Quantum Cosmological Perturbations Research Articles

White hole cosmology and Hawking radiation from quantum cosmological perturbations

The spacetime inside the white hole is like an anisotropic cosmological background with the past singularity playing the role of a big bang singularity. The scale factor along the extended spatial direction is contracting while the scale factor along the two-sphere is expanding. We consider an eternal Schwarzschild manifold and study quantum cosmological perturbations generated near the white hole singularity which propagate towards the past event horizon and to the exterior of the black hole. It is shown that an observer deep inside the white hole and an observer far outside the black hole both share the same vacuum. We calculate the Hawking radiation associated to these quantum white hole perturbations as measured by an observer in the exterior of the black hole. Furthermore, we also consider the Hawking radiation for the general case where the initial cosmological perturbations deep inside the white hole are in a ``nonvacuum'' state yielding to a deviation from Planck distribution. This analysis suggests that if the black hole is not entirely black (due to Hawking radiation) then the white hole is not entirely white either.

Operator complexity for quantum scalar fields and cosmological perturbations

We calculate the operator complexity for the displacement, squeeze and rotation operators of a quantum harmonic oscillator, assuming equal computational cost for the corresponding fundamental gates. The complexity of the time-dependent displacement operator is constant, equal to the magnitude of the coherent state parameter, while the complexity of unitary evolution by a generic quadratic Hamiltonian is proportional to the amount of squeezing and is sensitive to the time-dependent phase of the unitary operator. We apply these results to study the complexity of a free massive scalar field, finding that the complexity has a period of rapid linear growth followed by a saturation determined by the UV cutoff and the number of spatial dimensions. We also study the complexity of the unitary evolution of quantum cosmological perturbations in de Sitter space, which can be written as time-dependent squeezing and rotation operators on individual Fourier mode pairs. The complexity of a single mode pair at late times grows linearly with the number of $e$-folds, while the complexity at early times oscillates rapidly due to the sensitivity of operator complexity to the phase of unitary time evolution. Integrating over all modes, the total complexity of cosmological perturbations scales as the square root of the (exponentially) growing volume of de Sitter space, suggesting that inflation leads to an explosive growth in complexity of the Universe.

Quantum cosmological backreactions. I. Cosmological space adiabatic perturbation theory

Quantum cosmology, including quantum cosmological inhomogeneities, is a promising framework for describing the very early universe in which all degrees of freedom are being considered as dynamical and quantum. However, many previous discussions on this subject consider the quantum cosmological perturbations as test fields on a curved spacetime with effective quantum modifications and thus neglect certain interactions of the subsystems, namely the backreaction of the inhomogeneous quantum fields on the cosmological background. In a series of four papers, of which this is the first, we aim at improving on the treatment of quantum effects that arise due to backreactions between matter and geometry as well as between the cosmological perturbations and the homogeneous degrees of freedom. We employ the technique of space adiabatic perturbation theory in the form developed by Panati, Spohn, and Teufel which relies on the familiar Born-Oppenheimer approximation. We extend the scheme to quantum field theory in the cosmological perturbative setting and show that this leads to presently neglected correction terms in the quantum Friedmann equations. In this first article, we provide a detailed introduction to the iterative scheme and examine the generic challenges encountered in its application to perturbative quantum cosmology. Our results will allow for a direct comparison to cosmological observations.

No Intrinsic Decoherence of Inflationary Cosmological Perturbations

After a brief summary of the four main veins in the treatment of decoherence and quantum to classical transition in cosmology since the 1980s, we focus on one of these veins in the study of quantum decoherence of cosmological perturbations in inflationary universe, the case when it does not rely on any environment. This is what ‘intrinsic’ in the title refers to—a closed quantum system, consisting of a quantum field which drives inflation. The question is whether its quantum perturbations, which interact with the density contrast giving rise to structures in the universe, decohere with an inflationary expansion of the universe. A dominant view which had propagated for a quarter of a century asserts yes, based on the belief that the large squeezing of a quantum state after a duration of inflation renders the system effectively classical. This paper debunks this view by identifying the technical fault-lines in its derivations and revealing the pitfalls in its arguments which drew earlier authors to this wrong conclusion. We use a few simple quantum mechanical models to expound where the fallacy originated: The highly squeezed ellipse quadrature in phase space cannot be simplified to a line, and the Wigner function cannot be replaced by a delta function. These measures amount to taking only the leading order in the relevant parameters in seeking the semiclassical limit and ignoring the subdominant contributions where quantum features reside. Doing so violates the bounds of the Wigner function, and its wave functions possess negative eigenvalues. Moreover, the Robertson-Schrödinger uncertainty relation for a pure state is violated. For inflationary cosmological perturbations, in addition to these features, entanglement exists between the created pairs. This uniquely quantum feature cannot be easily argued away. Indeed, it could be our best hope to retroduce the quantum nature of cosmological perturbations and the trace of an inflation field. All this points to the invariant fact that a closed quantum system, even when highly squeezed, evolves unitarily without loss of coherence; quantum cosmological perturbations do not decohere by themselves.

Quantum cosmological perturbations of multiple fluids

The formalism to treat quantization and evolution of cosmological perturbations of multiple fluids is described. We first construct the Lagrangian for both the gravitational and matter parts, providing the necessary relevant variables and momenta leading to the quadratic Hamiltonian describing linear perturbations. The final Hamiltonian is obtained without assuming any equations of motions for the background variables. This general formalism is applied to the special case of two fluids, having in mind the usual radiation and matter mix which made most of our current Universe history. Quantization is achieved using an adiabatic expansion of the basis functions. This allows for an unambiguous definition of a vacuum state up to the given adiabatic order. Using this basis, we show that particle creation is well defined for a suitable choice of vacuum and canonical variables, so that the time evolution of the corresponding quantum fields is unitary. This provides constraints for setting initial conditions for an arbitrary number of fluids and background time evolution. We also show that the common choice of variables for quantization can lead to an ill-defined vacuum definition. Our formalism is not restricted to the case where the coupling between fields is small, but is only required to vary adiabatically with respect to the ultraviolet modes, thus paving the way to consistent descriptions of general models not restricted to single-field (or fluid).

Quantum Gravity and Cosmological Density Perturbations

We explore the possible cosmological consequences of a running Newton’s constant, G(⎕), as suggested by the non-trivial ultraviolet fixed point scenario for Einstein gravity with a cosmological constant term. Here, we examine what possible effects a scale-dependent coupling might have on large-scale cosmological density perturbations. Starting from a set of manifestly covariant effective field equations, we develop the linear theory of density perturbations for a non-relativistic perfect fluid. The result is a modified equation for the matter density contrast, which can be solved and thus provides an estimate for the corrections to the growth index parameter, ɤ.

Quantum cosmological perturbations: predictions and observations

I consider the generic model independent predictions of the theory of quantum cosmological perturbations. To describe the stage of cosmic inflation, where these perturbations are amplified, the hydrodynamical approch is used. The inflationary stage is completely characterized by the deviation of the equation of state from cosmological constant which is a smooth function of the number of e-folds until the end of inflation. It is shown that in this case the spectral index should deviate from the flat one at least by 3 percent irrespective of any particular scenario. Given the value of the spectral index the lower bound on the amount of the gravitational waves produced is derived. Finally the relation between effective hydrodynamical description of inflation and inflationary scenarios is discussed.

Scalar field perturbations with arbitrary potentials in quantum backgrounds

In this paper it is shown how to obtain, without ever using the background classical equations of motion, a simple second order Hamiltonian involving the Mukhanov-Sasaki variable describing quantum linear scalar perturbations for the case of scalar fields with arbitrary potentials and arbitrary spacelike hyper-surfaces. It is a generalization of previous works, where the scalar field potential was absent and the spacelike hypersurfaces were flat. This was possible due to the implementation of a new method, together with the Faddeev-Jackiw procedure for the constraint reduction. The resulting Hamiltonian can then be used to study the evolution of quantum cosmological perturbations in quantum backgrounds.

Quantum cosmological perturbations of generic fluids in quantum universes

In previous works, it was shown that the Lagrangians and Hamiltonians of cosmological linear scalar, vector and tensor perturbations of homogeneous and isotropic space-times with flat spatial sections containing a perfect fluid can be put in a simple form through the implementation of canonical transformations and redefinitions of the lapse function, without ever using the background classical equations of motion. In this paper, we generalize this result to general fluids, which includes entropy perturbations, and to arbitrary spacelike hyper-surfaces through a new method together with the Faddeev-Jackiw procedure for the constraint reduction. A simple second order Hamiltonian involving the Mukhanov-Sasaki variable is obtained, again without ever using the background equations of motion.

BOUNCING AND QUANTUM THEORY

In this contribution I will present a review about bouncing models arriving from quantum cosmology and show how one can describe the evolution of quantum cosmological perturbations on them. I will discuss the important role played by the choice of the precise quantum theory one selects to interpret the wave function of the Universe in order to obtain simple equations for the evolution of quantum perturbations on these quantum cosmological backgrounds. I will present the predictions of these models concerning the power spectrum of cosmological perturbations and how they can be compared with the usual results obtained from inflationary models. Finally, I will present the new implications of these results for quantum theory.

BOUNCING AND QUANTUM THEORY

In this contribution I will present a review about bouncing models arriving from quantum cosmology and show how one can describe the evolution of quantum cosmological perturbations on them. I will discuss the important role played by the choice of the precise quantum theory one selects to interpret the wave function of the Universe in order to obtain simple equations for the evolution of quantum perturbations on these quantum cosmological backgrounds. I will present the predictions of these models concerning the power spectrum of cosmological perturbations and how they can be compared with the usual results obtained from inflationary models. Finally, I will present the new implications of these results for quantum theory.

A tomographic description for classical and quantum cosmological perturbations

Classical and quantum perturbations can be described in terms of marginal distribution functions in the framework of tomographic cosmology. In particular, the so-called Radon transformation and the mode-parametric quantum oscillator description can give rise to links between quantum and classical regimes. The approach results in a natural scheme to discuss the transition from quantum to classical perturbations and then it could be a workable scheme to connect primordial fluctuations with the large-scale structure observed today.

Decoherence of inflationary primordial fluctuations

We study the process whereby quantum cosmological perturbations become classical within inflationary cosmology. By setting up a master-equation formulation we show how quantum coherence for super-Hubble modes can be destroyed by its coupling to the environment provided by sub-Hubble modes. We identify what features the sub-Hubble environment must have in order to decohere the longer wavelengths, and identify how the onset of decoherence (and how long it takes) depends on the properties of the sub-Hubble physics which forms the environment. Our results show that the decoherence process is largely insensitive to the details of the coupling between the sub- and super-Hubble scales. They also show how locality implies, quite generally, that the decohered density matrix at late times is diagonal in the field representation (as is implicitly assumed by extant calculations of inflationary density perturbations). Our calculations also imply that decoherence can arise even for couplings which are as weak as gravitational in strength.

Quantum cosmological perturbations in pure gravity

We construct the quantum theory of cosmological perturbations as the semiclassical approximation to the linearized canonical quantum gravity. After the elimination of the scalar and vector perturbations of the metric, the harmonic oscillators for the tensor perturbations with background-dependent frequencies are obtained. The semiclassical approximation gives the free field theory of gravitons on the homogeneous isotropic universe in the Schroedinger representation. We discuss the general structure of the theory and present explicit solutions on the de Sitter background. When the background part of the wave function is exponentially increasing in the classically forbidden region, its perturbation part is unique. An interpretation of the solution is given by expanding the wave function into wave packets. In particular, we explain where and how the perturbations are considered to be in the ground state (zero-point oscillation), and where and how they become classical. Back-reactions and their renormalization are also discussed.