Quark–hadron phase transition in massive gravity

We study the quark–hadron phase transition in the framework of massive gravity. We show that the modification of the FRW cosmological equations leads to the quark–hadron phase transition in the early massive Universe. Using numerical analysis, we consider that a phase transition based on the chiral symmetry breaking after the electroweak transition, occurred at approximately 10 μs after the Big Bang to convert a plasma of free quarks and gluons into hadrons.     

Inflation and late-time acceleration in braneworld cosmological models with varying brane tension

Braneworld models with variable brane tension λ introduce a new degree of freedom that allows for evolving gravitational and cosmological constants, the latter being a natural candidate for dark energy. We consider a thermodynamic interpretation of the varying brane tension models, by showing that the field equations with variable λ can be interpreted as describing matter creation in a cosmological framework. The particle creation rate is determined by the variation rate of the brane tension, as well as by the brane–bulk energy-matter transfer rate. We investigate the effect of a variable brane tension on the cosmological evolution of the Universe, in the framework of a particular model in which the brane tension is an exponentially dependent function of the scale factor. The resulting cosmology shows the presence of an initial inflationary expansion, followed by a decelerating phase, and by a smooth transition towards a late accelerated de Sitter type expansion. The varying brane tension is also responsible for the generation of the matter in the Universe (reheating period). The physical constraints on the model parameters, resulting from the observational cosmological data, are also investigated.     

The superfluid vacuum state,time-varying cosmological constant,and nonsingular cosmological models

Some cosmological consequences of the superfluid vacuum state developed previously by the authors are discussed, particularly with regard to the initial stages of the universe. The transition temperature of the hadronic superfluid (superfluid during the hadron era) is estimated to be 10 ¹³ K, which is the same as the Hagedorn temperature, giving a physical basis of the thermodynamic bootstrap model.     

Deconfinement transition: a three dimensional model

We present a three–dimensional model for quark matter with a density dependent quark–quark (confining) potential, which allows to describe a sort of deconfinement transition as the system evolves from a low density assembly of bound structures to a high density free Fermi gas of quarks. We consider different confining potentials, some of which successfully utilized in hadron spectroscopy. We find that a proper treatment of the many–body correlations induced by the medium is essential to disentangle the different nature of the two (hadronic and deconfined) phases of the system. For this purpose the ground state energy per particle and the pair correlation function are investigated. Received: 10 June 1998 / Revised version: 24 September 1998     

The realistic QCD equation of state in relativistic heavy-ion collisions and the early Universe

The realistic equation of state of strongly interacting matter, that has been successfully applied in the recent hydrodynamic studies of hadron production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at RHIC, is used in the Friedmann equation to determine the precise time evolution of thermodynamic parameters in the early Universe. A comparison with the results obtained with simple ideal-gas equations of state is made. The realistic equation of state describes a crossover rather than the first-order phase transition between the quark–gluon plasma and hadronic matter. Our numerical calculations show that small inhomogeneities of strongly interacting matter in the early Universe are moderately damped during such crossover.     

Fermion Interactions,Cosmological Constant and Space-Time Dimensionality in a Unified Approach Based on Affine Geometry

One of the main features of unified models, based on affine geometries, is that all possible interactions and fields naturally arise under the same standard. Here, we consider, from the effective Lagrangian of the theory, the torsion induced 4-fermion interaction. In particular, how this interaction affects the cosmological term, supposing that a condensation occurs for quark fields during the quark-gluon/hadron phase transition in the early universe. We explicitly show that there is no parity-violating pseudo-scalar density, dual to the curvature tensor (Holst term) and the spinor-bilinear scalar density has no mixed couplings of A-V form. On the other hand, the space-time dimensionality cannot be constrained from multidimensional phenomenological models admitting torsion.     

Finite-size effects on nucleation in a first-order phase transition

We discuss finite-size effects on homogeneous nucleation in first-order phase transitions. We study their implications for cosmological phase transitions and to the hadronization of a quark–gluon plasma generated in high-energy heavy ion collisions. Very general arguments allow us to show that the finite size of the early universe has virtually no relevance in the process of nucleation and in the growth of cosmological bubbles during the primordial quark–hadron and the electroweak phase transitions. In the case of high-energy heavy ion collisions, finite-size effects play an important role in the late-stage growth of hadronic bubbles.     

Letter: Spin–Down Power in Astrophysics

While the accretion power in astrophysics has been studied in many astronomical environments, the spin–down power is often neglected. In this essay I demonstrate that the spin–down power alone may drive a rotating system from sub-critical condition to critical condition with a small but finite probability. In the case of an isolated spinning-down neutron star, the star may undergo a quark–hadron phase transition in its center and become observable as a soft gamma repeater or a cosmological gamma–ray burst. For a spinning–down white dwarf, its Chandrasekhar mass limit will decrease and may reach the stellar mass, then the star explodes to a type Ia supernova. Gravitational wave detectors may be able to test these models.     

Loop quantum cosmology with a non-commutative quantum deformed photon gas

The non-commutativity of the space-time had important implications for the very early Universe, when its size was of the order of the Planck length. An important implication of this effect is the deformation of the standard dispersion relation of special relativity. Moreover, in the Planck regime gravity itself must be described by a quantum theory. We consider the implications of the modified dispersion relations for a photon gas, filling the early Universe, in the framework of loop quantum cosmology, a theoretical approach to quantum gravity. We consider three types of deformations of the dispersion relations of the photon gas, from which we obtain the Planck scale corrections to the energy density and pressure. The cosmological implications of the modified equations of state are explored in detail for all radiation models in the framework of the modified Friedmann equation of loop quantum cosmology. By numerically integrating the evolution equations we investigate the evolution of the basic cosmological parameters (scale factor, Hubble function, radiation temperature, and deceleration parameter) for a deformed photon gas filled Universe. In all models the evolution of the Universe shows the presence of a (nonsingular) bounce, corresponding to the transition from a contracting to an expanding phase.     

Four-fermion interaction from torsion as dark energy

The observed small, positive cosmological constant may originate from a four-fermion interaction generated by the spin-torsion coupling in the Einstein–Cartan–Sciama–Kibble gravity if the fermions are condensing. In particular, such a condensation occurs for quark fields during the quark-gluon/hadron phase transition in the early Universe. We study how the torsion-induced four-fermion interaction is affected by adding two terms to the Dirac Lagrangian density: the parity-violating pseudoscalar density dual to the curvature tensor and a spinor-bilinear scalar density which measures the nonminimal coupling of fermions to torsion.     

A second look at single-photon production in S + Au collisions at 200 A GeV and implications for quark–hadron phase transition

We reanalyze the production of single photons in S + Au collisions at CERN SPS to investigate: (i) the consequences of using a much richer equation of state for hadrons than the one used in an earlier study by us, and (ii) to see if the recent estimates of photon production in quark matter (at two-loop level) by Aurenche, et al. are consistent with the upper limit of the photon production measured by the WA80 group. We find that the data are consistent with a quark–hadron phase transition. The data are also consistent with a scenario where no phase transition takes place, but where the hadronic matter reaches a density of several hadrons per unit volume, which is rather unphysical. Received: 21 June 1999 / Revised version: 25 August 1999 / Published online: 16 November 1999     

Friedmann cosmology with decaying vacuum density

Among the several proposals to solve the incompatibility between the observed small value of the cosmological constant and the huge value obtained by quantum field theories, we can find the idea of a decaying vacuum energy density, leading from high values at early times of universe evolution to the small value observed nowadays. In this paper we consider a variation law for the vacuum density recently proposed by Schützhold on the basis of quantum field estimations in the curved, expanding background, characterized by a vacuum density proportional to the Hubble parameter. We show that, in the context of an isotropic and homogeneous, spatially flat model, the corresponding solutions retain the well established features of the standard cosmology, and, in addition, are in accordance with the observed cosmological parameters. Our scenario presents an initial phase dominated by radiation, followed by a dust era long enough to permit structure formation, and by an epoch dominated by the cosmological term, which tends asymptotically to a de Sitter universe. Taking the matter density equals to half of the vacuum energy density, as suggested by observation, we obtain a universe age given by Ht = 1.1, and a decelerating parameter equals to −1/2.     

Modern Cosmological Data and Rotation of the Universe

A new nonstationary rotating cosmological model is developed which describes the evolution of the observed Universe, since its properties are in good agreement with recent astronomical observations. It is demonstrated that the energy density of cosmological rotation can play a role of dark energy and induce the accelerated expansion of the Universe detected recently. In some situations when the causality parameter of the rotating cosmological model is negative, the cosmological rotational energy can be represented as phantom matter that violates the weak energy condition p + ε ≥ 0. The suggested cosmological model has no initial singularity, that is, the cosmological rotation can prevent the formation of the singularity.__________Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 3, pp. 3–6, March, 2005.     

Possible signatures of the hadronisation scale in parton jets

Models for hadron production in hard collisions differ widely in the energy scale characteristic of the transition from the primary partonic to the secondary hadronic phase of jet evolution. We investigate possible experimental signatures for the existence of both phases. In particular, we consider multiplicity and energy moments, long range charge correlations and angular correlations as a function of total energy or near the exclusive two body limit ine ⁺ e ^? annihilation and deep inelastic scattering processes. The possibility of a dual correspondence between hadronic and partonic states is discussed.     

Charged Randall-Sundrum Braneworld Type II with Higher Order Curvature Corrections from Superstring Arguments and Dominated by Quintessence

We discuss a new class of RSII braneworld cosmology exhibiting accelerated expansion and dominated by quintessence. It is explicitly demonstrated that the universe expansion history （transition from inflation to deceleration epoch to acceleration and effective quintessence era） may naturally occur in such unified theory for some classes of inverse scalar potentials. Besides a decaying effective cosmological constant, the model incorporates an increasing black hole mass, an increasing Maxwellian electrical charge with cosmic time and a time-dependent brahe tension. The cosmological model exhibits several features of cosmological and astrophysical interest for both the early and late universe consistent with recent observations, in particular the ones concerned with the gravitational constants, black holes masses and charges and variation of the gauge coupling parameters with cosmic time. One interesting mark of the constructed model concerns the fact that a black hole mass surrounded by quintessence energy may increase with time even if the horizon disappears.     

Cosmological implications of a relic neutrino asymmetry

We consider some cosmological consequences of a relic neutrino asymmetry. A relic neutrino degeneracy enhances the contribution of massive neutrinos to the present energy density of the Universe, and modifies the power spectrum of radiation and matter. We also show that even the smallest neutrino mass consistent with the Super—Kamiokande data is relevant for cosmological models, provided that a relic neutrino asymmetry exists.