After a quantum phase transition the quantum vacuum can break up to form classical topological defects. We examine this process for scalar field models with $Z_2$ symmetry for different quench rates for the phase transition. We find that the number density of kinks at late times universally scales as $C m^{1/2} t^{-1/2}$ where $m$ is a mass scale in the model and $C\approx 0.22$; it does not depend on the quench timescale in contrast to the Kibble-Zurek scaling for thermal phase transitions. A subleading correction $\propto t^{-3/2}$ to the kink density depends on the details of the phase transition.
We study string field theory (third quantization) of the two-dimensional model of quantum geometry called generalized CDT ("causal dynamical triangulations"). Like in standard non-critical string theory the so-called string field Hamiltonian of generalized CDT can be associated with W-algebra generators through the string mode expansion. This allows us to define an "absolute" vacuum. "Physical" vacua appear as coherent states created by vertex operators acting on the absolute vacuum. Each coherent state corresponds to specific values of the coupling constants of generalized CDT. The cosmologic…
Fast moving classical variables can generate quantum mechanical behavior. We demonstrate how this can happen in a model. The key point is that in classically (ontologically) evolving systems one can still define a conserved quantum energy. For the fast variables, the energy levels are far separated, such that one may assume these variables to stay in their ground state. This forces them to be entangled, so that, consequently, the slow variables are entangled as well. The fast variables could be the vacuum fluctuations caused by unknown super heavy particles. The emerging quantum effects in the…
In this paper we study dynamical chiral symmetry breaking of a generic quantum field theoretical model with global chiral flavor symmetry. By purely algebraic means we analyze the vacuum structure for different symmetry breaking schemes and show explicitly how the ensuing non-trivial flavor vacuum condensate characterizes the phenomenon of field mixing. In addition, with the help of Ward-Takahashi identities we demonstrate the emergence of a correct number of Nambu-Goldstone modes in the physical spectrum.
A review is given of the canonical reduction of gauge and relativistic particle theories and of a new covariant rest-frame instant form of dynamics according to Dirac's theory of constraints
We discuss the low-curvature regime of time-dependent matrix theories proposed to describe non-perturbative quantum gravity in asymptotically plane-wave space-times. The emergence of near-classical space-time in this limit turns out to be closely linked to the adiabaticity of the matrix theory evolution. Supersymmetry restoration at low curvatures, which is crucial for the usual space-time interpretation of matrix theories, becomes an obvious feature of the adiabatic regime.
We show that classicality emerges during quantum phase transitions due to parametric interactions without coupling to environments. The Wigner functions are explicitly calculated for the Gaussian vacuum, number, and thermal states of a free scalar field that describes the spinodal instability regime. The Wigner functions are sharply peaked around their classical trajectories during the phase transition and exhibit classical correlation only for unstable long wavelength modes but retain quantum coherence for short wavelength modes. Thus classicality emerges from the quantum evolution of phase t…
We give a short account of the quantisation of the Szekeres spacetime by considering the symmetries of a reduced action principle. This is an alternative approach than the one followed in the literature for the study of inhomogeneities, which is usually based on perturbations of an inhomogeneous field on the spacetime background. Here, we examine the emergence of classicality with an exact inhomogeneous solution. We check whether the two criteria for classicality are satisfied, that is the correlations on the phase space and decoherence. We verify that these two properties indeed hold, thus th…
We construct physical semi-classical states annihilated by the Hamiltonian constraint operator in the framework of loop quantum cosmology as a method of systematically determining the regime and validity of the semi-classical limit of the quantum theory. Our results indicate that the evolution can be effectively described using continuous classical equations of motion with non-perturbative corrections down to near the Planck scale below which the universe can only be described by the discrete quantum constraint. These results, for the first time, provide concrete evidence of the emergence of c…
The conceptual setting of quantum mechanics is subject to an ongoing debate from its beginnings until now. The consequences of the apparent differences between quantum statistics and classical statistics range from the philosophical interpretations to practical issues as quantum computing. In this note we demonstrate how quantum mechanics can emerge from classical statistical systems. We discuss conditions and circumstances for this to happen. Quantum systems describe isolated subsystems of classical statistical systems with infinitely many states. While infinitely many classical observables "…
It is becoming increasingly clear that metastable vacua may play a prominent role in supersymmetry-breaking. To date, however, this idea has been realized only in models where non-perturbative dynamics complicates the analysis of metastability. In this paper, we present a simple construction in which metastable vacua occur classically, i.e., at tree-level, and in which supersymmetry-breaking is sourced by both D-terms and F-terms. All relevant dynamics is perturbative, and hence calculations of vacuum energies and lifetimes can be performed explicitly. Moreover, we find that our construction c…
The main argument by proponents of Many-World interpretations of quantum mechanics is that as more and more previously disentangled degrees of freedom become entangled with the microscopic degree we measure, there is no way of telling when the measurement (in the sense of a collapse of the wave function) should occur. Here, we introduce the concept of quantum interlinking, and argue that all macroscopic objects in the universe are connected through links of mutual entanglement while the objects themselves are (for the most part) not entangled. The measurement occurs when the degree we measure …
In this talk we discuss our recent suggestion that the QCD vacuum in a sufficiently strong magnetic field (stronger than 10^{16} Tesla) may undergo a spontaneous transition to an electromagnetically superconducting state. The possible superconducting state is anisotropic (the vacuum exhibits superconductivity only along the axis of the uniform magnetic field) and inhomogeneous (in the transverse directions the vacuum structure shares similarity with the Abrikosov lattice of an ordinary type-II superconductor). The electromagnetic superconductivity of the QCD vacuum is suggested to occur due to…
The classical massless SU(2) field theory has an infinite number of gauge equivalent representations of the vacuum. We show that among these there exists a non-perturbative center vortex representation with some similarity to the quantum vacuum of the same theory. This classical SU(2) vacuum consists of a lattice of center vortex pairs combining to triviality. However, this triviality can be broken by perturbations, for example by adding a mass term, or by considering the electroweak theory where the Higgs field does the breaking, or by quantum fluctuations like in QCD.
We study the wave function of a tensor model in the canonical formalism by Hamiltonian Monte Carlo method for Lie group symmetric or nearby values for the argument of the wave function, and show that there emerge Lie-group symmetric semi-classical spacetimes. More precisely, we consider some $SO(n+1)\ (n=1,2,3)$ symmetric values for the tensor argument of the wave function, and show that there emerge discrete $n$-dimensional spheres. A key fact is that there exist two phases, the classical phase and the quantum phase, depending on the values of the argument of the wave function, and emergence …
We describe a method of construction of gauge-invariant operators (Dirac observables or ``evolving constants of motion'') from the knowledge of the eigenstates of the gauge generator in time-reparametrization invariant mechanical systems. These invariant operators evolve unitarily with respect to an arbitrarily chosen time variable. We emphasize that the dynamics is relational, both in the classical and quantum theories. In this framework, we show how the ``emergent Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin time'' often employed in quantum cosmology arises from a weak-coupling expansion of invariant transitio…
We show that the vacuum functional of 3+1 dimensional non-abelian gauge theories vanishes for some classical field configurations $ψ_0(A)=0$ when the coefficient of the CP violating $θ$--term becomes $θ=π$ (mod. $2π$). Some of these classical configurations are explicitly identified and include sphalerons. The results shed new light into the non-perturbative behavior of non-abelian gauge theories and suggest a relevant role for these classical configurations in the confinement mechanism at $θ=0$.
Numerical studies of gravitational collapse in isotropic coordinates have recently shown an interesting connection between the gravitational Lagrangian and black hole thermodynamics. A study of the actual spacetime was not the main focus of this work and in particular, the rich and interesting structure of the interior has not been investigated in much detail and remains largely unknown. We elucidate its features by performing a numerical study of the spacetime in isotropic coordinates during gravitational collapse of a massless scalar field. The most salient feature to emerge is the formation…
Dynamical evolution of the quantum ground state (vacuum) is analyzed for time variant harmonic oscillators characterized by asymptotically constant frequency. The oscillatory density matrix in the asymptotic future is uniquely determined by a constant number of produced particles, independent of other details of transient behavior at intermediate times. Time average over one oscillation period yields a classical, in some cases even an almost thermal behavior. In an analytically soluble model the created particle number obeys the Planck distribution in a parameter limit. This suggests a new way…
We propose a mechanism for the enhancement of vacuum fluctuations by means of a classical field. The basic idea is that if an observable quantity depends quadratically upon a quantum field, such as the electric field, then the application of a classical field produces a cross term between the classical and quantum fields. This cross term may be significantly larger than the purely quantum part, but also undergoes fluctuations driven by the quantum field. We illustrate this effect in a model for lightcone fluctuations involving pulses in a nonlinear dielectric. Vacuum electric field fluctuation…
The classical energy conditions are known to not be fundamental physics -- they are typically violated by semiclassical quantum effects. Consequently, some effort has gone into finding possible semiclassical replacements for the classical energy conditions -- the most well developed being the Ford-Roman quantum inequalities. In the current article we shall instead develop classical and quantum versions of a "flux energy condition" (FEC and QFEC) based on the notion of constraining the possible fluxes measured by timelike observers. The naive classical FEC will be seen to be satisfied in some s…
The emergence of Hawking radiation from vacuum fluctuations is analyzed in conventional field theories and their energy content is defined through the Aharonov weak value concept. These fluctuations travel in flat space-time and carry transplanckian energies sharply localized on cisplanckian distances. We argue that these features cannot accommodate gravitational nonlinearities. We suggest that the very emission of Hawking photons from tamed vacuum fluctuations requires the existence of an exploding set of massive fields. These considerations corroborate some conjectures of Susskind and may pr…
There ought to exist a description of quantum field theory which does not depend on an external classical time. To achieve this goal, in a recent paper we have proposed a non-commutative special relativity in which space-time and matter degrees of freedom are treated as classical matrices with arbitrary commutation relations, and a space-time line element is defined using a trace. In the present paper, following the theory of Trace Dynamics, we construct a statistical thermodynamics for the non-commutative special relativity, and show that one arrives at a generalized quantum dynamics in which…
Loop quantization of diagonalized Bianchi class A models, leads to a partial difference equation as the Hamiltonian constraint at the quantum level. A criterion for testing a viable semiclassical limit has been formulated in terms of existence of the so-called pre-classical solutions. We demonstrate the existence of pre-classical solutions of the quantum equation for the vacuum Bianchi I model. All these solutions avoid the classical singularity at vanishing volume.
In this paper we investigate the vacuum energies of several models of quantum fields interacting with static external currents (linear couplings) concentrated along parallel branes with an arbitrary number of codimensions. We show that we can simulate the presence of static charges distributions as well as the presence of classical static dipoles in any dimension for massive and massless fields. We also show that we can produce confining potentials with massless self interacting scalar fields as well as long range anisotropic potentials.
The type IIB matrix model is a promising candidate for a nonperturbative formulation of superstring theory. As such, it is expected to explain the origin of space--time and matter at the same time. This has been partially demonstrated by the previous Monte Carlo studies on the Lorentzian version of the model, which suggested the emergence of (3+1)-dimensional expanding space--time. Here we investigate the same model by solving numerically the classical equation of motion, which is expected to be valid at late times since the action becomes large due to the expansion of space. Many solutions ar…
We analyze a wave function of a tensor model in the canonical formalism, when the argument of the wave function takes Lie group invariant or nearby values. Numerical computations show that there are two phases, which we call the quantum and the classical phases, respectively. In the classical phase, fluctuations are suppressed, and there emerge configurations which are discretizations of the classical geometric spaces invariant under the Lie group symmetries. This is explicitly demonstrated for the emergence of $S^n\ (n=1,2,3)$ for $SO(n+1)$ symmetries by checking the topological and the geome…
We reexamine the oscillator construction of the D25-brane solution and the tachyon fluctuation mode of vacuum string field theory given previously. Both the classical solution and the tachyon mode are found to violate infinitesimally their determining equations in the level cut-off regularization. We study the effects of these violations on physical quantities such as the tachyon mass and the ratio of the energy density of the solution relative to the D25-brane tension. We discuss a possible way to resolve the problem of reproducing the expected value of one for the ratio.
Using an extended Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model as a low--energy effective model of QCD, we show that the vacuum in a strong external magnetic field (stronger than 10^{16} Tesla) experiences a spontaneous phase transition to an electromagnetically superconducting state. The unexpected superconductivity of, basically, empty space is induced by emergence of quark-antiquark vector condensates with quantum numbers of electrically charged rho mesons. The superconducting phase possesses an anisotropic inhomogeneous structure similar to a periodic Abrikosov lattice in a type-II superconductor. The superc…
Thermalisation of configurations with initial white noise power spectrum is studied in numerical simulations of a classical one-component $Φ^4$ theory in 2+1 dimensions, coupled to a small amplitude homogenous external field. The study is performed for energy densities corresponding to the broken symmetry phase of the system in equilibrium. The effective equation of the order parameter motion is reconstructed from its trajectory which starts from an initial value near the metastable point and ends in the stable ground state. This phenomenological theory quantitatively accounts for the decay of…
We simplify and generalize an argument due to Bowcock and Watts showing that one can associate a finite Lie algebra (the `classical vacuum preserving algebra') containing the Möbius $sl(2)$ subalgebra to any classical $\W$-algebra. Our construction is based on a kinematical analysis of the Poisson brackets of quasi-primary fields. In the case of the $\W_§^\G$-algebra constructed through the Drinfeld-Sokolov reduction based on an arbitrary $sl(2)$ subalgebra $§$ of a simple Lie algebra $\G$, we exhibit a natural isomorphism between this finite Lie algebra and $\G$ whereby the Möbius $sl(2)$ is …
The hypothesis is proposed that under the approximation that the quantum equations of motion reduce to the classical ones, the quantum vacuum also reduces to the classical vacuum--the empty space. The vacuum energy of QED is studied under this hypothesis. A possible solution to the cosmological constant problem is provided and a kind of parameterization of the cosmological "constant" is derived.
We construct a classical solution of vacuum string field theory (VSFT) and study whether it represents the perturbative open string vacuum. Our solution is given as a squeezed state in the Siegel gauge, and it fixes the arbitrary coefficients in the BRST operator in VSFT. We identify the tachyon and massless vector states as fluctuation modes around the classical solution. The tachyon mass squared αm_t^2 is given in a closed form using the Neumann coefficients defining the three-string vertex, and it reproduces numerically the expected value of -1 to high precision. The ratio of the potential …
The work is devoted to studying some new classical electrodynamics models of interacting charged point particles and related with them physical aspects. Based on the vacuum field theory no-geometry approach, developed in \cite{BPT,BPT1}, the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian reformulations of some alternative classical electrodynamics models are devised. A problem closely related to the radiation reaction force is analyzed aiming to explain the Wheeler and Feynman reaction radiation mechanism, well known as the absorption radiation theory, and strongly dependent on the Mach type interaction of a char…
We investigate three issues that have been discussed in the context of inflation: Fading of the importance of quantum non-commutativity; the phenomenon of quantum squeezing; and the ability to approximate the quantum state by a distribution function on the classical phase space. In the standard treatments, these features arise from properties of mode functions of quantum fields in (near) de Sitter space-time. Therefore, the three notions are often assumed to be essentially equivalent, representing different facets of the same phenomenon. We analyze them in general Friedmann-Lemaitre- Robertson…
Quantum field theory successfully explains the origin of all fundamental forces except gravity due to the renormalizability problem. In this paper, we proposed a topological scenario to understand this puzzle. First, we proposed a $3+1$D topological (quantum) gravity theory which is renormalizable, and it can be regarded as a straightforward generalization of Edward Witten's Chern-Simons theory approach to $2+1$D topological gravity. Then, we showed that the (vacuum) Einstein-Cartan equation and classical space-time naturally emerge from topological (quantum) gravity via loop condensation. The…
We compare the different approaches presently available in literature to probe the vacuum structure of quantum fields in classical electromagnetic and gravitational backgrounds. We compare the results from the Bogolubov transformations and the effective Lagrangian approach with the response of monopole detectors (of the Unruh-DeWitt type) in non-inertial frames in flat spacetime and in inertial frames in different types of classical electromagnetic backgrounds. We also carry out such a comparison in inertial and rotating frames when boundaries are present in flat spacetime. We find that the re…
Based on the observation that the moduli of a link variable on a cyclic group modify Connes' distance on this group, we construct several action functionals for this link variable within the framework of noncommutative geometry. After solving the equations of motion, we find that one type of action gives nontrivial vacuum solution for gravity on this cyclic group in a broad range of coupling constants and that such solutions can be expressed with Chebyshev's polynomials.
We find a nontrivial regime of spinfoam quantum gravity that reproduces classical Einstein equations. This is the double scaling limit of small Immirzi parameter (gamma), large spins (j) with physical area (gamma times j) constant. In addition to quantum corrections in the Planck constant, we find new corrections in the Immirzi parameter due to the quantum discreteness of spacetime. The result is a strong evidence that the spinfoam covariant quantization of general relativity possesses the correct classical limit.
A dynamical system with discrete time is studied by means of algebraic geometry. The system admits a reduction that is interpreted as a classical field theory in 2+1-dimensional wholly discrete space-time. The integrals of motion of a particular case of the reduced system are shown to coincide, in essence, with the statistical sum of the well-known (inhomogeneous) 2-dimensional dimer model (the statistical sum is here a function of two parameters). Possible generalizations of the system are examined.
The Lorentzian metric structure used in any field theory allows one to implement the relativistic notion of causality and to define a notion of time dimension. This article investigates the possibility that at the microscopic level the metric is Riemannian, i.e. locally Euclidean, and that the Lorentzian structure, that we usually consider as fundamental, is in fact an effective property that emerges in some regions of a 4-dimensional space with a positive definite metric. In such a model, there is no dynamics nor signature flip across some hypersurface; instead, all the fields develop a Loren…
We consider Weyl symmetric structure of the classical vacuum in quantum chromodynamics. In the framework of formalism of gauge invariant Abelian projection we show that classical vacuums can be constructed in terms of Killing vector fields on the group SU(3). Consequently, homotopic classes of Killing vector fields determine the topological structure of the vacuum. In particular, the second homotopy group π_2(SU(3)/U(1)\times U(1)) describes all topologically non-equivalent vacuums which are classified by two topological numbers. For each given Killing vector field one can construct six vacuum…
The ground state energy of a quantum field in the background of classical field configurations is considered. The subject of the ground state energy in framework of the quantum field theory is explained. The short review of calculation methods (generalized zeta function and heat kernel expansion) and their mathematical foundations is given. We use the zeta-functional regularization and express the ground state energy as an integral involving the Jost function of a two dimensional scattering problem.We perform the renormalization by subtracting the contributions from first several heat kernel c…
Following a minisuperspace approach to the dynamics of a spherically symmetric shell, a reduced Lagrangian for the radial degree of freedom is derived directly from the Einstein-Hilbert action. The key feature of this new Lagrangian is its invariance under time reparametrization. Indeed, all classical and quantum dynamics is encoded in the Hamiltonian constraint that follows from that invariance. Thus, at the classical level, we show that the Hamiltonian constraint reproduces, in a simple gauge, Israel's matching condition which governs the evolution of the shell. In the quantum case, the vani…
Using semiclassical WKB-methods, we calculate the rate of electron-positron pair-production from the vacuum in the presence of two external fields, a strong (space- or time-dependent) classical field and a monochromatic electromagnetic wave. We discuss the possible medium effects on the rate in the presence of thermal electrons, bosons, and neutral plasma of electrons and protons at a given temperature and chemical potential. Using our rate formula, we calculate the rate enhancement due to a laser beam, and discuss the possibility that a significant enhancement may appear in a plasma of electr…
