Hard thermal loops in a gravitational field

We calculate the high-temperature (T ⁴) limit of the 3-graviton vertex function, with a single loop of internal scalar particles in thermal equilibrium. We use the analytically continued imaginary-time formalism. We verify a particular case of the Ward identity connecting the 3- and 2-graviton functions. This confirms that there is covariance under general coordinate transformations (which reduce to the identity at infinity). We remark that the ghost-ghost-graviton vertex (with ghost and graviton internal lines) has noT ⁴ term. This implies that the 3-graviton function with internal graviton (and ghost) lines must satisfy the Ward identity too, so it is possible for it to be proportional to the scalar contribution. We have verified this for that part of the vertex function which is manifestly symmetric and traceless in the six Lorentz indices.     

Experimental investigation of the quality of lensless super-resolution ghost imaging via sparsity constraints

Ghost imaging via sparsity constraints (GISC) can nonlocally realize super-resolution imaging. Factors influencing the quality of lensless super-resolution GISC are investigated and the experimental results show that, the quality of GISC is enhanced as the object?s sparse ratio in the representation basis or the spatial transverse coherence lengths on the object plane are decreased. The differences between ghost imaging (GI) and GISC are also discussed.     

Study of the effect of pump focusing on the performance of ghost imaging and ghost diffraction,based on spontaneous parametric downconversion

We study the effects of ghost imaging (GI) and ghost diffraction (GD), based on spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC) photon-pair sources. In particular, we focus on the effect of pump focusing in the SPDC process, on GI and GD. Our theory presented in this paper includes the cases of frequency-degenerate and frequency non-degenerate SPDC. We show analytically, and confirm through numerical simulations, that pump focusing degrades the performance of GI and GD, and for a sufficient focusing strength can altogether suppress these effects.     

Quantization of non-local field theory

The scheme of quantisation of non-local field theory is formulated. An intermediate regularisation is introduced into the non-local Lagrangian of the classical scalar field in such a way that the procedure of the canonical quantisation leads to the appearance of additional ghost states with indefinite metrics. The ghost states disappear when the regularisation is removed but the propagator of the scalar particle becomes non-local and theS-matrix is finite, unitary, causal and covariant in each perturbation order.     

Fractional Fourier transform for off-axis elliptical Gaussian beams

The fractional Fourier transform (FRT) is applied to off-axis elliptical Gaussian beam (EGB). An analytical formula is derived for the FRT of off-axis EGB in terms of the tensor method. The corresponding tensor ABCD law for performing the FRT of off-axis EGB is also obtained. By using the derived formulae, numerical examples are given. The derived formulae provide a convenient way for analyzing and calculating the FRT of off-axis EGB.     

Finite-temperature quantum field theory in Minkowski space

We formulate finite-temperature quantum field theories in Minkowski space (real time) using Feynman path integrals. We show that at non-zero temperature a new field arises which plays the role of a ghost field and is necessary for unambiguous Feynman rules. Consequently, the finite-temperature Lagrangian is different from the zero-temperature one and a new, discrete Z₂ symmetry arises. We discuss the functional formalism and spontaneous symmetry breakdown at finite temperature and also the possibility of spontaneous breakdown of the (thermal) Z₂ symmetry.     

Influence of the sparsity of random speckle illumination on ghost imaging in a noise environment

The influence of the sparsity of random speckle illumination on traditional ghost imaging(GI) and GI via sparsity constraint(GISC) in a noise environment is investigated. The experiments demonstrate that both GI and GISC obtain their best imaging quality when the sparsity of random speckle illumination is 0.5, which is also explained by some parameters such as detection of the signal to noise ratio and mutual coherence of the measurement matrix.     

Optical pulse compression using the temporal Radon-Wigner transform

The temporal Radon-Wigner transform (RWT), which is the squared modulus of the fractional Fourier transform (FRT) for a varying fractional order p, is here employed as a tool for pulse compression applications. To synthesize the compressed pulse, a selected FRT irradiance is optically produced employing a photonic device that combines phase modulation and dispersive transmission. For analysis purposes, the complete numerical generation of the RWT with 0 < p < 1 is proposed to select the value of p required for pulse compression. To this end, the amplitude and phase of the signal to be processed should be known. In order to obtain this information we use a method based on the recording of two different FRT irradiances of the pulse. The amplitude and phase errors of the recovered signal, which are inherent to the recording process, are discussed in connection with the RWT production. Numerical simulations were performed to illustrate the implementation of the proposed method. The technique is applied to compress signals commonly found in fiber optic transmission systems, such as chirped gaussian pulses, pulses distorted by second and third-order dispersion and nonlinear self-modulated pulses.     

Monopoles and topological field theory

We present a topological quantum field theory for magnetic monopoles in an SU(N) Yang-Mills-Higgs model. This field theory is obtained by gauge fixing the topological action defining the monopole charge. This work extends to the three-dimensional case the quantization of invariant polynomials in four dimensions. We choose the Bogomolny self-duality equations as gauge conditions for the magnetic monopole topological field theory. In this way the geometrical equation discussed e.g. in Atiyah and Hitchin's work are recovered as ghost equations of motion. We give the cocycles of the corresponding topological symmetry. In the N→∞ limit interesting phenomena occur. The functional integration is forced to cover only the moduli space and the role of the ghosts stemming from the gauge fixing process is to provide a smooth semiclassical approximation.     

Interacting generalized ghost dark energy in a non-flat universe

We investigate the generalized Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) ghost model of dark energy in the framework of Einstein gravity. First, we study the non-interacting generalized ghost dark energy in a flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) background. We obtain the equation of state parameter, w _D = p/ρ, the deceleration parameter, and the evolution equation of the generalized ghost dark energy. We find that, in this case, w _D cannot cross the phantom line (w _D > ?1) and eventually the universe approaches a de-Sitter phase of expansion (w _D → ?1). Then, we extend the study to the interacting ghost dark energy in both a flat and non-flat FRW universe. We find that the equation of state parameter of the interacting generalized ghost dark energy can cross the phantom line (w _D < ?1) provided the parameters of the model are chosen suitably. Finally, we constrain the model parameters by using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method and a combined dataset of SNIa, CMB, BAO and X-ray gas mass fraction.     

Interacting ghost dark energy in Brans-Dicke theory

We investigate the QCD ghost model of dark energy in the framework of Brans-Dicke cosmology. First, we study the non-interacting ghost dark energy in a flat Brans-Dicke theory. In this case we obtain the equation of state and the deceleration parameters and a differential equation governing the evolution of ghost energy density. Interestingly enough, we find that the equation of state parameter of the non-interacting ghost dark energy can cross the phantom line (wD=−1) provided the parameters of the model are chosen suitably. Then, we generalize the study to the interacting ghost dark energy in both flat and non-flat Brans-Dicke framework and find out that the transition of wD to phantom regime can be more easily achieved for than when resort to the Einstein field equations is made.     

Instability of Interacting Ghost Dark Energy Model in an Anisotropic Universe

A new dark energy model called “ghost dark energy” was recently suggested to explain the observed accelerating expansion of the universe. This model originates from the Veneziano ghost of QCD. The dark energy density is proportional to Hubble parameter, ρ _Λ = α H, where α is a constant of order \({\Lambda }^{3}_{QCD}\) and Λ _{Q C D} ～ 100M e V is QCD mass scale. In this paper, we investigate about the stability of generalized QCD ghost dark energy model against perturbations in the anisotropic background. At first, the ghost dark energy model of the universe with spatial BI model with/without the interaction between dark matter and dark energy is discussed. In particular, the equation of state and the deceleration parameters and a differential equation governing the evolution of this dark energy model are obtained. Then, we use the squared sound speed \({v_{s}^{2}}\) the sign of which determines the stability of the model. We explore the stability of this model in the presence/absence of interaction between dark energy and dark matter in both flat and non-isotropic geometry. In conclusion, we find evidence that the ghost dark energy might can not lead to a stable universe favored by observations at the present time in BI universe.     

Covariant superstring fermion amplitudes from the sum over fermionic surfaces

Covariant fermion amplitudes in the NSR string are obtained from the sum over fermionic surfaces with marked points, world sheet fermionic fields being double valued at these points. It is shown that under such boundary conditions one cannot choose a superconformal gauge when the number N = 2p + 4 of marked points is more than 4. The gauge unequivalent supermetrics on a string world sheet are parametrized by grassmannian parameters (supermoduli) and the integration over them produces the transformation of p vertices into the form with the opposite ghost charge. The ghost contribution to the amplitudes is also computed.     

Longitudinal purely spatial coherence of a light field

The effects of longitudinal purely spatial coherence of light and the results of observation of these effects in an interference experiment are considered under the condition that the length of temporal coherence l _c is considerably smaller than the length of longitudinal spatial coherence ρ_‖ of the field. It is shown that, for l _c ? ρ_‖, the longitudinal purely spatial coherence of the light field in fact governs the coherence of the wave train in the process of its propagation. The length and the time of coherent (“free”) path of the wave train are considered as new spatial and temporal scales of a partially coherent light field.     

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.     

Improvement of the optical image reconstruction based on multiplexed quantum ghost images

Ghost imaging allows one to obtain information on an object from the spatial correlation function between photons propagating through or reflected from the object and photons of the reference arm. In this case, detection in the object arm is performed over the entire aperture of the beam and, therefore, it does not give information on the object. The reference beam does not interact with the object, but is recorded with a scanning point detector or a CCD array permitting the measurement of the spatial correlation function of photons in two arms. The use of multimode entangled quantum light beams by illuminating the object by one beam and orienting other beams to reference arms makes it possible to obtain simultaneously several ghost images (GIs). Cross correlations of multiplexed GIs (MGIs) are determined by eighth-order field correlation functions. A special algorithm is developed for calculating higher-order correlations of Bose operators. The presence of GI cross correlations is used for improving the quality of the reconstructed object’s image by their processing using the measurement reduction method. An example of the computer simulation of the image reconstruction by MGIs formed in the field of four-frequency entangled quantum states is considered. It is found that in this case the reduced GI has a signal-to-noise ratio several times higher than that of GIs.     

Logarithmic conformal field theory approach to topologically massive gravity

We study the topologically massive gravity at the chiral point (chiral gravity) by using the logarithmic conformal field theory. Two new tensor fields of ψnew${\psi }^{\mathrm{new}}$ and X   are introduced for a candidate of propagating physical field at the chiral point. However, we show that (ψnew,ψL${\psi }^{\mathrm{new}},{\psi }^L$) form a dipole ghost pair of unphysical fields and X is not a primary. This implies that there is no physically propagating degrees of freedom at the chiral point.     

Dimensional regularization of gauge theories in spherical spacetime: Free field trace anomalies

The O(n + 1) covariant formulation of massless quantum electrodynamics in spherical spacetime is further developed to allow a calculation of the energy-momentum tensor trace anomalies for the free Dirac, electromagnetic, and SU(2) gauge fields. The principal technical development is the construction of the Faddeev-Popov ghosts for electrodynamics and SU(2) Yang-Mills theory. This construction is unconventional first in that the gauge fixing term in the Lagrangian is not a perfect square, and second because it is necessary to remove radial as well as gauge degrees of freedom from the measure of the functional integral. The ghost fields are shown to satisfy a minimal scalar field equation. The free field effective action is found to be divergent in four dimensions, and is renormalized by the inclusion in the Lagrangian of a counterterm local in the gravitational fields. The energy-momentum tensor calculated from this renormalized effective action is shown to have a trace anomaly.     

String ghost number violation in the operator formalism

A systematic procedure of incorporating b−c zero modes into an operator formalism on arbitrary Riemann surfaces is presented. It is demonstrated that transition amplitudes on Riemann surfaces must contain certain fermionic δfunctions to ensure analyticity of the “classical” ghost coordinates. A transition amplitude on a Riemann surface of Euler characteristic χ violates ghost number conservation by −3χ units.     

Ghost vertices for the bosonic string using the group-theoretic approach to string theory

The N-string tree-level scattering vertices for the bosonic string are extended to include anticommuting (ghost) oscillators. These vertices behave correctly under the action of the BRST charge Q and reproduce the known results for the scattering of physical states. This work is an application of the group-theoretic approach to string theory.