Essay review: Count Rumford-a forgotten genius

The search for a theory that explains the origin of galaxies and large-scale structure in the Universe is at an exciting stage. Observational advances, including measurements of the anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background and systematic surveys of galaxy redshifts, are confronting theoretical calculations of the distribution of matter produced by the action of gravity on small initial density fluctuations in the expanding Universe. Although the basic idea behind most theoretical models is simple, the details are complicated and there are many unknown parameters, such as the quantity and type of dark matter forming the bulk of the mass of the Universe. Consequently, at present, there are a number of contenders for a theory of structure formation but no single model can fit all the observational data completely satisfactorily.     

Cosmological sigma model with non-minimal coupling to the target space

A homogeneous and isotropic Universe in the framework of a nonlinear sigma model with non-minimal coupling to the target space is considered. Preliminary investigation of a two-component model of this sort is conducted. Some solutions for this model are given. Perspectives and directions of development of such a sort of models are discussed.     

A fragment-based approach towards <Emphasis Type="Italic">ab-initio</Emphasis> treatment of polymeric materials

The present study deals with hypersurface-homogeneous cosmological models with anisotropic dark energy in Saez–Ballester theory of gravitation. Exact solutions of field equations are obtained by applying a special law of variation of Hubble’s parameter that yields a constant negative value of the deceleration parameter. Three physically viable cosmological models of the Universe are presented for the values of parameter K occurring in the metric of the space–time. The model for K = 0 corresponds to an accelerating Universe with isotropic dark energy. The other two models for K = 1 and ?1 represent accelerating Universe with anisotropic dark energy, which isotropize for large time. The physical and geometric behaviours of the models are also discussed.     

Action-at-a-distance electrodynamics in quasi-steady-state cosmology

Action-at-a-distance electrodynamics – alternative approach to field theory – can be extended to cosmological models using conformal symmetry. An advantage of this is that, the origin of arrow of time in electromagnetism can be attributed to the cosmological structure. Different cosmological models can be investigated, based on Wheeler–Feynman absorber theory, and only those models can be considered viable for our Universe which have net full retarded electromagnetic interactions, i.e., forward direction of time. This work evaluates the quasi-steady-state model and demonstrates that it admits full retarded and not advanced solution. Thus, quasi-steady-state cosmology (QSSC) satisfies this necessary condition for a correct cosmological model, based on action-at-a-distance formulation.     

What if gravity becomes really repulsive in the future?

The current acceleration of the Universe is one of the most puzzling issues in theoretical physics nowadays. We are far from giving an answer in this letter to the question of its nature. Yet, with the observations we have at hand, we analyse the different patterns that the gravitational potential can show in the future. Surprisingly, gravity not only can get weaker in the near future, it can even become repulsive; or equivalently, the gravitational potential may become negative. We show this remark by using one of the simplest phenomenological model we can imagine for dark energy. We have also reviewed the statefinder approach of these models. For completeness, we have also showed the behaviour of the density contrast of dark matter and dark energy for these simple (yet illustrative models). Our results are displayed and we see how they shall evolve in the future.     

Vacuum Stability in Kaluza-Klein Geometric Sigma Models

In Kaluza-Klein geometric sigma models, the scalar fields coupled to higher-dimensional gravity are pure gauge. The gauge fixed theory contains no matter fields, and can consistently be reduced to 4 dimensions, provided the internal space is chosen in the form of a group manifold. The effective 4-dimensional theory includes standard Einstein and Yang-Mills sectors, and is free of the classical cosmological constant problem. In this paper, the stability of the internal excitations is analyzed. It is shown that the initial Lagrangian can be modified to lead to a classically stable effective 4-dimensional theory, independently of the particular group used, and retaining all the basic features of the unmodified theory.     

Nearly scale invariant spectrum of gravitational radiation from global phase transitions

Using a large N sigma model approximation we explicitly calculate the power spectrum of gravitational waves arising from a global phase transition in the early Universe and we confirm that it is scale invariant, implying an observation of such a spectrum may not be a unique feature of inflation. Moreover, the predicted amplitude can be over 3 orders of magnitude larger than the naive dimensional estimate, implying that even a transition that occurs after inflation may dominate in cosmic microwave background polarization or other gravity wave signals.     

The Heterotic Supersymmetric Sigma Model in the Canonical Exterior Formalism

Starting from a classical 2D superconformal theory described by the Wess–Zumino–Witten action, the canonical exterior formalism on group manifold for the heterotic supersymmetric sigma model is constructed. The motion equations of the dynamical field and the constraints are found and analyzed from the geometric point of view. It can be seen how the use of the canonical exterior formalism is more adequate and simple because of its manifest covariance in all the steps. The relationship between the form brackets defined in the canonical exterior formalism and the Poisson-brackets is written. Later on, the Dirac-brackets are written by using the second class constraints provided by the canonical exterior formalism. As it can be seen the canonical exterior formalism allows to show how the canonical quantization of the heterotic supersymmetric sigma model is facilitated. Member of the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina.     

The Scalar Fields with Negative Kinetic Energy, Dark Matter and Dark Energy

The inhomogeneous cosmological model with generalized nonstatic Majumdar-Papapetrou metric is considered. The scalar field with negative kinetic energy and some usual matter sources of the gravitational field such as two-component nonlinear sigma model and perfect fluid are presented. Some exact solutions in these models are obtained and analyzed. In particular it is shown that the latent mass effect and effect of accelerating expansion (quintessence) of the Universe exist in these models. The 5-dimensional generalization of the model is presented, too.     

Geometric phases in dissipative systems

It is shown that a phenomenon analogous to the geometric phase shifts of Berry and Hannay occurs for dissipative oscillatory systems and can be detected in numerical simulations of chemical oscillators. The approach herein to the theory of geometric phases begins with a study of simple first-order differential equations on the circle (circle dynamics). It is shown how more complicated systems exhibit geometric phases through reduction to a circle dynamics. In this way, the various manifestations of the phenomenon are seen from a single unified perspective. The results are illustrated in numerical experiments on several model systems ranging from analytically solvable, but contrived, to realistic models of chemical oscillators.     

The Klein-Gordon Equation in Machian Model

The non-local Machian model is regarded as an alternative theory of gravitation which states that all particles in the Universe as a ‘gravitationally entangled’ statistical ensemble. It is shown that the Klein-Gordon equation can be derived within this Machian model of the universe. The crucial point of the derivation is the activity of the Machian energy background field which causing a fluctuation about the average momentum of a particle, the non-locality problem in quantum theory is addressed in this framework.     

Bounds on isocurvature perturbations from cosmic microwave background and large scale structure data

We obtain very stringent bounds on the possible cold dark matter, baryon, and neutrino isocurvature contributions to the primordial fluctuations in the Universe, using recent cosmic microwave background and large scale structure data. Neglecting the possible effects of spatial curvature, tensor perturbations, and reionization, we perform a Bayesian likelihood analysis with nine free parameters, and find that the amplitude of the isocurvature component cannot be larger than about 31% for the cold dark matter mode, 91% for the baryon mode, 76% for the neutrino density mode, and 60% for the neutrino velocity mode, at 2sigma, for uncorrelated models. For correlated adiabatic and isocurvature components, the fraction could be slightly larger. However, the cross-correlation coefficient is strongly constrained, and maximally correlated/anticorrelated models are disfavored. This puts strong bounds on the curvaton model.     

New constraints on neutrino physics from BOOMERANG data

We have performed a likelihood analysis of the recent data on the cosmic microwave background radiation anisotropy from the BOOMERANG experiment. These data place a strong upper bound on the radiation density present at recombination. Expressed in terms of the equivalent number of neutrino species the 2sigma bound is N(nu)相似文献   

The cosmological constant and dark energy in braneworlds

We review recent attempts to address the cosmological constant problem and the late-time acceleration of the Universe based on braneworld models. In braneworld models, the way in which the vacuum energy gravitates in the 4D spacetime is radically different from conventional 4D physics. It is possible that the vacuum energy on a brane does not curve the 4D spacetime and only affects the geometry of the extra-dimensions, offering a solution to the cosmological constant problem. We review the idea of supersymmetric large extra dimensions that could achieve this and also provide a natural candidate for a quintessence field. We also review the attempts to explain the late-time accelerated expansion of the universe from the large-distance modification of gravity based on the braneworld. We use the Dvali–Gabadadze–Porrati model to demonstrate how one can distinguish this model from dark energy models in 4D general relativity. Theoretical difficulties in this approach are also addressed.     

The imprint of inflation on the cosmic microwave background

The cosmic microwave background is the most precise and the most simple cosmological dataset. This makes it our most prominent window to the physics of the very early Universe. In this article I give an introduction to the physics of the cosmic microwave background and show in some detail how primordial fluctuations from inflation are imprinted in the temperature anisotropy and polarisation spectrum of the CMB. I discuss the main signatures that are suggesting an inflationary phase for the generation of initial fluctuations.     

Superbosonization Formula and its Application to Random Matrix Theory

Starting from Gaussian random matrix models we derive a new supermatrix field theory model. In contrast to the conventional non-linear sigma models, the new model is applicable for any range of correlations of the elements of the random matrices. We clarify the domain of integration for the supermatrices, and give a demonstration of how the model works by calculating the density of states for an ensemble of almost diagonal matrices. It is also shown how one can reduce the supermatrix model to the conventional sigma model.     

Baryogenesis and damping in nonminimal electroweak models

We calculate the baryon asymmetry of the Universe in the standard model of the electroweak theory with CP violation appropriate for simple extensions of the Higgs sector. The propagation of quarks of masses up to about 5 GeV are considered, taking into account the effect of damping rate. We find that the contribution of the b quark can still account for the observed baryon asymmetry to within the theoretical uncertainties of such models.

     

FREE NON-LINEAR VIBRATION OF A ROTATING THIN RING WITH THE IN-PLANE AND OUT-OF-PLANE MOTIONS

Free non-linear vibration of a rotating thin ring with a constant speed is analyzed when the ring has both the in-plane and out-of-plane motions. The geometric non-linearity of displacements is considered by adopting the Lagrange strain theory for the circumferential strain instead of the infinitesimal strain theory. By using Hamilton's principle, the coupled non-linear partial differential equations are derived, which describe the out-of-plane bending and torsional motions as well as the in-plane bending and extensional motions. During deriving the equations of motion, we discuss how to model the circumferential stress and strain in order to consider the geometric non-linearity. Four models are established: three non-linear models and one linear model. For the four models, the linearized equations of motion are obtained in the neighbourhood of the steady state equilibrium position. Based on the linearized equations of the four cases, the natural frequencies are computed at various rotational speeds and then they are compared. Through the comparison, this study recommends which model is appropriate to describe the non-linear behaviour more precisely.     

General relativity with an auxiliary dimension

I consider an extension of General Relativity by an auxiliary nondynamical dimension that enables our space–time to acquire an extrinsic curvature. Obtained gravitational equations, without or with a cosmological constant, have a selfaccelerated solution that is independent of the value of the cosmological constant, and can describe the cosmic speedup of the Universe as a geometric effect. Background evolution of the selfaccelerated solution is identical to that of ordinary de Sitter space. I show that linear perturbations on this solution describe either a massless graviton, or a massive graviton and a scalar, which are free of ghosts and tachyons for certain choices of boundary conditions. The obtained linearized expressions suggest that nonlinear interactions should, for certain boundary conditions, be strongly coupled, although this issue is not studied here. The full nonlinear Hamiltonian of the theory is shown to be positive for the selfaccelerated solution, while in general, it reduces to surface terms in our and auxiliary dimensions.