Posts Tagged perturbation

Recent Postings from perturbation

Michel Henon's first research article: An improved calculation of the perturbation of stellar velocities

Fifteen years after the discovery of dynamical friction by Chandrasekhar, Michel Henon attempts to solve the longstanding problem of the divergence of the friction suffered by the perturber and caused by the most distant cluster stars. His solution laid the foundation to the current understanding of dynamical friction as a non-local transitory force.

The long-short wavelength mode coupling tightens primordial black hole constraints

The effects of non-gaussianity on the constraints on the primordial curvature perturbation power spectrum from primordial black holes (PBHs) are considered. We extend previous analyses to include the effects of coupling between the modes of the horizon scale at the time the PBH forms and super-horizon modes. We consider terms of up to third order in the Gaussian perturbation. For the weakest constraints on the abundance of PBHs in the early universe (corresponding to a fractional energy density of PBHs of $10^{-5}$ at the time of formation), in the case of gaussian perturbations, constraints on the power spectrum are $\mathcal{P}_{\zeta}<0.05$ but can significantly tighter when even a small amount of non-gaussianity is considered, to $\mathcal{P}_{\zeta}<0.01$, and become approximately $\mathcal{P}_{\zeta}<0.003$ in more special cases. Surprisingly, even when there is negative skew (which naively would suggest fewer areas of high density, leading to weaker constraints), we find that the constraints on the power spectrum become tighter than the purely gaussian case – in strong contrast with previous results. We find that the constraints are highly sensitive to both the non-gaussianity parameters as well as the amplitude of super-horizon perturbations.

Shell instability of a collapsing dense core

Understanding the formation of binary and multiple stellar systems largely comes down to studying the circumstances for the fragmentation of a condensing core during the first stages of the collapse. However, the probability of fragmentation and the number of fragments seem to be determined to a large degree by the initial conditions. In this work we study the fate of the linear perturbations of a homogeneous gas sphere both analytically and numerically. In particular, we investigate the stability of the well-known homologous solution that describes the collapse of a uniform spherical cloud. The difficulty of the mathematical singularity in the perturbation equations is surpassed here by explicitly introducing a weak shock next to the sonic point. In parallel, we perform adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) numerical simulations of the linear stages of the collapse and compared the growth rates obtained by each method. With this combination of analytical and numerical tools, we explore the behavior of both spherically symmetric and non-axisymmetric perturbations. The numerical experiments provide the linear growth rates as a function of the core’s initial virial parameter and as a function of the azimuthal wave number of the perturbation. The overlapping regime of the numerical experiments and the analytical predictions is the situation of a cold and large cloud, and in this regime the analytically calculated growth rates agree very well with the ones obtained from the simulations. The use of a weak shock as part of the perturbation allows us to find a physically acceptable solution to the equations for a continuous range of growth rates. The numerical simulations agree very well with the analytical prediction for the most unstable cores, while they impose a limit of a virial parameter of 0.1 for core fragmentation in the absence of rotation.

Stability and Anti-evaporation of the Schwarzschild-de Sitter Balck Holes in Bigravity [Cross-Listing]

We study the stability under the perturbation and the related anti-evaporation of the Nariai space-time in bigravity. If we impose specific condition for the solutions and parameters, we obtain asymptotically de Sitter space-time, and show the existence of the Nariai space-time as a background solution. Considering the perturbation around the Nariai space-time up to first order, we investigate the behavior of black hole horizon. We show that the anti-evaporation does not occur on the classical level in the bigravity.

Stability and Anti-evaporation of the Schwarzschild-de Sitter Balck Holes in Bigravity

We study the stability under the perturbation and the related anti-evaporation of the Nariai space-time in bigravity. If we impose specific condition for the solutions and parameters, we obtain asymptotically de Sitter space-time, and show the existence of the Nariai space-time as a background solution. Considering the perturbation around the Nariai space-time up to first order, we investigate the behavior of black hole horizon. We show that the anti-evaporation does not occur on the classical level in the bigravity.

Stability and Anti-evaporation of the Schwarzschild-de Sitter Black Holes in Bigravity [Replacement]

We study the stability under the perturbation and the related anti-evaporation of the Nariai space-time in bigravity. If we impose specific condition for the solutions and parameters, we obtain asymptotically de Sitter space-time, and show the existence of the Nariai space-time as a background solution. Considering the perturbation around the Nariai space-time up to first order, we investigate the behavior of black hole horizon. We show that the anti-evaporation does not occur on the classical level in the bigravity.

Stability and Anti-evaporation of the Schwarzschild-de Sitter Black Holes in Bigravity [Replacement]

We study the stability under the perturbation and the related anti-evaporation of the Nariai space-time in bigravity. If we impose specific condition for the solutions and parameters, we obtain asymptotically de Sitter space-time, and show the existence of the Nariai space-time as a background solution. Considering the perturbation around the Nariai space-time up to first order, we investigate the behavior of black hole horizon. We show that the anti-evaporation does not occur on the classical level in the bigravity.

Perturbing a quantum gravity condensate

In a recent proposal using the group field theory (GFT) approach, a spatially homogeneous (generally anisotropic) universe is described as a quantum gravity condensate of ‘atoms of space’, which allows the derivation of an effective cosmological Friedmann equation from the microscopic quantum gravity dynamics. Here we take a first step towards the study of cosmological perturbations over the homogeneous background. We consider a state in which a single ‘atom’ is added to an otherwise homogeneous condensate. Backreaction of the perturbation on the background is negligible and the background dynamics can be solved separately. The dynamics for the perturbation takes the form of a quantum cosmology Hamiltonian for a ‘wavefunction’, depending on background and perturbations, of the product form usually assumed in a Born-Oppenheimer approximation. The perturbation we consider can then be interpreted as a spatially homogeneous metric perturbation. For this case, our results show how perturbations can be added to condensate states in quantum gravity, deriving the usual procedures in quantum cosmology from fundamental quantum gravity.

Perturbing a quantum gravity condensate [Cross-Listing]

In a recent proposal using the group field theory (GFT) approach, a spatially homogeneous (generally anisotropic) universe is described as a quantum gravity condensate of ‘atoms of space’, which allows the derivation of an effective cosmological Friedmann equation from the microscopic quantum gravity dynamics. Here we take a first step towards the study of cosmological perturbations over the homogeneous background. We consider a state in which a single ‘atom’ is added to an otherwise homogeneous condensate. Backreaction of the perturbation on the background is negligible and the background dynamics can be solved separately. The dynamics for the perturbation takes the form of a quantum cosmology Hamiltonian for a ‘wavefunction’, depending on background and perturbations, of the product form usually assumed in a Born-Oppenheimer approximation. The perturbation we consider can then be interpreted as a spatially homogeneous metric perturbation. For this case, our results show how perturbations can be added to condensate states in quantum gravity, deriving the usual procedures in quantum cosmology from fundamental quantum gravity.

Estimation of Inflation parameters for Perturbed Power Law model using recent CMB measurements

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is an important probe for understanding the inflationary era of the Universe. We consider the Perturbed Power Law (PPL) model of inflation which is a soft deviation from Power Law (PL) inflationary model. This model captures the effect of higher order derivative of Hubble parameter during inflation, which in turn leads to a non-zero effective mass $m_{\rm eff}$ for the inflaton field. The higher order derivatives of Hubble parameter at leading order sources constant difference in the spectral index for scalar and tensor perturbation going beyond PL model of inflation. PPL model have two observable independent parameters, namely spectral index for tensor perturbation $\nu_t$ and change in spectral index for scalar perturbation $\nu_{st}$ to explain the observed features in the scalar and tensor power spectrum of perturbation. From the recent measurements of CMB power spectra by WMAP, Planck and BICEP-2 for temperature and polarization, we estimate the feasibility of PPL model with standard $\Lambda$CDM model. With this model, we estimate a non-zero value of tensor spectral index at significance of $5.36$ and a non-zero value of effective mass $\frac{m^2_{\rm eff}}{H^2} = -0.0237 \pm 0.0045$, of the inflaton field.

Estimation of Inflation parameters for Perturbed Power Law model using recent CMB measurements [Cross-Listing]

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is an important probe for understanding the inflationary era of the Universe. We consider the Perturbed Power Law (PPL) model of inflation which is a soft deviation from Power Law (PL) inflationary model. This model captures the effect of higher order derivative of Hubble parameter during inflation, which in turn leads to a non-zero effective mass $m_{\rm eff}$ for the inflaton field. The higher order derivatives of Hubble parameter at leading order sources constant difference in the spectral index for scalar and tensor perturbation going beyond PL model of inflation. PPL model have two observable independent parameters, namely spectral index for tensor perturbation $\nu_t$ and change in spectral index for scalar perturbation $\nu_{st}$ to explain the observed features in the scalar and tensor power spectrum of perturbation. From the recent measurements of CMB power spectra by WMAP, Planck and BICEP-2 for temperature and polarization, we estimate the feasibility of PPL model with standard $\Lambda$CDM model. With this model, we estimate a non-zero value of tensor spectral index at significance of $5.36$ and a non-zero value of effective mass $\frac{m^2_{\rm eff}}{H^2} = -0.0237 \pm 0.0045$, of the inflaton field.

Super-inflation and generation of first order vector perturbations in ELKO [Cross-Listing]

In this work we construct a model where first order vector perturbations can be generated during inflationary expansion. For the non-standard spinors, known as ELKO, we show that the ($\eta-i$) component of the first order perturbed energy-momentum tensor of the ELKO is non-zero for pure vector part of the metric perturbation ($B_{i}$). We show that vector perturbations do not decay in the super-horizon scale and for a specific super-inflation background model we show that the vector perturbations are nearly scale invariant, while its amplitude is smaller than the primordial scalar perturbations. We also comment on the generation of vorticity.

Super-inflation and generation of first order vector perturbations in ELKO

In this work we construct a model where first order vector perturbations can be generated during inflationary expansion. For the non-standard spinors, known as ELKO, we show that the ($\eta-i$) component of the first order perturbed energy-momentum tensor of the ELKO is non-zero for pure vector part of the metric perturbation ($B_{i}$). We show that vector perturbations do not decay in the super-horizon scale and for a specific super-inflation background model we show that the vector perturbations are nearly scale invariant, while its amplitude is smaller than the primordial scalar perturbations. We also comment on the generation of vorticity.

Super-inflation and generation of first order vector perturbations in ELKO [Cross-Listing]

In this work we construct a model where first order vector perturbations can be generated during inflationary expansion. For the non-standard spinors, known as ELKO, we show that the ($\eta-i$) component of the first order perturbed energy-momentum tensor of the ELKO is non-zero for pure vector part of the metric perturbation ($B_{i}$). We show that vector perturbations do not decay in the super-horizon scale and for a specific super-inflation background model we show that the vector perturbations are nearly scale invariant, while its amplitude is smaller than the primordial scalar perturbations. We also comment on the generation of vorticity.

Multi-field inflation from holography [Cross-Listing]

We initiate the study of multi-field inflation using holography. Bulk light scalar fields correspond to nearly marginal operators in the boundary theory and the dual quantum field theory is a deformation of a CFT by such operators. We compute the power spectra of adiabatic and entropy perturbations in a simple model and find that the adiabatic curvature perturbation is not conserved in the presence of entropy perturbations but becomes conserved when the entropy perturbations are set to zero or the model is effectively a single scalar model, in agreement with expectations from cosmological perturbation theory.

Multi-field inflation from holography [Cross-Listing]

We initiate the study of multi-field inflation using holography. Bulk light scalar fields correspond to nearly marginal operators in the boundary theory and the dual quantum field theory is a deformation of a CFT by such operators. We compute the power spectra of adiabatic and entropy perturbations in a simple model and find that the adiabatic curvature perturbation is not conserved in the presence of entropy perturbations but becomes conserved when the entropy perturbations are set to zero or the model is effectively a single scalar model, in agreement with expectations from cosmological perturbation theory.

Multi-field inflation from holography

We initiate the study of multi-field inflation using holography. Bulk light scalar fields correspond to nearly marginal operators in the boundary theory and the dual quantum field theory is a deformation of a CFT by such operators. We compute the power spectra of adiabatic and entropy perturbations in a simple model and find that the adiabatic curvature perturbation is not conserved in the presence of entropy perturbations but becomes conserved when the entropy perturbations are set to zero or the model is effectively a single scalar model, in agreement with expectations from cosmological perturbation theory.

A short note on the curvature perturbation at second order [Cross-Listing]

Working with perturbations about an FLRW spacetime, we compute the gauge-invariant curvature perturbation to second order solely in terms of scalar field fluctuations. Using the curvature perturbation on uniform density hypersurfaces as our starting point, we give our results in terms of field fluctuations in the flat gauge, incorporating both large and small scale behaviour. For ease of future numerical implementation we give our result in terms of the scalar field fluctuations and their time derivatives.

A short note on the curvature perturbation at second order

Working with perturbations about an FLRW spacetime, we compute the gauge-invariant curvature perturbation to second order solely in terms of scalar field fluctuations. Using the curvature perturbation on uniform density hypersurfaces as our starting point, we give our results in terms of field fluctuations in the flat gauge, incorporating both large and small scale behaviour. For ease of future numerical implementation we give our result in terms of the scalar field fluctuations and their time derivatives.

Constraining dark sector perturbations II: ISW and CMB lensing tomography

Any Dark Energy (DE) or Modified Gravity (MG) model that deviates from a cosmological constant requires a consistent treatment of its perturbations, which can be described in terms of an entropy perturbation and an anisotropic stress. We have considered a recently proposed generic parameterisation of DE/MG perturbations and compared it to data from the Planck satellite and six galaxy catalogues, including temperature-galaxy (Tg), CMB lensing-galaxy and galaxy-galaxy (gg) correlations. Combining these observables of structure formation with tests of the background expansion allows us to investigate the properties of DE/MG both at the background and the perturbative level. Our constraints on DE/MG are mostly in agreement with the cosmological constant paradigm, while we also find that the constraint on the equation of state w (assumed to be constant) depends on the model assumed for the perturbation evolution. We obtain $w=-0.92^{+0.20}_{-0.16}$ (95% CL; CMB+gg+Tg) in the entropy perturbation scenario; in the anisotropic stress case the result is $w=-0.86^{+0.17}_{-0.16}$. Including the lensing correlations shifts the results towards higher values of w. If we include a prior on the expansion history from recent Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) measurements, we find that the constraints tighten closely around $w=-1$, making it impossible to measure any DE/MG perturbation evolution parameters. If, however, upcoming observations from surveys like DES, Euclid or LSST show indications for a deviation from a cosmological constant, our formalism will be a useful tool towards model selection in the dark sector.

Disformal transformation of cosmological perturbations

We investigate the gauge-invariant cosmological perturbations in the gravity and matter frames in the general scalar-tensor theory where two frames are related by the disformal transformation. The gravity and matter frames are the extensions of the Einstein and Jordan frames in the scalar-tensor theory where two frames are related by the conformal transformation, respectively. First, it is shown that the curvature perturbation in the comoving gauge to the scalar field is disformally invariant as well as conformally invariant, which gives the predictions from the cosmological model where the scalar field is responsible both for inflation and cosmological perturbations. Second, in case that the disformally coupled matter sector also contributes to curvature perturbations, we derive the evolution equations of the curvature perturbation in the uniform matter energy density gauge from the energy (non)conservation in the matter sector, which are independent of the choice of the gravity sector. While in the matter frame the curvature perturbation in the uniform matter energy density gauge is conserved on superhorizon scales for the vanishing nonadiabatic pressure, in the gravity frame it is not conserved even if the nonadiabatic pressure vanishes. The formula relating two frames gives the amplitude of the curvature perturbation in the matter frame, once it is evaluated in the gravity frame.

Disformal transformation of cosmological perturbations [Cross-Listing]

We investigate the gauge-invariant cosmological perturbations in the gravity and matter frames in the general scalar-tensor theory where two frames are related by the disformal transformation. The gravity and matter frames are the extensions of the Einstein and Jordan frames in the scalar-tensor theory where two frames are related by the conformal transformation, respectively. First, it is shown that the curvature perturbation in the comoving gauge to the scalar field is disformally invariant as well as conformally invariant, which gives the predictions from the cosmological model where the scalar field is responsible both for inflation and cosmological perturbations. Second, in case that the disformally coupled matter sector also contributes to curvature perturbations, we derive the evolution equations of the curvature perturbation in the uniform matter energy density gauge from the energy (non)conservation in the matter sector, which are independent of the choice of the gravity sector. While in the matter frame the curvature perturbation in the uniform matter energy density gauge is conserved on superhorizon scales for the vanishing nonadiabatic pressure, in the gravity frame it is not conserved even if the nonadiabatic pressure vanishes. The formula relating two frames gives the amplitude of the curvature perturbation in the matter frame, once it is evaluated in the gravity frame.

Gravitational Collapse of Inhomogenous Perfect Fluid

We study the complete gravitational collapse of a class of inhomogeneous perfect fluid models obtained by introducing small radial perturbations in an otherwise homogeneous matter cloud. The key feature that we assume for the perturbation profile is that of a mass profile that is separable in radial and temporal coordinates. The known models of dust and homogeneous perfect fluid collapse can be obtained from this choice of the mass profile as special cases. This choice is very general and physically well motivated and we show that this class of collapse models can lead to the formation of a naked singularity as the final state.

Temperature fluctuations in an inhomogeneous diffusive fluid

We discuss metric perturbations of the relativistic diffusion equation around the homogeneous Juttner equilibrium of massless particles in a homogeneous expanding universe. The metric perturbation describes matter distribution and the gravitational wave background in an inhomogeneous universe. We show that the lowest order perturbation can be treated as a variation of temperature. We derive a formula expressing temperature fluctuations in terms of the diffusion and tensor power spectrum. We discuss the multipole expansion of the fluctuations in the presence of diffusion.

Temperature fluctuations in an inhomogeneous diffusive fluid [Replacement]

We discuss metric perturbations of the relativistic diffusion equation around the homogeneous Juttner equilibrium of massless particles in a homogeneous expanding universe. The metric perturbation describes matter distribution and the gravitational wave background in an inhomogeneous universe. We show that the lowest order perturbation can be treated as a variation of temperature. We derive a formula expressing temperature fluctuations in terms of the diffusion and tensor power spectrum. We discuss the multipole expansion of the fluctuations in the presence of diffusion.

Scalar perturbation in warm tachyon inflation in LQC in light of Plank and BICEP2 [Cross-Listing]

We study warm-tachyon inflationary universe model in the context of the effective field theory of loop quantum cosmology. In slow-roll approximation the primordial perturbation spectrums for this model are calculated. We also obtain the general expressions of the tensor-to-scalar ratio, scalar spectral index. We develop this model by using exponential potential, the characteristics of this model is calculated in great details. The parameters of the model are restricted by recent observational data from Planck, WMAP9 and BICEP2.

Dynamical evolution of the electromagnetic perturbation coupling to Einstein tensor

We have investigated the wave dynamics of an electromagnetic perturbation coupling to Einstein tensor in the four-dimensional Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m black hole spacetime. Our results show that besides the dependence on the coupling between electromagnetic field and Einstein tensor, the wave dynamic equation of the perturbation strongly depends on the parity of the electromagnetic field itself, which is quite different from that of the usual electromagnetic perturbation without the coupling in the four-dimensional spacetime. Moreover, we also find that the electromagnetic perturbation with odd parity grows with exponential rate and the instability happens if the coupling strength is stronger than certain a critical value. However, the electromagnetic perturbation with even parity always decays in the Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m black hole spacetime.

Perturbations to $\mu-\tau$ Symmetry, Leptogenesis and Lepton Flavour Violation with Type II Seesaw

We study the possibility of generating non-zero reactor mixing angle $\theta_{13}$ by perturbing the $\mu-\tau$ symmetric neutrino mass matrix. The leading order $\mu-\tau$ symmetric neutrino mass matrix originates from type I seesaw mechanism whereas the perturbations to $\mu-\tau$ symmetry originate from type II seesaw term. We consider four different realizations of $\mu-\tau$ symmetry: Bimaximal Mixing(BM), Tri-bimaximal Mixing (TBM), Hexagonal Mixing (HM) and Golden Ratio Mixing (GRM) all giving rise to $\theta_{13} = 0, \theta_{23} = \frac{\pi}{4}$ but different non-zero values of solar mixing angle $\theta_{12}$. We assume a minimal $\mu-\tau$ symmetry breaking type II seesaw mass matrix as a perturbation and calculate the neutrino oscillation parameters as a function of type II seesaw strength. We then consider the origin of non-trivial leptonic CP phase in the charged lepton sector and calculate the lepton asymmetry arising from the lightest right handed neutrino decay by incorporating the presence of both type I and type II seesaw. We constrain the type II seesaw strength as well as leptonic CP phase (and hence the charged lepton sector) by comparing our results with experimental neutrino oscillation parameters as well as Planck bound on baryon to photon ratio. Finally, we extend our analysis on lepton flavour violating decays like $\mu \to e \gamma$ and $\mu \to eee$ due to exchange of TeV scale Higgs triplet scalar within the low scale type II seesaw framework. The branching ratios for these lepton flavour processes are examined with the small type II perturbation term $\omega$ and the estimated values are very close to the experimental bound coming from current search experiments.

Perturbations to $\mu-\tau$ Symmetry, Leptogenesis and Lepton Flavour Violation with Type II Seesaw [Replacement]

We study the possibility of generating non-zero reactor mixing angle $\theta_{13}$ by perturbing the $\mu-\tau$ symmetric neutrino mass matrix. The leading order $\mu-\tau$ symmetric neutrino mass matrix originates from type I seesaw mechanism whereas the perturbations to $\mu-\tau$ symmetry originate from type II seesaw term. We consider four different realizations of $\mu-\tau$ symmetry: Bimaximal Mixing(BM), Tri-bimaximal Mixing (TBM), Hexagonal Mixing (HM) and Golden Ratio Mixing (GRM) all giving rise to $\theta_{13} = 0, \theta_{23} = \frac{\pi}{4}$ but different non-zero values of solar mixing angle $\theta_{12}$. We assume a minimal $\mu-\tau$ symmetry breaking type II seesaw mass matrix as a perturbation and calculate the neutrino oscillation parameters as a function of type II seesaw strength. We then consider the origin of non-trivial leptonic CP phase in the charged lepton sector and calculate the lepton asymmetry arising from the lightest right handed neutrino decay by incorporating the presence of both type I and type II seesaw. We constrain the type II seesaw strength as well as leptonic CP phase (and hence the charged lepton sector) by comparing our results with experimental neutrino oscillation parameters as well as Planck bound on baryon to photon ratio. Finally, we extend our analysis on lepton flavour violating decays like $\mu \to e \gamma$ and $\mu \to eee$ due to exchange of TeV scale Higgs triplet scalar within the low scale type II seesaw framework. The branching ratios for these lepton flavour processes are examined with the small type II perturbation term $\omega$ and the estimated values are very close to the experimental bound coming from current search experiments.

Tensor-to-Scalar Ratio in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld Inflation [Replacement]

We investigate the scalar perturbation of the inflation model driven by a massive-scalar field in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity. We focus on the perturbation at the attractor stage in which the first and the second slow-roll conditions are satisfied. The scalar perturbation exhibits the corrections to the chaotic inflation model in general relativity. We find that the tensor-to-scalar ratio becomes smaller than that of the usual chaotic inflation.

Tensor-to-Scalar Ratio in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld Inflation [Replacement]

We investigate the scalar perturbation of the inflation model driven by a massive-scalar field in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity. We focus on the perturbation at the attractor stage in which the first and the second slow-roll conditions are satisfied. The scalar perturbation exhibits the corrections to the chaotic inflation model in general relativity. We find that the tensor-to-scalar ratio becomes smaller than that of the usual chaotic inflation.

Tensor-to-Scalar Ratio in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld Inflation

We investigate the scalar perturbation of the inflation model driven by a massive-scalar field in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity. We focus on the perturbation at the attractor stage in which the first and the second slow-roll conditions are satisfied. The scalar perturbation exhibits the corrections to the chaotic inflation model in general relativity. We find that the tensor-to-scalar ratio becomes smaller than that of the usual chaotic inflation.

Tensor-to-Scalar Ratio in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld Inflation [Cross-Listing]

We investigate the scalar perturbation of the inflation model driven by a massive-scalar field in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity. We focus on the perturbation at the attractor stage in which the first and the second slow-roll conditions are satisfied. The scalar perturbation exhibits the corrections to the chaotic inflation model in general relativity. We find that the tensor-to-scalar ratio becomes smaller than that of the usual chaotic inflation.

Axial gravitational perturbations of an infinite static line source

In this paper we study axial gravitational perturbations of an infinite static line source, represented by a form of the Levi-Civita metric. The perturbations are restricted to axial symmetry but break the cylindrical symmetry of the background metric. We analyze the gauge issues that arise in setting up the appropriate form of the perturbed metric and show that it is possible to restrict to diagonal terms, but that this does not fix the gauge completely. We derive the perturbation equations and show that they can be solved by solving a third order ordinary differential equation for an appropriately chosen function of the perturbed metric coefficients. The set of solutions of this equation contains gauge trivial parts, and we show how to extract the gauge non trivial components. We introduce appropriate boundary conditions on the solutions and show that these lead to a boundary value problem that determines the allowed functional forms of the perturbation modes. The associated eigenvalues determine a sort of "dispersion relation" for the frequencies and corresponding "wave vector" components. The central result of this analysis is that the spectrum of allowed frequencies contains one unstable (imaginary frequency) mode for every possible choice of the background metric. The completeness of the mode expansion in relation to the initial value problem and to the gauge problem is discussed in detail, and we show that the perturbations contain an unstable component for generic initial data, and, therefore, that the Levi-Civita space times are gravitationally unstable. We also include, for completeness, a set of approximate eigenvalues, and examples of the functional form of the solutions.

Higher derivatives and power spectrum in effective single field inflation [Cross-Listing]

We study next-to-leading corrections to the effective action of the curvature perturbation obtained by integrating out the coupled heavy isocurvature perturbation. These corrections result from applying higher order derivative operators of the effective theory expansion with respect to the mass scale of the heavy modes. We find that the correction terms are suppressed by the ratio of the Hubble parameter to the heavy mass scale. The corresponding corrections to the power spectrum of the curvature perturbation are presented for a simple illustrative example.

Higher derivatives and power spectrum in effective single field inflation [Cross-Listing]

We study next-to-leading corrections to the effective action of the curvature perturbation obtained by integrating out the coupled heavy isocurvature perturbation. These corrections result from applying higher order derivative operators of the effective theory expansion with respect to the mass scale of the heavy modes. We find that the correction terms are suppressed by the ratio of the Hubble parameter to the heavy mass scale. The corresponding corrections to the power spectrum of the curvature perturbation are presented for a simple illustrative example.

Higher derivatives and power spectrum in effective single field inflation

We study next-to-leading corrections to the effective action of the curvature perturbation obtained by integrating out the coupled heavy isocurvature perturbation. These corrections result from applying higher order derivative operators of the effective theory expansion with respect to the mass scale of the heavy modes. We find that the correction terms are suppressed by the ratio of the Hubble parameter to the heavy mass scale. The corresponding corrections to the power spectrum of the curvature perturbation are presented for a simple illustrative example.

On the thermal sensitivity of binary formation in collapsing molecular clouds

We report the results of a numerical study on the initial formation stages of low-mass protostellar binary systems. We determine the separation of protostellar binaries formed as a function of the initial thermal state by varying the initial temperature in a slightly modified version of the Burkert and Bodenheimer collapse test. We find that the outcome is highly sensitive to both the initial temperature of the cloud and the initial amplitude of azimuthal density perturbation A. For A=10 %, variations of only 1 unit Kelvin below 10 K lead to changes of up to 100 AU ( i.e. of order 30 %) in the instantaneous separation, whereas for this small A the initial temperatures above 10 K yield, instead of a binary, a single low-mass fragment that never reaches protostellar densities. Protostellar binaries, however, do emerge when the perturbation amplitude is increased from 10 % to 25 %. We also investigate the impact of the critical density which governs the transition from isothermal to adiabatic thermodynamic behaviour of the collapsing gas. We find that the critical density not only affects the overall structural evolution of the gas envelope, but also the size of the rotating disk structures formed during collapse as well as the number of protostellar fragments resulting from the final fragmentation of the disks. This mechanism can give rise to young protostellar objects constituting bound multiple stellar systems.

Entropy of conformal perturbation defects

We consider perturbation defects obtained by perturbing a 2D conformal field theory (CFT) by a relevant operator on a half-plane. If the perturbed bulk theory flows to an infrared fixed point described by another CFT, the defect flows to a conformal defect between the ultraviolet and infrared fixed point CFTs. For short bulk renormalization group flows connecting two fixed points which are close in theory space we find a universal perturbative formula for the boundary entropy of the corresponding conformal perturbation defect. We compare the value of the boundary entropy that our formula gives for the flows between nearby Virasoro minimal models Mm with the boundary entropy of the defect constructed by Gaiotto in [1] and find a match at the first two orders in the 1/m expansion.

Testable constraint on near-tribimaximal neutrino mixing

General lowest order perturbations to hermitian squared mass matrices of leptons are considered away from the tribimaximal (TBM) limit in which a weak flavor basis with mass diagonal charged leptons is chosen. The three measurable TBM-deviants are expressed linearly in terms of perturbation induced dimensionless coefficients appearing in the charged lepton and neutrino flavor eigenstates. With unnatural cancellations assumed to be absent and the charged lepton perturbation contributions to their flavor eigenstates argued to be small, we analytically derive that a deviation from maximal atmospheric neutrino mixing and CP violation in neutrino oscillations cannot both be observably large, posing the challenge of verification to forthcoming experiments at the intensity frontier.

Thermal Effects and Sudden Decay Approximation in the Curvaton Scenario

We study the impact of a temperature-dependent curvaton decay rate on the primordial curvature perturbation generated in the curvaton scenario. Using the familiar sudden decay approximation, we obtain an analytical expression for the curvature perturbation after the decay of the curvaton. We then investigate numerically the evolution of the background and of the perturbations during the decay. We first show that the instantaneous transfer coefficient, related to the curvaton energy fraction at the decay, can be extended into a more general parameter, which depends on the net transfer of the curvaton energy into radiation energy or, equivalently, on the total entropy ratio after the complete curvaton decay. We then compute the curvature perturbation and compare this result with the sudden decay approximation prediction.

Thermal Effects and Sudden Decay Approximation in the Curvaton Scenario [Cross-Listing]

We study the impact of a temperature-dependent curvaton decay rate on the primordial curvature perturbation generated in the curvaton scenario. Using the familiar sudden decay approximation, we obtain an analytical expression for the curvature perturbation after the decay of the curvaton. We then investigate numerically the evolution of the background and of the perturbations during the decay. We first show that the instantaneous transfer coefficient, related to the curvaton energy fraction at the decay, can be extended into a more general parameter, which depends on the net transfer of the curvaton energy into radiation energy or, equivalently, on the total entropy ratio after the complete curvaton decay. We then compute the curvature perturbation and compare this result with the sudden decay approximation prediction.

Thermal Effects and Sudden Decay Approximation in the Curvaton Scenario [Cross-Listing]

We study the impact of a temperature-dependent curvaton decay rate on the primordial curvature perturbation generated in the curvaton scenario. Using the familiar sudden decay approximation, we obtain an analytical expression for the curvature perturbation after the decay of the curvaton. We then investigate numerically the evolution of the background and of the perturbations during the decay. We first show that the instantaneous transfer coefficient, related to the curvaton energy fraction at the decay, can be extended into a more general parameter, which depends on the net transfer of the curvaton energy into radiation energy or, equivalently, on the total entropy ratio after the complete curvaton decay. We then compute the curvature perturbation and compare this result with the sudden decay approximation prediction.

Comparison of two approximation schemes for solving perturbations in a LTB cosmological model

Recently, the present authors studied perturbations in the Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi cosmological model by applying the second-order perturbation theory in the dust Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker universe model. Before this work, the same subject was studied in some papers by analyzing linear perturbations in the Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi cosmological model under the assumption proposed by Clarkson, Clifton and February, in which two of perturbation variables are negligible. However, it is a non-trivial issue in what situation the Clarkson-Clifton-February assumption is valid. In this paper, we investigate differences between these two approaches. It is shown that, in general, these two approaches are not compatible with each other. That is, in our perturbative procedure, the Clarkson-Clifton-February assumption is not valid at the order of our interest.

Comparison of two approximation schemes for solving perturbations in a LTB cosmological model [Replacement]

Recently, the present authors studied perturbations in the Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi cosmological model by applying the second-order perturbation theory in the dust Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker universe model. Before this work, the same subject was studied in some papers by analyzing linear perturbations in the Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi cosmological model under the assumption proposed by Clarkson, Clifton and February, in which two of perturbation variables are negligible. However, it is a non-trivial issue in what situation the Clarkson-Clifton-February assumption is valid. In this paper, we investigate differences between these two approaches. It is shown that, in general, these two approaches are not compatible with each other. That is, in our perturbative procedure, the Clarkson-Clifton-February assumption is not valid at the order of our interest.

Comparison of two approximation schemes for solving perturbations in a LTB cosmological model [Replacement]

Recently, the present authors studied perturbations in the Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi cosmological model by applying the second-order perturbation theory in the dust Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker universe model. Before this work, the same subject was studied in some papers by analyzing linear perturbations in the Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi cosmological model under the assumption proposed by Clarkson, Clifton and February, in which two of perturbation variables are negligible. However, it is a non-trivial issue in what situation the Clarkson-Clifton-February assumption is valid. In this paper, we investigate differences between these two approaches. It is shown that, in general, these two approaches are not compatible with each other. That is, in our perturbative procedure, the Clarkson-Clifton-February assumption is not valid at the order of our interest.

A Nonminimal Coupling Model and its Short-Range Solar System Impact

The objective of this work is to present the effects of a nonminimally coupled model of gravity on a Solar System short range regime. For this reason, this study is only valid when the cosmological contribution is considered irrelevant. The action functional of the model involves two functions $f^1(R)$ and $f^2(R)$ of the Ricci scalar curvature $R$, where the last one multiplies the matter Lagrangian. Using a Taylor expansion around $R=0$ for both functions $f^1(R)$ and $f^2(R)$, it was found that the metric around a spherical object is a perturbation of the weak-field Schwarzschild metric. The $tt$ component of the metric, a Newtonian plus a Yukawa perturbation term, is constrained using the available observational results. First it is shown that this effect is null when the characteristic mass scales of each function $f^1(R)$ and $f^2(R)$ are identical. Besides, the conclusion is that the nonminimal coupling only affects the Yukawa contribution strength and not its range and that the Starobinsky model for inflation is not experimentally constrained. Moreover, the geodetic precession effect, obtained also from the radial perturbation of the metric, reveals to be of no relevance for the constraints.

Acoustic geometry through perturbation of accretion rate : II - radial flow in stationary axisymmetric spacetime

We introduce a novel perturbation scheme to study the stability properties of the stationary transonic integral solutions for low angular momentum axisymmetric accretion flow in a general stationary axisymmetric space time around non rotating black holes for generalized geometric configuration of infalling matter. We discuss the emergence of the relativistic acoustic geometry as a consequence of such stability analysis and establish the fact that the space time structure of such acoustic geometry is independent of the matter geometry as well as the perturbation scheme. The acoustic metric elements obtained by perturbing the velocity potential of the background fluid flow remains the same as of that obtained by perturbing the mass accretion rate.

Acoustic geometry through perturbation of mass accretion rate - axisymmetric flow in static spacetimes [Replacement]

This is the second of our series of papers devoted to the study of the stability analysis of the stationary transonic integral solutions for accretion flow onto a static compact object, using the acoustic geometry. Precisely, we consider accretion of an axisymmetric, inviscid and irrotational fluid in a general static axisymmetric spacetime and study the perturbation of the mass accretion rate, and demonstrate the natural emergence of the general relativistic acoustic geometry. In other words, the astrophysical accretion process has a natural interpretation as an example of the acoustic analogue gravity phenomenon. We also discuss two explicit examples of the Schwarzschild and the Rindler spacetimes. For the later, in particular, we demonstrate that for smooth flow fileds there can be no sonic point.

Acoustic geometry through perturbation of mass accretion rate - axisymmetric flow in static spacetimes [Replacement]

This is the second of our series of papers devoted to the study of the stability analysis of the stationary transonic integral solutions for accretion flow onto a static compact object, using the acoustic geometry. Precisely, we consider accretion of an axisymmetric, inviscid and irrotational fluid in a general static axisymmetric spacetime and study the perturbation of the mass accretion rate, and demonstrate the natural emergence of the general relativistic acoustic geometry. In other words, the astrophysical accretion process has a natural interpretation as an example of the acoustic analogue gravity phenomenon. We also discuss two explicit examples of the Schwarzschild and the Rindler spacetimes. For the later, in particular, we demonstrate that for smooth flow fileds there can be no sonic point.

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