT OF THE PRIMORDIAL POWER SPECTRUM

We present constraints on the primordial power spectrum of adiabatic fluctuations using data from the 2008 Southern Survey of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). The angular resolution of ACT provides sensitivity to scales beyond \ell = 1000 for resolution of multiple peaks in the primordial temperature power spectrum, which enables us to probe the primordial power spectrum of adiabatic scalar perturbations with wavenumbers up to k \simeq 0.2 Mpc^{-1}. We find no evidence for deviation from power-law fluctuations over two decades in scale. Matter fluctuations inferred from the primordial temperature power spectrum evolve over cosmic time and can be used to predict the matter power spectrum at late times; we illustrate the overlap of the matter power inferred from CMB measurements (which probe the power spectrum in the linear regime) with existing probes of galaxy clustering, cluster abundances and weak lensing constraints on the primordial power. This highlights the range of scales probed by current measurements of the matter power spectrum.

SEARCHING FOR DARK MATTER ISOCURVATURE INITIAL CONDITIONS WITH N-BODY SIMULATIONS

Small fraction of isocurvature perturbations may exist and correlate with adiabatic perturbations in the primordial perturbations. Naively switching off isocurvature perturbations may lead to biased results. We study the effect of dark matter isocurvature on the structure formation through N-body simulations. From the best-fit values, we run four sets of simulation with different initial conditions and different box sizes. We find that, if the fraction of dark matter isocurvature is small, we cannot detect its signal through matter power spectrum and two-point correlation function with large scale survey. However, the halo mass function can give an obvious signal. Compared to 5% difference on matter power spectrum, it can get 37% at z = 3 on halo mass function. This indicates that future high precise cluster count experiment can give stringent constraints on dark matter isocurvature perturbations.

Cosmological density perturbations in a conformal scalar field theory

We consider a scenario in which primordial scalar perturbations are generated when a complex conformal scalar field rolls down its negative quartic potential. Initially, these are perturbations of the phase of this field, which are then converted into adiabatic perturbations of the density. The existence of perturbations in the radial field direction, which have a red power spectrum, is a potentially dangerous feature of this scenario. But we show that in the linear order in the small parameter, the self-coupling, the infrared effects are completely nullified by an appropriate field redefinition. We evaluate the statistical anisotropy inherent in the model because of the presence of the long-wave perturbations of the radial field component. In the linear order in the self-coupling, the infrared effects do not affect the statistical anisotropy. They are manifested only at the quadratic order in the self-coupling, weakly (logarithmically) enhancing the corresponding contribution to the statistical anisotropy. The resulting statistical anisotropy is a combination of a large term, which decreases as the momentum increases, and a momentum-independent nonamplified term.

Large adiabatic scalar perturbations in a regular bouncing universe

It has been shown that a contracting universe with a dust-like ($w \approx 0$) fluid may provide an almost scale invariant spectrum for the gravitational scalar perturbations. As the universe contracts, the amplitude of such perturbations are amplified. The gauge invariant variable $\Phi$ develops a growing mode which becomes much larger than the constant one around the bounce phase. The constant mode has its amplitude fixed by Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) normalization, thus the amplitude of the growing mode can become much larger than 1. In this paper, we first show that this is a general feature of bouncing models, since we expect that general relativity should be valid in all scales away from the bounce. However, in the Newtonian gauge, the variable $\Phi$ gives the value of the metric perturbation $\phi$, raising doubts on the validity of the linear perturbative regime at the bounce. In order to address this issue, we obtain a set of necessary conditions for the perturbative series to be valid along the whole history of the model, and we show that there is a gauge in which all these conditions are satisfied, for a set of models, if the constant mode is fixed by COBE normalization. As a by-product of this analysis, we point out that there are sets of solutions for the perturbation variables where some gauge-fixing conditions are not well defined, turning these gauges prohibited for those solutions.

Adiabatic and nonadiabatic perturbation theory for coherence vector description of neutrino oscillations

The standard wave function approach for the treatment of neutrino oscillations fails in situations where quantum ensembles at a finite temperature with or without an interacting background plasma are encountered. As a first step to treat such phenomena in a novel way, we propose a unified approach to both adiabatic and non-adiabatic two-flavor oscillations in neutrino ensembles with finite temperature and generic (e.g. matter) potentials. Neglecting effects of ensemble decoherence for now we study the evolution of a neutrino ensemble governed by the associated Quantum Kinetic Equations, which apply to systems with finite temperature. The Quantum Kinetic Equations are solved formally using the Magnus expansion and it is shown that a convenient choice of the quantum mechanical picture (e.g. the interaction picture) reveals suitable parameters to characterize the physics of the underlying system (e.g. an effective oscillation length). It is understood that this method also provides a promising starting point for the treatment of the more general case in which decoherence is taken into account.

Adiabatic and nonadiabatic perturbations for loop quantum cosmology

We generalize the perturbations theory of loop quantum cosmology to a hydrodynamical form and define an effective curvature perturbation on an uniform density hypersurfaces $\zeta_e$. As in the classical cosmology, $\zeta_e$ should be gauge-invariant and conservation on the large scales. The evolutions of both the adiabatic and the non-adiabatic perturbations for a multi-fluids model are investigated in the framework of the effective hydrodynamical theory of loop quantum cosmology with the inverse triad correction. We find that, different from the classical cosmology, the evolution of the large-scales non-adiabatic entropy perturbation can be driven by an adiabatic curvature perturbation and this adiabatic source for the non-adiabatic perturbation is a quantum effect. As an application of the related formalism, we study a decay model and give out the numerical results.

Quantum phases with differing computational power

The observation that concepts from quantum information has generated many alternative indicators of quantum phase transitions hints that quantum phase transitions possess operational significance with respect to the processing of quantum information. Yet, studies on whether such transitions lead to quantum phases that differ in their capacity to process information remain limited. Here we show that there exist quantum phase transitions that cause a distinct qualitative change in our ability to simulate certain quantum systems under perturbation of an external field by local operations and classical communication. In particular, we show that in certain quantum phases of the XY model, adiabatic perturbations of the external magnetic field can be simulated by local spin operations, whereas the resulting effect within other phases results in coherent non-local interactions. We discuss the potential implications to adiabatic quantum computation, where a computational advantage exists only when adiabatic perturbation results in coherent multi-body interactions.