Dubovsky and Sibiryakov recently proposed a scenario in which particles of different species propagate with different speeds due to their direct couplings to ghost condensate. It was argued that this extended version of ghost condensate allows a gedanken experiment leading to violation of the generalized second law. However, in the original ghost condensate scenario, difference in propagation speeds is suppressed by M^2/M_{Pl}^2, where M is the order parameter of spontaneous Lorentz breaking and M_{Pl} is the Planck scale. In this case the energy transfer necessary for the gedanken experiment is so slow that the timescale of decrease of entropy, if any, is always longer than the Jeans timescale of ghost condensate. Hence the generalized second law is not violated by the gedanken experiment in the original ghost condensate scenario. This conclusion trivially extends to gauged ghost condensation by taking into account accretion of gauged ghost condensate into a black hole.
We consider the ghost-condensate model of dark energy with a generic potential term. The inclusion of the potential is shown to give greater freedom in realising the phantom regime. The self-consistency of the analysis is demonstrated using WMAP7+BAO+Hubble data.
By looking for possible violation of the generalized second law, we might be able to find regions in the space of theories and states that do not allow holographic dual descriptions. We revisit three proposals for violation of the generalized second law in the simplest Higgs phase of gravity called ghost condensate. Two of them, (i) analogue of Penrose process and (ii) semiclassical heat flow, are based on Lorentz breaking effects, by which particles of different species can have different limits of speed. We show that processes in both (i) and (ii) are always slower than accretion of ghost co…
We investigate how the ghost condensate reacts to black holes immersed in it. A ghost condensate defines a hypersurface-orthogonal congruence of timelike curves, each of which has the tangent vector u^μ=-g^{μν}\partial_νϕ. It is argued that the ghost condensate in this picture approximately corresponds to a congruence of geodesics. In other words, the ghost condensate accretes into a black hole just like a pressure-less dust. Correspondingly, if the energy density of the ghost condensate at large distance is set to an extremely small value by cosmic expansion then the late-time accretion rate …
In a ghost-condensate model of dark energy the combined dynamics of the scalar field and gravitation is shown to impose non-trivial restriction on the self-interaction of the scalar field. Using this restriction we show that the choice of a zero self-interaction leads to a situation too restrictive for the general evolution of the universe. This restriction, obtained in the form of a quadratic equation of the scalar potential, is demonstrated to admit real solutions. Also, in the appropriate limit it reproduces the potential in the phantom cosmology.
The intent of this letter is to point out that the accretion of a ghost condensate by black holes could be extremely efficient. We analyze steady-state spherically symmetric flows of the ghost fluid in the gravitational field of a Schwarzschild black hole and calculate the accretion rate. Unlike minimally coupled scalar field or quintessence, the accretion rate is set not by the cosmological energy density of the field, but by the energy scale of the ghost condensate theory. If hydrodynamical flow is established, it could be as high as tenth of a solar mass per second for 10MeV-scale ghost con…
We present the theory of a supersymmetric ghost condensate coupled to N=1 supergravity. This is accomplished using a general formalism for constructing locally supersymmetric higher-derivative chiral superfield actions. The theory admits a ghost condensate vacuum in de Sitter spacetime. Expanded around this vacuum, the scalar sector of the theory is shown to be ghost-free with no spatial gradient instabilities. By direct calculation, the fermion sector is found to consist of a massless chiral fermion and a massless gravitino. By analyzing the supersymmetry transformations, we find that the chi…
We demonstrate that a clear physical content and relevance can be attributed to the on-shell BRST-invariant mixed gluon--ghost condensate of mass dimension two which was recently proposed by the author. We argue that a gauge invariant observable is associated with the mixed condensate.
We show that cosmological acceleration, Dark Energy (DE) effect is a consequence of the zero rest mass, conformal non-invariance of gravitons, and 1-loop finiteness of quantum gravity (QG). The effect is due to graviton-ghost condensates arising from the interference of quantum coherent states. The theory is constructed as follows: Faddeev-Popov-De Witt gauged path integral -> factorization of classical and quantum variables -> transition to the 1-loop approximation -> choice of ghost sector, satisfying 1-loop finiteness of the theory off the mass shell. The Bogolyubov-Born-Green-Kirckwood-Yvo…
We propose a simple higher-derivative braneworld gravity model which contains a stable accelerating branch, in the absence of cosmological constant or potential, that can be used to describe the late time cosmic acceleration. This model has similar qualitative features to that of Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati, such as the recovery of four-dimensional gravity at subhorizon scales, but unlike that case, the graviton zero mode is massless and there are no linearized instabilities. The acceleration rather is driven by bulk gravity in the form of a spin-two ghost condensate. We show that this model can b…
We consider the infrared modification of gravity by ghost condensate. Naively, in this scenario one expects sizeable modification of gravity at distances of order 1000 km, provided that the characteristic time scale of the theory is of the order of the Hubble time. However, we argue that this is not the case. The main physical reason for the conspiracy is a simple fact that the Earth (and any other object in the Universe) has velocity of at least of order 10^{-3}c with respect to the rest frame of ghost condensate. Combined with strong retardation effects present in the ghost sector, this fact…
We show how to construct supersymmetric actions for higher-derivative scalar field theories of the form P(X,phi), within the context of d=4, N=1 supersymmetry. This construction is of general use, and is applied to write supersymmetric versions of the Dirac-Born-Infeld action. Our principal application of this formalism is to construct the supersymmetric extension of the ghost condensate. This allows us to study the interplay between supersymmetry, time-dependent backgrounds and violations of the null energy condition.
Ghost condensates of dimension two are analysed in pure SU(N) Yang-Mills theories by combining the local composite operators technique with the algebraic BRST renormalization.
Ghost condensates of dimension two are analysed in a class of nonlinear gauges in pure Yang-Mills theories. These condensates are related to the breaking of the SL(2,R) symmetry, present in these gauges.
Ghost condensates of dimension two in SU(N) Yang-Mills theory quantized in the Maximal Abelian Gauge are discussed. These condensates turn out to be related to the dynamical breaking of the SL(2,R) symmetry present in this gauge
Observations of high-redshift supernovae indicate that the universe is accelerating at the present stage, and we refer to the cause for this cosmic acceleration as ``dark energy''. In particular, the analysis of current data of type Ia supernovae (SNIa), cosmic large-scale structure (LSS), and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy implies that, with some possibility, the equation-of-state parameter of dark energy may cross the cosmological-constant boundary ($w=-1$) during the recent evolution stage. The model of ``quintom'' has been proposed to describe this $w=-1$ crossing behavio…
In the simplest Higgs phase of gravity called ghost condensation, an accelerating universe with a phantom era (w<-1) can be realized without ghost or any other instabilities. In this paper we show how to reconstruct the potential in the Higgs sector Lagrangian from a given cosmological history (H(t), ρ(t)). This in principle allows us to constrain the potential by geometrical information of the universe such as supernova distance-redshift relation. We also derive the evolution equation for cosmological perturbations in the Higgs phase of gravity by employing a systematic low energy expansion. …
We study the propagation of super-horizon cosmological perturbations in a non-singular bounce spacetime. The model we consider combines a ghost condensate with a Galileon term in order to induce a ghost-free bounce. Our calculation is performed in harmonic gauge, which ensures that the linearized equations of motion remain well-defined and non-singular throughout. We find that, despite the fact that near the bounce the speed of sound becomes imaginary, super-horizon curvature perturbations remain essentially constant across the bounce. In fact, we show that there is a time close to the bounce …
In a recently proposed model of ``ghost condensation'', spatially homogeneous states may mix, via tunneling, with inhomogeneous states which are somewhat similar to bubbles in the theory of false vacuum decay, the corresponding bubble nucleation rate being exponentially sensitive to the ultraviolet completion of the model. The conservation of energy and charge requires that the energy density is negative and the field is strongly unstable in a part of the nucleated bubble. Unlike in the theory of false vacuum decay, this region does not expand during subsequent real-time evolution. In the oute…
The infrared behavior of the gluon and ghost propagators is studied in SU(2) Euclidean Yang-Mills theory in the maximal Abelian gauge within the Gribov-Zwanziger framework. The nonperturbative effects associated with the Gribov copies and with the dimension two condensates are simultaneously encoded into a local and renormalizable Lagrangian. The resulting behavior turns out to be in good agreement with the lattice data.
The effective potential for an on-shell BRST invariant gluon-ghost condensate of mass dimension 2 in the Curci-Ferrari gauge in SU(N) Yang-Mills is analysed by combining the local composite operator technique with the algebraic renormalization. We pay attention to the gauge parameter independence of the vacuum energy obtained in the considered framework and discuss the Landau gauge as an interesting special case.
We consider a Schwarzschild black hole immersed in a ghost condensate background. It is shown that the Hawking radiation in the quanta of small perturbations around this background is highly suppressed- in particular it is not given by a thermal spectrum. This result is in accord with observations that such black holes can be used to violate the generalized second law of thermodynamics, and thus cannot have a standard entropy/area relation.
Recently, it was shown that a renormalizable theory of heavy fermions coupled to a light complex boson could generate an effective action for the boson with the properties required to violate Lorentz invariance spontaneously through the mechanism of ghost condensation. However, there was some doubt about whether this result depended on the choice of regulator. In this work, we adopt a non-perturbative, unitary lattice regulator and show that with this regulator the theory does not have the properties necessary to form a ghost condensate. Consequently, the statement that the theory is a UV comp…
The ghost condensate <epsilon^{abc} cbar^b c^c> is considered together with the gluon condensate <A^2> in SU(2) Euclidean Yang-Mills theories quantized in the Landau gauge. The vacuum polarization ceases to be transverse due to the nonvanishing condensate <epsilon^{abc} cbar^b c^c>. The gluon propagator itself remains transverse. By polarization effects, this ghost condensate induces then a splitting in the gluon mass parameter, which is dynamically generated through <A^2>. The obtained effective masses are real when <A^2> is included in the analysis. In the absence of <A^2>, the already known…
We discuss a special class of quantum gravity phenomena that occur on the scale of the Universe as a whole at any stage of its evolution. These phenomena are a direct consequence of the zero rest mass of gravitons, conformal non-invariance of the graviton field, and one-loop finiteness of quantum gravity. The effects are due to graviton-ghost condensates arising from the interference of quantum coherent states. Each of coherent states is a state of gravitons and ghosts of a wavelength of the order of the horizon scale and of different occupation numbers. The state vector of the Universe is a c…
We explore a dark energy model with a ghost scalar field in the context of the runaway dilaton scenario in low-energy effective string theory. We address the problem of vacuum stability by implementing higher-order derivative terms and show that a cosmologically viable model of ``phantomized'' dark energy can be constructed without violating the stability of quantum fluctuations. We also analytically derive the condition under which cosmological scaling solutions exist starting from a general Lagrangian including the phantom type scalar field. We apply this method to the case where the dilaton…
We propose a vacuum condensate of mass dimension 2 consisting of gluons and ghosts in the framework of the manifestly covariant gauge fixing of the SU(N) Yang-Mills theory. This quantity is both BRST and anti-BRST invariant for any gauge. It includes the ghost condensation $C^a \bar{C}^a$ proposed first in the modified Maximal Abelian gauge and reduces to the gluon condensates $(\mathscr{A}_μ)^2$ of mass dimension 2 proposed recently in the Landau gauge of the Lorentz gauge fixing. The vacuum condensate of dimensions 2 can provide the effective mass for gluons and ghosts. The possible existenc…
To investigate the possibility of a ghost-antighost condensate the coupled Dyson--Schwinger equations for the gluon and ghost propagators in Yang--Mills theories are derived in general covariant gauges, including ghost-antighost symmetric gauges. The infrared behaviour of these two-point functions is studied in a bare-vertex truncation scheme which has proven to be successful in Landau gauge. In all linear covariant gauges the same infrared behaviour as in Landau gauge is found: The gluon propagator is infrared suppressed whereas the ghost propagator is infrared enhanced. This infrared singula…
Ghost condensation has been recently proposed as a mechanism inducing the spontaneous breaking of Lorentz symmetry. Corrections to the Newton potential generated by a static source have been computed: they yield a limit M < 10 MeV on the symmetry breaking scale, and - if the limit is saturated - they are maximal at a distance L ~ 1000 km from the source. However, these corrections propagate at a tiny velocity, v_s ~ 10^{-12} m/s, many orders of magnitude smaller than the velocity of any plausible source. We compute the gravitational potential taking the motion of the source into account: the s…
The new ekpyrotic scenario attempts to solve the singularity problem by involving violation of the null energy condition in a model which combines the ekpyrotic/cyclic scenario with the ghost condensate theory and the curvaton mechanism of production of adiabatic perturbations of metric. The Lagrangian of this theory, as well as of the ghost condensate model, contains a term with higher derivatives, which was added to the theory to stabilize its vacuum state. We found that this term may affect the dynamics of the cosmological evolution. Moreover, after a proper quantization, this term results …
In order to discuss the occurrence of a periodic condensate in the Euclidean 3-dimensional ghost $O(1)$ model, a modified version of the effective average action (EAA) renormalization group (RG) method is developed, called by us Fourier-Wetterich RG approach. It is proposed to start with an ansatz for the EAA, that contains terms, in addition to the usual ones, induced by the various Fourier-modes of the periodic condensate and to expand the EAA in functional Taylor-series around the periodic background. The RG flow equations are derived in the next-to-next-to-leading order of the gradient exp…
We construct the effective potential for the ghost condensate <f^{abi}\bar{c}^a c^b> in the maximal Abelian gauge. This condensate is an order parameter for a global continuous symmetry, which is spontaneously broken since a nonvanishing value of <f^{abi}\bar{c}^a c^b> lowers the vacuum energy. The associated Goldstone mode turns out to be unphysical.
Euclidean $SU(2)$ gauge theory is studied in a nonlinear gauge. In this theory, ghost condensation happens and gauge fields acquire tachyonic masses. It is shown that these tachyonic masses are removed by a gauge field condensate $\langle A_μ^+A_μ^-\rangle$. Because of the ghost condensation, monopole solutions are included naturally. We find the condensate $\langle A_μ^+A_μ^-\rangle$ makes the magnetic potential massive.
We propose a new scenario for early cosmology, where an inflationary de Sitter phase is obtained with a ghost condensate. The transition to radiation dominance is triggered by the ghost itself, without any slow-roll potential. Density perturbations are generated by fluctuations around the ghost condensate and can be reliably computed in the effective field theory. The fluctuations are scale invariant as a consequence of the de Sitter symmetries, however, the size of the perturbations are parametrically different from conventional slow-roll inflation, and the inflation happens at far lower ener…
We analyze the ghost condensates <f^{abc}c^{b}c^{c}>, <f^{abc}\oc^{b}\oc^{c}> and <f^{abc}\oc^{b}c^{c}> in Yang-Mills theory in the Curci-Ferrari gauge. By combining the local composite operator formalism with the algebraic renormalization technique, we are able to give a simultaneous discussion of <f^{abc}c^{b}c^{c}>, <f^{abc}\oc^{b}\oc^{c}> and <f^{abc}\oc^{b}c^{c}>, which can be seen as playing the role of the BCS, respectively Overhauser effect in ordinary superconductivity. The Curci-Ferrari gauge exhibits a global continuous symmetry generated by the Nakanishi-Ojima (NO) algebra. This al…
Field theories which violate the null energy condition (NEC) are of interest for the solution of the cosmological singularity problem and for models of cosmological dark energy with the equation of state parameter $w<-1$. We discuss the consistency of two recently proposed models that violate the NEC. The ghost condensate model requires higher-order derivative terms in the action. It leads to a heavy ghost field and unbounded energy. We estimate the rates of particles decay and discuss possible mass limitations to protect stability of matter in the ghost condensate model. The nonlocal stringy …
Evading Cosmological Strong Coupling in Non-minimally Coupled Vector Gravity
Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University（京都大学汤川理论物理研究所）；Kyushu Sangyo University（九州产业大学）；Yokohama National University（横滨国立大学）；RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences(iTHEMS), RIKEN（理化学研究所交叉理论与数学科学中心(iTHEMS)）；National Institute of Technology, Fukui College（福井国立高等专门学校）；Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics（亚太理论物理中心）
We provide a short discussion of the dimension two condensate <A^2> and its influence on the infrared behaviour of the gluon propagator in the Landau gauge. Simultaneously, we pay attention to the issue of Gribov copies in the Landau gauge. We also briefly discuss a local, gauge invariant non-Abelian action with mass parameter, constructed from the dimension 2 operator $F_{μν} (D^2)^{-1} F_{μν}$.
The recently proposed infrared modification of gravity through the introduction of a ghost scalar field results in a number of interesting cosmological and phenomenological implications. In this paper, we derive the exact cosmological solutions for a number of scenarios where at late stages, the ghost behaves like dark matter, or dark energy. The full solutions give valuable information about the non-linear regime beyond the asymptotic first order analysis presented in the literature. The generic feature is that these ghost cosmologies give rise to smooth transitions between radiation dominate…
We reconsider the possibility of violating the generalized second law of thermodynamics in theories with spontaneous Lorentz violation. It has been proposed that this may be accomplished in particular with a black hole immersed in a ghost condensate background, which may be taken to break Lorentz invariance without appreciably distorting the space-time geometry. In this paper we show that there in fact exist solutions explicitly describing flow of negative energy into these black holes, allowing for violation of the second law in a very simple way. This second law violation is independent of a…
Ghost Degrees of Freedom Without Quantum Runaway: Exact Moment Bounds from an Operator Conservation Law
University of California, Santa Cruz（加州大学圣克鲁兹分校）；Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz（加州大学圣克鲁兹分校圣克鲁兹粒子物理研究所）
We consider a model with Lorentz-violating vector field condensates, in which dispersion laws of all perturbations, including tensor modes, undergo non-trivial modification in the infrared. The model is free of ghosts and tachyons at high 3-momenta. At low 3-momenta there are ghosts, and at even lower 3-momenta there exist tachyons. Still, with appropriate choice of parameters, the model is phenomenologically acceptable. Beyond a certain large distance scale and even larger time scale, the gravity of a static source changes from that of General Relativity to that of van Dam--Veltman--Zakharov …
In this paper, we study the effective action, the mass spectrum and the first law of entanglement entropy for a novel doubly holographic model called wedge holography. We work out the effective action of quantum gravity on the branes. In the perturbative formulation, it is given by an infinite sum of Pauli-Fierz actions. In the non-perturbative formulation, the effective action is composed of a higher derivative gravity and a matter action. Usually, a higher derivative gravity can be renormalizable but suffers the ghost problem. For our case, since the effective theory on the brane is equivale…
We study the binding energy of a heavy quark-antiquark ($q\bar{q}$) pair using the first-order path integral formalism. This makes the Yang-Mills constraint equation explicit, and highlights that it is valid without relying on a semiclassical approximation. A generalized gauge-covariant Coulomb gauge is chosen to allow for a decomposition of the chromoelectric field into a gauge-covariant generalization of transverse and longitudinal parts. This decomposition makes it clear that the $q\bar{q}$ binding energy is determined solely by the solution to the constraint equation. Assuming that the low…
Newtons second law, Schrodingers equation and Maxwells equations are all theories composed of at most second-time derivatives. Indeed, it is not often we need to take the time derivative of the acceleration. So why are we not seeing more higher-order derivative theories? Although several studies present higher derivatives usefulness in quadratic gravity and scalar-field theories, one will eventually encounter a problem. In 1850, the physicist Mikhail Ostrogradsky presented a theorem that stated that a non-degenerate Lagrangian composed of finite higher-order time derivatives results in a Hamil…
