Cosmological Particle Production Research Articles

A novel approach to cosmological particle production

In this work we present a novel approach to the study of cosmological particle production in asymptotically Minkowski spacetimes. We emphasize that it is possible to determine the amount of particle production by focusing on the mathematical properties of the mode function equations, i.e. their singularities and monodromies, sidestepping the need to solve those equations. We consider in detail creation of scalar and spin 1/2 particles in four dimensional asymptotically Minkowski flat FLRW spacetimes. We explain that when the mode function equation for scalar fields has only regular singular points, the corresponding scale factors are asymptotically Minkowski. For Dirac spin 1/2 fields, the requirement of mode function equations with only regular points is more restrictive, and picks up a subset of the aforementioned scale factors. For the scalar case, we argue that there are two different regimes of particle production; while most of the literature has focused on only one of these regimes, the other regime presents enhanced particle production. On the other hand, for Dirac fermions we find a single regime of particle production. Finally, we very briefly comment on the possibility of studying particle production in spacetimes that don't asymptote to Minkowski, by considering mode function equations with irregular singular points.

Using entropy bounds to avoid the cosmological singularity and constrain cosmological particle production

In this work, we study the applications of entropy bounds in two toy cosmological models with particle production (annihilation), i.e., a radiation-dominated universe and a dust-dominated universe. We consider the co-moving volume and the volume covered by the particle horizon of a given observer as the thermodynamic systems satisfying entropy bounds. For the Bekenstein bound and the spherical entropy bound, it is found that the cosmological singularity can be avoided and cosmological particle production needs to be truncated in some special cases. Our study can be extended to other cosmological models with particle production.

Probing cosmological particle production and pairwise hotspots with deep neural networks

Probing cosmological particle production and pairwise hotspots with deep neural networks

Fermion production at the boundary of an expanding universe: a cold-atom gravitational analogue

We study the phenomenon of cosmological particle production of Dirac fermions in a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetime, focusing on a (1+1)−dimensional case in which the evolution of the scale factor is set by the equations of Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity. As a first step towards a quantum simulation of this phenomenon, we consider two possible lattice regularizations, which allow us to explore the interplay of particle production and topological phenomena in spacetimes with a boundary. In particular, for a Wilson-type discretization of the Dirac field, the asymptotic Minkowski vacua connected by the intermediate expansion correspond to symmetry-protected topological groundstates, and have a boundary manifestation in the form of zero-modes exponentially localized to the spatial boundaries. We show that particle production can also populate these zero modes, which contrasts with the situation with a naïve-fermion discretization, in which conformal zero-mass fields do not allow for particle production. We present a scheme for the quantum simulation of this gravitational analogue by means of ultra-cold atoms in Raman optical lattices, which require real-time control of the Raman-beam detuning according to the scale factor of the simulated spacetime, as well as band-mapping measurements.

Cosmological gravitational particle production of massive spin-2 particles

The phenomenon of cosmological gravitational particle production (CGPP) is expected to occur during the period of inflation and the transition into a hot big bang cosmology. Particles may be produced even if they only couple directly to gravity, and so CGPP provides a natural explanation for the origin of dark matter. In this work we study the gravitational production of massive spin-2 particles assuming two different couplings to matter. We evaluate the full system of mode equations, including the helicity-0 modes, and by solving them numerically we calculate the spectrum and abundance of massive spin-2 particles that results from inflation on a hilltop potential. We conclude that CGPP might provide a viable mechanism for the generation of massive spin-2 particle dark matter during inflation, and we identify the favorable region of parameter space in terms of the spin-2 particle’s mass and the reheating temperature. As a secondary product of our work, we identify the conditions under which such theories admit ghost or gradient instabilities, and we thereby derive a generalization of the Higuchi bound to Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) spacetimes.

Completely dark matter from rapid-turn multifield inflation

We study cosmological gravitational particle production as applied to “rapid-turn” models of inflation involving two scalar fields. We are interested in the production of massive spin-0 particles that only interact gravitationally and provide a candidate for the dark matter. Specifically, we study two models of rapid-turn multifield inflation, motivated in part by the de Sitter swampland conjecture, that are distinguished by the curvature of field space and the presence or absence of field space ‘angular momentum’ conservation. We find that one of these models leads to insufficient particle production and cannot explain the observed dark matter relic abundance. The second model is able to explain the origin of spin-0 dark matter via gravitational production, and we identify the relevant region of parameter space that is consistent with measurements of the dark-matter relic abundance, the dark-matter-photon isocurvature perturbations, and the spectrum of curvature perturbations that is probed by cosmological observations. Our work demonstrates the compatibility of the de Sitter swampland conjecture with completely dark matter.

Squeezed Number State Representation of the Inflaton and Particle Production in the FRW Universe

In this study, we use a single-mode squeezed thermal vacuum state formalism and examine the nature of a massive homogeneous scalar field, minimally coupled to the gravity in the framework of semiclassical gravity in the Bianchi type-I universe. We have obtained an estimate leading solution to the semiclassical Einstein equation for the Bianchi type-I universe shows, each scale factor in its respective direction obeys t^(2/3) power-law expansion. The mechanism of the nonclassical thermal cosmological particle production is also analyzed in the Bianchi type-I universe.

The exact WKB and the Landau-Zener transition for asymmetry in cosmological particle production

Cosmological particle production by a time-dependent scalar field is common in cosmology. We focus on the mechanism of asymmetry production when interaction explicitly violates symmetry and its motion is rapid enough to create particles by itself. Combining the exact WKB analysis and the Landau-Zener transition, we point out that perturbation before the non-perturbative analysis may drastically change the structure of the Stokes lines of the theory. The Exact WKB can play an important role in avoiding such discrepancies.

Cosmological particle production and pairwise hotspots on the CMB

Heavy particles with masses much bigger than the inflationary Hubble scale H*, can get non-adiabatically pair produced during inflation through their couplings to the inflaton. If such couplings give rise to time-dependent masses for the heavy particles, then following their production, the heavy particles modify the curvature perturbation around their locations in a time-dependent and scale non-invariant manner. This results into a non-trivial spatial profile of the curvature perturbation that is preserved on superhorizon scales and eventually generates localized hot or cold spots on the CMB. We explore this phenomenon by studying the inflationary production of heavy scalars and derive the final temperature profile of the spots on the CMB by taking into account the subhorizon evolution, focusing in particular on the parameter space where pairwise hot spots (PHS) arise. When the heavy scalar has an mathcal{O} (1) coupling to the inflaton, we show that for an idealized situation where the dominant background to the PHS signal comes from the standard CMB fluctuations themselves, a simple position space search based on applying a temperature cut, can be sensitive to heavy particle masses M0/H* ∼ mathcal{O} (100). The corresponding PHS signal also modifies the CMB power spectra and bispectra, although the corrections are below (outside) the sensitivity of current measurements (searches).

Superadiabatic basis in cosmological particle production: application to preheating

We discuss the adiabatic basis dependence of particle number in time-dependent backgrounds. In particular, we focus on preheating after inflation, and show that, for the optimal basis, the time dependence of the produced particle number can be well approximated by a simple connection formula, which can be obtained by analysing Stokes phenomenon in given backgrounds. As we show explicitly, the simple connection formula can describe various parameter regions such as narrow and broad resonance regime in a unified manner.

The exact WKB for cosmological particle production

The Bogoliubov transformation in cosmological particle production can be explained by the Stokes phenomena of the corresponding ordinary differential equation. The calculation becomes very simple as far as the solution is described by a special function. Otherwise, the calculation requires more tactics, where the Exact WKB (EWKB) may be a powerful tool. Using the EWKB, we discuss cosmological particle production focusing on the effect of more general interaction and classical scattering. The classical scattering appears when the corresponding scattering problem of the Schrödinger equation develops classical turning points on the trajectory. The higher process of fermionic preheating is also discussed using the Landau-Zener model.

Cosmological quantum entanglement: a possible testbed for the existence of Kalb–Ramond field

In the present paper, we explore the possible effects of a second rank antisymmetric tensor field, known as Kalb–Ramond (KR) field, on cosmological particle production as well as on quantum entanglement for a massive scalar field propagating in a four dimensional FRW spacetime evolves through a symmetric bounce. For this purpose, the scalar field is considered to be coupled with the KR field and also with the Ricci scalar via the term ∼ξRΦ2 (with ξ be the coupling). The presence of KR field spoils the conformal symmetry of a massless scalar field even for ξ = 1/6 in four dimensional context, which has interesting consequences on particle production and consequently on quantum entanglement as we will discuss. In particular, the presence of KR field in an FRW bouncing Universe allows a greater particle production and consequently the upper bound of the entanglement entropy becomes larger in comparison to the case when the KR field is absent. This may provide an interesting testbed for the existence of Kalb–Ramond field in our Universe.

Quantum particle production effects on the cosmic expansion

Quantum fields in cosmological spacetimes can experience particle production due to their interaction with the expanding background. This effect is particularly relevant for models of the very early Universe, when the energy density generated through this process may back-react on the cosmological expansion. Yet, these scenarios have not been fully explored due to the several technical hurdles imposed by the back-reaction calculations. In this work we review the basics of cosmological quantum particle production and demonstrate a numerical algorithm to solve the back-reaction problem in regimes dominated by particle production. As an illustration, we compute the effects of a massive quantized scalar field on a cosmological bounce scenario, explicitly showing that quantum particle production can cause the contracting phase to end in a radiation crunch, or can delay the bounce. Finally, we discuss the relevance of quantum particle production/annihilation to bounce and inflationary models of the early Universe.

WKB approach to pair creation in spacetime-dependent fields: The case of a spacetime-dependent mass

Besides tunneling in static potential landscapes, for example, the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) approach is a powerful nonperturbative approximation tool to study particle creation due to time-dependent background fields, such as cosmological particle production or the Sauter-Schwinger effect, i.e., electron-positron pair creation in a strong electric field. However, our understanding of particle creation processes in background fields depending on both space and time is rather incomplete. In order to venture into this direction, we propose a generalization of the WKB method to truly spacetime-dependent fields and apply it to the case of a spacetime-dependent mass.

Finding quantum effects in strong classical potentials

The long-standing challenge to describing charged particle dynamics in strong classical electromagnetic fields is how to incorporate classical radiation, classical radiation reaction and quantized photon emission into a consistent unified framework. The current, semiclassical methods to describe the dynamics of quantum particles in strong classical fields also provide the theoretical framework for fundamental questions in gravity and hadron–hadron collisions, including Hawking radiation, cosmological particle production and thermalization of particles created in heavy-ion collisions. However, as we show, these methods break down for highly relativistic particles propagating in strong fields. They must therefore be improved and adapted for the description of laser–plasma experiments that typically involve the acceleration of electrons. Theory developed from quantum electrodynamics, together with dedicated experimental efforts, offer the best controllable context to establish a robust, experimentally validated foundation for the fundamental theory of quantum effects in strong classical potentials.

Cosmological particle production at strong coupling

Author(s): Rangamani, M; Rozali, M; Van Raamsdonk, M | Abstract: Abstract: We study the dynamics of a strongly-coupled quantum field theory in a cosmological spacetime using the holographic AdS/CFT correspondence. Specifically we consider a confining gauge theory in an expanding FRW universe and track the evolution of the stress-energy tensor during a period of expansion, varying the initial temperature as well as the rate and amplitude of the expansion. At strong coupling, particle production is inseparable from entropy production. Consequently, we find significant qualitative differences from the weak coupling results: at strong coupling the system rapidly loses memory of its initial state as the amplitude is increased. Furthermore, in the regime where the Hubble parameter is much smaller than the initial temperature, the dynamics is well-modelled as a plasma evolving hydrodynamically.

Emergent gravitational dynamics in a relativistic Bose-Einstein condensate

Analogue models of gravity have played a pivotal role in the past years by providing a test bench for many open issues in quantum field theory in curved spacetime such as the robustness of Hawking radiation and cosmological particle production. More recently, the same models have offered a valuable framework within which current ideas about the emergence of spacetime and its dynamics could be discussed via convenient toy models. In this context, we study here an analogue gravity system based on a relativistic Bose--Einstein condensate. We show that in a suitable limit this system provides not only an example of an emergent spacetime (with a massive and a massless relativistic fields propagating on it) but also that such spacetime is governed by an equation with geometric meaning that takes the familiar form of Nordstr{\"o}m theory of gravitation. In this equation the gravitational field is sourced by the expectation value of the trace of the effective stress energy tensor of the quasiparticles while the Newton and cosmological constants are functions of the fundamental scales of the microscopic system. This is the first example of analogue gravity in which a Lorentz invariant, geometric theory of semiclassical gravity emerges from an underlying quantum theory of matter in flat spacetime.

Quantum entanglement and entropy in particle creation

We investigate the basic theoretical issues in the quantum entanglement of particle pairs created from the vacuum in a time-dependent background field or spacetime. Similar to entropy generation from these processes which depends on the choice of physical variables and how certain information is coarse grained, entanglement dynamics hinges on the choice of measurable quantities and how the two parties are selected as well as the background dynamics of the field or spacetime. We discuss the conditions of separability of quantum states in particle creation processes and point out the differences in how the von Neumann entropy is used as a measure of entropy generation versus for entanglement dynamics. We show by an explicit construction that adoption of a different set of physical variables yields a different entanglement entropy. As an application of these theoretical considerations we show how the particle number and the quantum phase enter the entanglement dynamics in cosmological particle production.

Cosmological particle creation in states of low energy

The recently proposed states of low energy provide a well-motivated class of reference states for the quantized linear scalar field on cosmological Friedmann–Robertson–Walker space-times. The low energy property of a state is localized close to some value of the cosmological time coordinate. We present calculations of the relative cosmological particle production between a state of low energy at early time and another such state at later time. In an exponentially expanding Universe, we find that the particle production shows oscillations in the spatial frequency modes. The basis of the method for calculating the relative particle production is completely rigorous. Approximations are only used at the level of numerical calculation.

Cosmological particle production in emergent rainbow spacetimes

We investigate cosmological particle production in spacetimes where Lorentz invariance emerges in the infrared limit, but is explicitly broken in the ultraviolet regime. Thus these models are similar to many (but not all) models of quantum gravity, where a breakdown of Lorentz invariance is expected for ultraviolet physics around the Planck/string scale. Our specific model focuses on the boost subgroup that supports CPT invariance and results in a momentum-dependent dispersion relation. Motivated by previous studies on spacetimes emerging from a microscopic substrate, we show how these modifications naturally lead to momentum-dependent rainbow metrics. Firstly, we investigate the possibility of reproducing cosmological particle production in spacetimes emerging from real Bose gases. Several papers have been written on the analogy between the kinematics of linearized perturbations in Bose–Einstein condensates and effective curved-spacetime quantum field theory. Recently we have studied the influence of nonperturbative ultraviolet corrections in time-dependent analog spacetimes, leading to momentum-dependent emergent rainbow spacetimes. We show that models involving a time-dependent microscopic interaction are suitable for mimicking quantum effects in FRW spacetimes. Within certain limits the analogy is sufficiently good to simulate relativistic quantum field theory in time-dependent classical backgrounds, and the quantum effects are approximately robust against the model-dependent modifications. Secondly, we analyze how significantly the particle production process deviates from the common picture. While very low-energy modes do not see the difference at all, some modes ‘re-enter the Hubble horizon’ during the inflationary epoch, and extreme ultraviolet modes are completely insensitive to the expansion. The analysis outlined here, because it is nonperturbative in the rainbow metric, exhibits features that cannot be extracted simply from the standard perturbative modification of particle dispersion relations. However, we also show how the final result, after many e-foldings, will approach a time-independent exponentially decaying particle spectrum.