Landau quantization in the spinning cosmic string spacetime

We analyze the quantum phenomenon arising from the interaction of a spinless charged particle with a rotating cosmic string, under the action of a static and uniform magnetic field parallel to the string. We calculate the energy levels of the particle in the non-relativistic approach, showing how these energies depend on the parameters involved in the problem. In order to do this, we solve the time independent Schrödinger equation in the geometry of the spinning cosmic string, taking into account that the coupling between the rotation of the spacetime and the angular momentum of the particle is very weak, such that makes sense to apply the Schrödinger equation in a curved background whose metric has an off diagonal term which involves time and space. It is also assumed that the particle orbits sufficiently far from the boundary of the region of closed timelike curves which exist around this topological defect. Finally, we find the Landau levels of the particle in the presence of a spinning cosmic string endowed with internal structure, i.e., having a finite width and uniformly filled with both material and vacuum energies.     

Scale anomaly as the origin of time

We explore the problem of time in quantum gravity in a point-particle analogue model of scale-invariant gravity. If quantized after reduction to true degrees of freedom, it leads to a time-independent Schrödinger equation. As with the Wheeler–DeWitt equation, time disappears, and a frozen formalism that gives a static wavefunction on the space of possible shapes of the system is obtained. However, if one follows the Dirac procedure and quantizes by imposing constraints, the potential that ensures scale invariance gives rise to a conformal anomaly, and the scale invariance is broken. A behaviour closely analogous to renormalization-group (RG) flow results. The wavefunction acquires a dependence on the scale parameter of the RG flow. We interpret this as time evolution and obtain a novel solution of the problem of time in quantum gravity. We apply the general procedure to the three-body problem, showing how to fix a natural initial value condition, introducing the notion of complexity. We recover a time-dependent Schrödinger equation with a repulsive cosmological force in the ‘late-time’ physics and we analyse the role of the scale invariant Planck constant. We suggest that several mechanisms presented in this model could be exploited in more general contexts.     

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.     

On the cosmological viability of the Hu-Sawicki type modified induced gravity

It has been shown recently that the normal branch of a DGP braneworld scenario self-accelerates if the induced gravity on the brane is modified in the spirit of f(R) modified gravity. Within this viewpoint, we investigate cosmological viability of the Hu-Sawicki type modified induced gravity. Firstly, we present a dynamical system analysis of a general f(R)-DGP model. We show that in the phase space of the model, there exist three standard critical points; one of which is a de Sitter point corresponding to accelerating phase of the universe expansion. The stability of this point depends on the effective equation of state parameter of the curvature fluid. If we consider the curvature fluid to be a canonical scalar field in the equivalent scalar-tensor theory, the mentioned de Sitter phase is unstable, otherwise it is an attractor, stable phase. We show that the effective equation of state parameter of the model realizes an effective phantom-like behavior. A cosmographic analysis shows that this model, which admits a stable de Sitter phase in its expansion history, is a cosmologically viable scenario.     

Brane world cosmology without the Z2 symmetry

The Friedmann equation for a positive tension brane situated between two bulk spacetimes that posses the same 5D cosmological constant, but which does not posses a Z₂ symmetry of the metric itself is derived, and the possible effects of dropping the Z₂ symmetry on the expansion of our Universe are examined; cosmological constraints are discussed. We show the effect of this is an inflation-like period at very early times. The global solutions for the metric in the infinite extra dimension case are found and comparison with the symmetric case is made. We show that any brane world senario of this type must revert to a Z₂ symmetric form at late times, and hence rule out certain proposed scenarios.     

Hamiltonian dynamics of fields in front form

We propose a new approach for constructing the Hamiltonian dynamics for a coupled Dirac field Ψ(x), quantized on the light-front t+z = 0, in which the momentum representation of fields is used to obtain the anti-commutator for Ψ(x) and its momentum conjugate π(x). Aside from the usual definition of π(x), the Hamiltonian, the anti-commutators and the Hamiltonian equations of motion, we need a subsidiary condition for Ψ(x) to make the front-form dynamics consistent and valid in any inertial frame. By treating all components of Ψ(x) in the same manner and retaining the subsidiary condition, we make the theory simple and elegant. In contrast to the infinite-momentum-frame approach, there is no non-covariant term in the Hamiltonian and the propagator in our approach. The resultant Feynman rules make the equivalence of the scattering matrices between the front-form dynamics and the conventional dynamics become apparent. The difference between the two forms of dynamics is also discussed.     

Dynamical mass generation for the gravitino in N = 1 supergravity

The Volkov-Akulov field is coupled to supergravity and it is gauged away through a field redefinition, remaining with a negative cosmological constant plus N = 1 supergravity lagrangian. Then the gravitino sector is quantized and a positive cosmological constant is obtained along with a mass-like term for the gravitino. Imposing the effective cosmological constant to be zero, consequently a genuine mass term for the gravitino is obtained. The corresponding energy-gap equation shows that this mass turns out to be of the order of the Planck mass.     

Quantization of Space in the Presence of a Minimal Length

In this article,we apply the Generalized Uncertainty Principle(GUP),which is consistent with quantum gravity theories to an elementary particle in a finite potential well,and study the quantum behavior in this system.The generalized Hamiltonian contains two additional terms,which are proportional to αp~3(the result of the maximum momentum assumption) and α~2p~4(the result of the minimum length assumption),where α ~ 1/M_(PIC) is the GUP parameter.On the basis of the work by Ali et al.,we solve the generalized Schrodinger equation which is extended to include the α~2 correction term,and find that the length L of the finite potential well must be quantized.Then a generalization to the double-square-well potential is discussed.The result shows that all the measurable lengths especially the distance between the two potential wells are quantized in units of α_0l_(PI) in GUP scenario.     

A quantum model of option pricing: When Black-Scholes meets Schrödinger and its semi-classical limit

The Black-Scholes equation can be interpreted from the point of view of quantum mechanics, as the imaginary time Schrödinger equation of a free particle. When deviations of this state of equilibrium are considered, as a product of some market imperfection, such as: Transaction cost, asymmetric information issues, short-term volatility, extreme discontinuities, or serial correlations; the classical non-arbitrage assumption of the Black-Scholes model is violated, implying a non-risk-free portfolio. From Haven (2002) [1] we know that an arbitrage environment is a necessary condition to embedding the Black-Scholes option pricing model in a more general quantum physics setting. The aim of this paper is to propose a new Black-Scholes-Schrödinger model based on the endogenous arbitrage option pricing formulation introduced by Contreras et al. (2010) [2]. Hence, we derive a more general quantum model of option pricing, that incorporates arbitrage as an external time dependent force, which has an associated potential related to the random dynamic of the underlying asset price. This new resultant model can be interpreted as a Schrödinger equation in imaginary time for a particle of mass 1/σ² with a wave function in an external field force generated by the arbitrage potential. As pointed out above, this new model can be seen as a more general formulation, where the perfect market equilibrium state postulated by the Black-Scholes model represent a particular case. Finally, since the Schrödinger equation is in place, we can apply semiclassical methods, of common use in theoretical physics, to find an approximate analytical solution of the Black-Scholes equation in the presence of market imperfections, as it is the case of an arbitrage bubble. Here, as a numerical illustration of the potential of this Schrödinger equation analogy, the semiclassical approximation is performed for different arbitrage bubble forms (step, linear and parabolic) and compare with the exact solution of our general quantum model of option pricing.     

Cosmological equations and thermodynamics on apparent horizon in thick braneworld

We derive the generalized Friedmann equation governing the cosmological evolution inside the thick brane model in the presence of two curvature correction terms: a four-dimensional scalar curvature from induced gravity on the brane, and a five-dimensional Gauss-Bonnet curvature term. We find two effective four-dimensional reductions of the generalized Friedmann equation in some limits and demonstrate that the reductions but not the generalized Friedmann equation can be rewritten as the first law of equilibrium thermodynamics on the apparent horizon of thick braneworld.     

Localization of Gravity in Brane World with Arbitrary Extra Dimensions

We study the induced 4-dimensional linearized Einstein field equations in an m-dimensional bulk space by means of a confining potential. We used the confining potential in this model to localized gravitons on the brane. It is shown that in this approach the mass of graviton is quantized. The cosmological constant problem is also addressed within the context of this approach. We show that the difference between the values of the cosmological constant in particle physics and cosmology stems from our measurements in two different scales, small and large.     

Induced cosmology on a regularized brane in six-dimensional flux compactification

We consider a six-dimensional Einstein–Maxwell system compactified in an axisymmetric two-dimensional space with one capped regularized conical brane of codimension one. We study the cosmological evolution which is induced on the regularized brane as it moves in between known static   bulk and cap solutions. Looking at the resulting Friedmann equation, we see that the brane cosmology at high energies is dominated by a five-dimensional ρ²${\rho }^2$ energy density term. At low energies, we obtain a Friedmann equation with a term linear to the energy density with, however, negative coefficient in the small four-brane radius limit (i.e., with negative effective Newton's constant). We discuss ways out of this problem.     

A note on the generalized Friedmann equations for a thick brane

Within our thick brane approach previously used to obtain the cosmological evolution equations on a thick brane embedded in a five-dimensional Schwarzschild Anti-de Sitter spacetime it is explicitly shown that the consistency of these equations with the energy conservation equation requires that, in general, the thickness of the brane evolves in time. This varying brane thickness entails the possibility that both Newton’s gravitational constant G and the effective cosmological constant Λ₄ are time dependent.     

The Hamiltonian constraint in the teleparallel equivalent of general relativity

In the teleparallel equivalent of general relativity the integral form of the Hamiltonian constraint contains explicitly theadm energy in the case of asymptotically flat space-times. We show that such expression of the constraint leads to a natural and straightforward construction of a Schrödinger equation for time-dependent physical states. The quantized Hamiltonian constraint is thus written as an energy eigenvalue equation. We further analyse the constraint equations in the case of a space-time endowed with a spherically symmetric geometry. We find the general functional form of the time-dependent solutions of the quantized Hamiltonian and vector constraints.     

QCD Ghost Dark Energy in RS II Braneworld with Bulk-Brane Interaction

We investigate the QCD ghost model of dark energy in the framework of RS II braneworld. We assume there is an energy flow between the brane and bulk, and hence the continuity equation for the ghost dark energy is violated, while it is still preserved for the dark matter on the brane. We find that with the brane-bulk interaction, the equation of state parameter of ghost dark energy on the brane, can cross the phantom line w _D =?1 at the present time, which confirms by some cosmological evidences. This result is in contrast to the standard cosmology where w _D of ghost dark energy never cross the phantom line and the universe enters a de Sitter phase at the late time.     

Quantum theory of single events: Localized De Broglie wavelets,Schrödinger waves,and classical trajectories

For an arbitrary potential V with classical trajectoriesx=g(t), we construct localized oscillating three-dimensional wave lumps (x, t,g) representing a single quantum particle. The crest of the envelope of the ripple follows the classical orbitg(t), slightly modified due to the potential V, and (x, t,g) satisfies the Schrödinger equation. The field energy, momentum, and angular momentum calculated as integrals over all space are equal to the particle energy, momentum, and angular momentum. The relation to coherent states and to Schrödinger waves is also discussed.     

Quantum mechanics of a miniuniverse

From the equations of general relativity for the radius of a closed homogeneous isotropic universe a Schrödinger equation for a particle is obtained. In the case of a universe filled with pressureless matter (dust) the equation is like that for thes states of a hydrogenlike atom. The miniuniverses obtained in this way have quantized masses of the order of the Planck mass.