Hot Bang Research Articles

Hot Bang States of Massless Fermions

According to the characterization of local thermal equilibrium states in Local Quantum Physics proposed by Buchholz et al. microscopic and corresponding macroscopic observables are computed for the model of massless, free fermions on Minkowski space. An example for a local equilibrium state describing a hot bang is given, the main step being the proof of its positivity.

On Hot Bangs and the Arrow of Time in Relativistic Quantum Field Theory

A recently proposed method for the characterization and analysis of local equilibrium states in relativistic quantum field theory is applied to a simple model. Within this model states are identified which are locally (but not globally) in thermal equilibrium and it is shown that their local thermal properties evolve according to macroscopic equations. The largest space-time regions in which local equilibrium states can exist are timelike cones. Thus, although the model does not describe dissipative effects, such states fix in a natural manner a time direction. Moreover, generically they determine a distinguished space-time point where a singularity in the temperature (a hot bang) must have occurred if local equilibrium prevailed thereafter. The results illustrate how the breaking of the time reflection symmetry at macroscopic scales manifests itself in a microscopic setting.

A model of the universe free of cosmological problems

A cosmological model with an additional term Λ( x) g μν in the energy-momentum tensor is introduced. Its structure is specified by the assumption that the energy density of the universe equals its critical value. The model so determined has k = 1, is singularity-free and does not possess the horizon, entropy, monopole or cosmological-constant problems of the standard hot bang cosmology. The whole universe is found to be causally connected slightly after Planck time. There exists a period of phase transition during part of which the pressure is negative. The model displays a flow of energy from curvature to matter such that the entropy of matter is not conserved.

A precise measurement of the cosmic microwave background temperature from optical observations of interstellar CN

Very precise observations (with S/N greater than 2000) of the 3874-angstrom band of interstellar CN toward zeta Per and omicron Per are presented. In the zeta Oph, zeta Per, and omicron Per lines of sight, the saturation-corrected CN line strengths yield respective excitation temperatures of 2.72 plus or minus 0.05 K, 2.76 plus or minus 0.05 K, and 2.78 plus or minus 0.07 K for the J = 0-1 rotational transition at 2.64 mm. By confirming the blackbody character of the cosmic microwave background spectrum at wavelengths near the peak of its flux, the simplest explanation of the background as primeval fireball radiation from a hot bang is reinforced.