Self-interacting Potentials Research Articles

ECO-spotting: looking for extremely compact objects with bosonic fields

Black holes are thought to describe the geometry of massive, dark compact objects in the Universe. To further support and quantify this long-held belief requires knowledge of possible, if exotic alternatives. Here, we wish to understand how compact can self-gravitating solutions be. We discuss theories with a well-posed initial value problem, consisting in either a single self-interacting scalar, vector or both. We focus on spherically symmetric solutions, investigating the influence of self-interacting potentials into the compactness of the solutions, in particular those that allow for flat-spacetime solutions. We are able to connect such stars to hairy black hole solutions, which emerge as a zero-mass black hole. We show that such stars can have light rings, but their compactness is never parametrically close to that of black holes. The challenge of finding black hole mimickers to investigate full numerical-relativity binary setups remains open.

Hubble-induced phase transitions on the lattice with applications to Ricci reheating

Using 3+1 classical lattice simulations, we follow the symmetry breaking pattern and subsequent non-linear evolution of a spectator field non-minimally coupled to gravity when the post-inflationary dynamics is given in terms of a stiff equation-of-state parameter. We find that the gradient energy density immediately after the transition represents a non-negligible fraction of the total energy budget, steadily growing to equal the kinetic counterpart. This behaviour is reflected on the evolution of the associated equation-of-state parameter, which approaches a universal value 1/3, independently of the shape of non-linear interactions. Combined with kination, this observation allows for the generic onset of radiation domination for arbitrary self-interacting potentials, significantly extending previous results in the literature. The produced spectrum at that time is, however, non-thermal, precluding the naive extraction of thermodynamical quantities like temperature. Potential identifications of the spectator field with the Standard Model Higgs are also discussed.

Inverse-chirp signals and spontaneous scalarisation with self-interacting potentials in stellar collapse

We study how the gravitational wave signal from stellar collapse in scalar-tensor gravity varies under the influence of scalar self-interaction. To this end, we extract the gravitational radiation from numerical simulations of stellar collapse for a range of potentials with higher-order terms in addition to the quadratic mass term. Our study includes collapse to neutron stars and black holes and we find the strong inverse-chirp signals obtained for the purely quadratic potential to be exceptionally robust under changes in the potential at higher orders; quartic and sextic terms in the potential lead to noticeable differences in the wave signal only if their contribution is amplified, implying a relative fine-tuning to within five or more orders of magnitude between the mass and self-interaction parameters.

Qualitative behavior of cosmological models combining various matter fields

The late time accelerated expansion of the universe can be realized using scalar fields with the given self-interacting potentials. Here, we consider a straightforward approach where a three cosmic fluid mixture is assumed. The fluids are standard matter perfect fluid, dark matter, and a scalar field with the role of dark energy. A dynamical system analysis is developed in this context. A central role is played by the equation of state [Formula: see text] which determines the acceleration phase of the models. Determining the domination of a particular fluid at certain stages of the universe history by stability analysis allows, in principle, to establish the succession of the various cosmological eras.

Power spectra in warm G inflation and its consistency: Stochastic approach

Recently, it has been realized that the so-called G-inflation model inspired by supplementing a generalized covariant Galileon-like non-linear derivative self-interacting term to the standard kinetic term should be ruled out from inflationary models. This is due to the fact that it suffers from lack of an oscillatory phase at the end of the inflationary regime which is typically accompanied by the appearance of a negative squared propagation speed of the scalar mode leading to instabilities of small-scale perturbations. In this regard, the warm G-inflation scenario is proposed where for G-inflation to survive, the Galileon scalar field is coupled to the radiation field through a dissipation term which results in removing the reheating period due to the characteristics of warm inflationary scenario. In so doing, a linear stability analysis is first performed to obtain the appropriate slow-roll conditions in such a proposal. Cosmological perturbations of the model are then investigated by utilizing fluctuation-dissipation theorem and analytical expressions are derived for observable quantities; the power spectrum, tilt spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio in terms of $PSR$ parameters and Galileon flow functions. Finally, the model is solved for chaotic self-interacting potentials, particularly the renormalizable Higgs potential $\frac{\lambda}{4} \phi^{4}$, and shown to be consistent with observations in the weak dissipation $Q \ll 1+ 3\frac{\delta_{GX}}{\delta_{X}}$ and G-dominant $3\frac{\delta_{GX}}{\delta_{X}}\gg 1$ regime despite its large self-coupling, since the energy scale at the horizon crossing is depressed by the synergy of Galileon and thermal effects.

Extended phase space analysis of interacting dark energy models in loop quantum cosmology

The present work deals with the dynamical system investigation of interacting dark energy models (quintessence and phantom) in the framework of Loop Quantum Cosmology by taking into account a broad class of self-interacting scalar field potentials. The main reason for studying potentials beyond the exponential type is to obtain additional critical points which can yield more interesting cosmological solutions. The stability of critical points and the asymptotic behavior of the phase space are analyzed using dynamical system tools and numerical techniques. We study two class of interacting dark energy models and consider two specific potentials as examples: the hyperbolic potential and the inverse power-law potential. We found a rich and interesting phenomenology including the avoidance of big rip singularities due to loop quantum effects, smooth and non-linear transitions from matter domination to dark energy domination and finite periods of phantom domination with dynamical crossing of the phantom barrier.

A model of synchronization over quantum networks

We investigate a non-Abelian generalization of the Kuramoto model proposed by Lohe and given by N quantum oscillators (‘nodes’) connected by a quantum network where the wavefunction at each node is distributed over quantum channels to all other connected nodes. It leads to a system of Schrödinger equations coupled by nonlinear self-interacting potentials given by their correlations. We give a complete picture of synchronization results, given on the relative size of the natural frequency and the coupling constant, for two non-identical oscillators and show complete phase synchronization for arbitrary identical oscillators. Our results are mainly based on the analysis of the ODE system satisfied by the correlations and on the introduction of a quantum order parameter, which is analogous to the one defined by Kuramoto in the classical model. As a consequence of the previous results, we obtain the synchronization of the probability and the current densities defined via the Madelung transformations.

Leading CFT constraints on multi-critical models in d > 2

We consider the family of renormalizable scalar QFTs with self-interacting potentials of highest monomial ϕm below their upper critical dimensions {d}_c=frac{2m}{m-2} , and study them using a combination of CFT constraints, Schwinger-Dyson equation and the free theory behavior at the upper critical dimension. For even integers m ≥ 4 these theories coincide with the Landau-Ginzburg description of multi-critical phenomena and interpolate with the unitary minimal models in d = 2, while for odd m the theories are non-unitary and start at m = 3 with the Lee-Yang universality class. For all the even potentials and for the Lee-Yang universality class, we show how the assumption of conformal invariance is enough to compute the scaling dimensions of the local operators ϕk and of some families of structure constants in either the coupling’s or the ϵ-expansion. For all other odd potentials we express some scaling dimensions and structure constants in the coupling’s expansion.

Mass bounds for compact spherically symmetric objects in generalized gravity theories

We derive upper and lower bounds on the mass-radius ratio of stable compact objects in extended gravity theories, in which modifications of the gravitational dynamics via-{\' a}-vis standard general relativity are described by an effective contribution to the matter energy-momentum tensor. Our results include the possibility of a variable coupling between the matter sector and the gravitational field and are valid for a large class of generalized gravity models. The generalized continuity and Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations are expressed in terms of the effective mass, density and pressure, given by the bare values plus additional contributions from the total energy-momentum tensor, and general theoretical limits for the maximum and minimum mass-radius ratios are explicitly obtained. As an applications of the formalism developed herein, we consider compact bosonic objects, described by scalar-tensor gravitational theories with self-interacting scalar field potentials, and charged compact objects, respectively. For Higgs type models, we find that these bounds can be expressed in terms of the value of the potential at the surface of the compact object. Minimizing the energy with respect to the radius, we obtain explicit upper and lower bounds on the mass, which admits a Chandrasekhar type representation. For charged compact objects, we consider the effects of the Poincar\'{e} stresses on the equilibrium structure and obtain bounds on the radial and tangential stresses. As a possible astrophysical test of our results, we obtain the general bound on the gravitational redshift for compact objects in extended gravity theories. General implications of minimum mass bounds for the gravitational stability of fundamental particles and for the existence of holographic duality between bulk and boundary degrees of freedom are also considered.

Embeddings for general relativity

We present a systematic approach to embed n-dimensional vacuum general relativity in an (n+1)-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian spacetime whose source is either a (non)zero cosmological constant or a scalar field minimally coupled to Einstein gravity. Our approach allows us to generalize a number of results discussed in the literature. We construct all the possible (physically distinct) embeddings in Einstein spaces, including the Ricci-flat ones widely discussed in the literature. We examine in detail their generalization, which—in the framework under consideration—are higher-dimensional spacetimes sourced by a scalar field with flat (constant 0) potential. We use the Kretschmann curvature scalar to show that many embedding spaces have a physical singularity at some finite value of the extra coordinate. We develop several classes of embeddings that are free of singularities, have distinct non-vanishing self-interacting potentials and are continuously connected (in various limits) to Einstein embeddings. We point out that the induced metric possesses scaling symmetry and, as a consequence, the effective physical parameters (e.g., mass, angular momentum, cosmological constant) can be interpreted as functions of the extra coordinate.

Scalar field breathers on anti–de Sitter background

We study spatially localized, time-periodic solutions (breathers) of scalar field theories with various self-interacting potentials on Anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetimes in $D$ dimensions. A detailed numerical study of spherically symmetric configurations in $D=3$ dimensions is carried out, revealing a rich and complex structure of the phase-space (bifurcations, resonances). Scalar breather solutions form one-parameter families parametrized by their amplitude, $\varepsilon$, while their frequency, $\omega=\omega(\varepsilon)$, is a function of the amplitude. The scalar breathers on AdS we find have a small amplitude limit, tending to the eigenfunctions of the linear Klein-Gordon operator on AdS. Importantly most of these breathers appear to be generically stable under time evolution.

Least-order torsion-gravity for chiral-spinor fields, induced self-interacting potentials and parity conservation

We will consider the most general least-order derivative action for the torsional completion of gravitational backgrounds filled with left-handed and right-handed semi-spinorial fields, accounting for all parity-even as well as parity-odd contributions; we will proceed by performing the customary analysis, decomposing torsion and substituting it in terms of the semi-spinorial density currents, in order to obtain the effective action with the torsionally-induced self-interacting potentials among the chiral fermionic fields: we shall see that the resulting effective non-linear potentials will turn eventually out to be parity conserving after all.

Solitonic axion condensates modeling dark matter halos

Instead of fluid type dark matter (DM), axion-like scalar fields with a periodic self-interaction or some truncations of it are analyzed as a model of galaxy halos. It is probed if such cold Bose–Einstein type condensates could provide a viable soliton type interpretation of the DM ‘bullets’ observed by means of gravitational lensing in merging galaxy clusters. We study solitary waves for two self-interacting potentials in the relativistic Klein–Gordon equation, mainly in lower dimensions, and visualize the approximately shape-invariant collisions of two ‘lump’ type solitons.

Noncommutative field theory from quantum mechanical space–space noncommutativity

We investigate the incorporation of space noncommutativity into field theory by extending to the spectral continuum the minisuperspace action of the quantum mechanical harmonic oscillator propagator with an enlarged Heisenberg algebra. In addition to the usual ⋆-product deformation of the algebra of field functions, we show that the parameter of noncommutativity can occur in noncommutative field theory even in the case of free fields without self-interacting potentials.

Bianchi I Quantum Cosmology in the Bergmann–Wagoner Theory

The Wheeler–DeWitt equation is considered in the context of generalized scalar-tensor theories of gravitation for the Bianchi type I cosmology. Exact solutions are found for two selfinteracting potentials and arbitrary coupling function. The WKB wavefunctions are obtained and a family of solutions satisfying the Hawking–Page regularity conditions of wormholes are found.