Spin-2 Fluctuations Research Articles

Spin-2 operators in AdS2/CFT1

We study spin-2 fluctuations around an infinite family of warped backgrounds of the form AdS2 × S2 × T4 × S1 × {mathcal{I}}_{rho } in the type IIB theory, which possesses mathcal{N} = 4 supersymmetry. We find that there exists a special set of solutions which is independent of the background data; the minimal universal class. This particular class of solutions corresponds to operators with scaling dimension ∆ = ℓ + 1, with ℓ being the quantum number of the angular-momentum on the S2. Using the mode solutions of these spin-2 states, we compute the central charge of the dual field theories. We comment on the relation of our results to the seed AdS3× S2× T4× {mathcal{I}}_{rho } backgrounds.

Relativistic viscous effects on the primordial gravitational waves spectrum

We study the impact of the viscous effects of the primordial plasma on the evolution of the primordial gravitational waves (pGW) spectrum from Inflation until today, considering a self-consistent interaction that incorporates the back-reaction of the GW into the plasma. We use a relativistic causal hydrodynamic framework with a positive entropy production based on a Second-Order Theory (SOT) in which the viscous properties of the fluid are effectively described by a new set of independent variables. We study how the spin-2 modes typical of SOTs capture the simplest GW-fluid viscous interaction to first order. We consider that all non-ideal properties of the primordial plasma are due to an extra effectively massless self-interacting scalar field whose state becomes a many-particles one after Reheating and for which an effective fluid description is suitable. We numerically solve the evolution equations and explicitly compute the current GW spectrum obtaining two contributions. On the one hand we have the viscous evolution of the pGW: for the collision-dominated regime the GW source becomes negligible while in the collisionless limit there exists an absorption of the pGW energy due to the damping effect produced by the free-streaming spin-2 modes of the fluid and driven by the expansion of the Universe. The latter effect is characterized by a relative amplitude decrease of about 1 to 10 % with respect to the GW free evolution spectrum. On the other hand we get the GW production due to the decay of the initial spin-2 fluctuations of the fluid that is negligible compared with the above-mentioned contribution.This SOT framework captures the same qualitative effects on the evolution of GW coupled to matter reported in previous works in which a kinetic theory approach has been used.

Symmetries for scalarless scalar theories

We consider theories containing scalar fields interacting with vector or with tensor degrees of freedom, equipped with symmetries that prevent the propagation of linearized scalar excitations around solutions of the equations of motion. We first study the implications of such symmetries for building vector theories that break Abelian gauge invariance without necessarily exciting longitudinal scalar fluctuations in flat space. We then examine scalar-tensor theories in curved space, and relate the symmetries we consider with a non-linear realization of broken space-time symmetries acting on scalar modes. We determine sufficient conditions on the space-time geometry to avoid the propagation of scalar fluctuations. We analyze linearized perturbations around spherically symmetric black holes, proving the absence of scalar excitations, and pointing out modifications in the dynamics of spin-2 fluctuations with respect to Einstein gravity. We then study consequences of this set-up for the dark energy problem, determining scalar constraints on cosmological configurations that can lead to self-accelerating universes whose expansion is insensitive to the value of the bare cosmological constant.

Massive spin 2 excitations in AdS6 \xd7 S2 warped spacetimes

We study (massive) spin-2 fluctuations around warped AdS6 solutions with 16 supersymmetries in type IIB supergravity. We identify two classes of fluctuations which are universally present for all solutions of this form. The holographically dual operators have scaling dimensions Δ = 5 + 3ℓ and Δ = 6 + 3ℓ, where the integer ℓ encodes the R-symmetry charge. They are identified as descendant states in respective BPS multiplets (the current multiplet for Δ = 5). We also compute the normalization of the energy-momentum tensor two-point function and show that it is related to the S5 partition function of the dual 5d SCFTs.

Higgsed Gauge-flation

We study a variant of Gauge-flation where the gauge symmetry is spontaneously broken by a Higgs sector. We work in the Stueckelberg limit and demonstrate that the dynamics remain (catastrophically) unstable for cases where the gauge field masses satisfy γ < 2, where γ = g2ψ2/H2, g is the gauge coupling, ψ is the gauge field vacuum expectation value, and H is the Hubble rate. We compute the spectrum of density fluctuations and gravitational waves, and show that the model can produce observationally viable spectra. The background gauge field texture violates parity, resulting in a chiral gravitational wave spectrum. This arises due to an exponential enhancement of one polarization of the spin-2 fluctuation of the gauge field. Higgsed Gauge-flation can produce observable gravitational waves at inflationary energy scales well below the GUT scale.

Gravitational leptogenesis in axion inflation with SU(2) gauge field

We present an intrinsic leptogenesis mechanism in models of axion inflation with a classical SU(2) gauge field. The gauge field is coupled to the axion with a Chern-Simons interaction and comprises a tiny fraction of the total energy, ρYM/ρtot ≲ ϵ2. However, it has spin-2 fluctuations which breaks the parity and leads to the generation of chiral gravitational waves during inflation. By the gravitational anomaly in SM, it naturally creates a net lepton number density, sufficient to explain the matter asymmetry. We show that this mechanism can generate the observed value of baryon to photon number density in a natural range of parameters and yet has a small chiral tensor power spectrum on large scales.

Axion inflation with an SU(2) gauge field: detectable chiral gravity waves

We study a single field axion inflation model in the presence of an SU(2) gauge field with a small vev. In order to make the analysis as model-independent as possible, we consider an arbitrary potential for the axion that is able to support the slow-roll inflation. The gauge field is coupled to the axion with a Chern-Simons interaction $$ \frac{\lambda }{f}{F}_{\mu \nu}^a{\tilde{F}}_a^{\mu \nu } $$ where $$ \frac{\lambda }{f}\sim \frac{\mathcal{O}(10)}{M_{\mathrm{pl}}} $$ . It has a negligible effect on the background evolution, $$ \frac{\rho \mathrm{Y}\mathrm{M}}{M_{\mathrm{pl}}^2{H}^2}\lesssim {\upepsilon}^2 $$ . However, its quantum fluctuations make a significant contribution to the cosmic perturbation. In particular, the gauge field has a spin-2 fluctuation which explicitly breaks the parity between the left- and right-handed polarization states. The chiral tensor modes are linearly coupled to the gravitational waves and lead to a circularly polarized tensor power spectrum comparable to the unpolarized vacuum power spectrum. Moreover, the scalar sector is modified by the linear scalar fluctuations of the gauge field. Since the spin-0 and spin-2 fluctuations of the SU(2) gauge field are independent, the gauge field can, at the same time, generate a detectable chiral gravitational wave signal and have a negligible contribution to the scalar fluctuations, in agreement with the current CMB observations.

Evidence for the holographic dual ofN=3solution in massive type IIA supergravity

We calculate the Kaluza-Klein spectrum of spin-2 fluctuations around the ${\cal N}=3$ warped ${\rm AdS}_4\times M_6$ solution in massive IIA supergravity. This solution was conjectured to be dual to the $D=3$ ${\cal N}=3$ superconformal ${\rm SU}(N)$ Chern-Simons matter theory with level $k$ and 2 adjoint chiral multiplets. The ${\rm SO}(3)_R\times{\rm SO}(3)_D$ isometry of the ${\cal N}=3$ solution is identified with the ${\rm SU}(2)_F\times {\rm SU}(2)_{\cal R}$ global symmetry of the dual ${\cal N}=3$ SCFT. We show that the ${\rm SO}(3)_R\times{\rm SO}(3)_D$ quantum numbers and the ${\rm AdS}$ energies carried by the BPS spin-2 modes match precisely with those of the spin-2 gauge invariant operators in the short multiplets of operators in the ${\cal N}=3$ SCFT. We also compute the Euclidean action of the ${\cal N}=3$ solution and the free energy of the ${\cal N}=3$ SCFT on $S^3$, in the limit $N\gg k$. Remarkably, the results show a complete agreement.

Massive spin-2 fields on black hole spacetimes: Instability of the Schwarzschild and Kerr solutions and bounds on the graviton mass

Massive bosonic fields of arbitrary spin are predicted by general extensions of the Standard Model. It has been recently shown that there exists a family of bimetric theories of gravity - including massive gravity - which are free of Boulware-Deser ghosts at the nonlinear level. This opens up the possibility to describe consistently the dynamics of massive spin-2 particles in a gravitational field. Within this context, we develop the study of massive spin-2 fluctuations - including massive gravitons - around Schwarzschild and slowly-rotating Kerr black holes. Our work has two important outcomes. First, we show that the Schwarzschild geometry is linearly unstable for small tensor masses, against a spherically symmetric mode. Second, we provide solid evidence that the Kerr geometry is also generically unstable, both against the spherical mode and against long-lived superradiant modes. In the absence of nonlinear effects, the observation of spinning black holes bounds the graviton mass to be smaller than 5x10^{-23} eV.

On consistent theories of massive spin-2 fields coupled to gravity

We consider the issues that arise out of interpreting the ghost-free bimetric theory as a theory of a spin-2 field coupled to gravity. This requires identifying a gravitational metric and parameterizing deviations of the resulting theory from general relativity. To this end, we first consider the most general bimetric backgrounds for which a massless and a massive spin-2 fluctuation with Fierz-Pauli mass exist. These backgrounds coincide with solutions in general relativity. Based on this, we obtain nonlinear extensions of the massive and massless spin-2 fields. The background value of the nonlinear massive field parameterizes generic deviations of the bimetric theory from GR. It is also shown that the nonlinear massless field does not have standard ghost-free matter couplings, and hence cannot represent the gravitational metric. However, an appropriate gravitational metric can still be identified in the weak gravity limit. Hence in the presence of other neutral spin-2 fields, the weak gravity limit is crucial for compatibility with general relativity. We also write down the action in terms of the nonlinear massive spin-2 field and obtain its ghost-free couplings to matter. The discussion is then generalized to multimetric theories.

On the stability of a non-supersymmetric ground state

Considers the gauged N=2 (simple) supersymmetric seven-dimensional (d=7) supergravity theory with the scalar field potential having two critical points. Applying a modified Witten argument reduces the question of stability to deciding if a particular non-linear ordinary differential equation has a global solution. The author shows that it does and that therefore the non-supersymmetric ground state is stable against arbitrary spin-0, spin-1 and spin-2 fluctuations.