Quantum field theory of relic nonequilibrium systems
arXiv:1409.6817 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.92.063531
Abstract
In terms of the de Broglie-Bohm pilot-wave formulation of quantum theory, we develop field-theoretical models of quantum nonequilibrium systems which could exist today as relics from the very early universe. We consider relic excited states generated by inflaton decay, as well as relic vacuum modes, for particle species that decoupled close to the Planck temperature. Simple estimates suggest that, at least in principle, quantum nonequilibrium could survive to the present day for some relic systems. The main focus of this paper is to describe the behaviour of such systems in terms of field theory, with the aim of understanding how relic quantum nonequilibrium might manifest experimentally. We show by explicit calculation that simple perturbative couplings will transfer quantum nonequilibrium from one field to another (for example from the inflaton field to its decay products). We also show that fields in a state of quantum nonequilibrium will generate anomalous spectra for standard energy measurements. Possible connections to current astrophysical observations are briefly addressed.
arXiv comment22 pages, 13 figures. Minor improvements and some clarifying remarks in v3
References in corpus (37)
- Particle Dark Matter: Evidence, Candidates and Constraints
- Inflation Dynamics and Reheating
- The Trans-Planckian Problem of Inflationary Cosmology
- Planck 2013 results. XV. CMB power spectra and likelihood
- Reheating in Inflationary Cosmology: Theory and Applications
- A Tentative Gamma-Ray Line from Dark Matter Annihilation at the Fermi Large Area Telescope
- The Robustness of Inflation to Changes in Super-Planck-Scale Physics
- Fermi LAT Search for Internal Bremsstrahlung Signatures from Dark Matter Annihilation
- Gravitino Dark Matter without R-parity
- Search for Gamma-ray Spectral Lines with the Fermi Large Area Telescope and Dark Matter Implications
- Dynamical Origin of Quantum Probabilities
- Moduli-Induced Gravitino Problem
- Gravitino Production from Heavy Moduli Decay and Cosmological Moduli Problem Revived
- Trans-Planckian Issues for Inflationary Cosmology
- Inflaton Decay in Supergravity
- The Gravitino-Overproduction Problem in Inflationary Universe
- Timescales for dynamical relaxation to the Born rule
- Inflationary Cosmology as a Probe of Primordial Quantum Mechanics
- Natural Gravitino Dark Matter and Thermal Leptogenesis in Gauge-Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking Models
- Indirect Searches for Decaying Dark Matter
- Pilot-wave theory and quantum fields
- A Dirac sea pilot-wave model for quantum field theory
- The pre-inflationary vacuum in the cosmic microwave background
- Search for 100 MeV to 10 GeV gamma-ray lines in the Fermi-LAT data and implications for gravitino dark matter in the SSM
- Subquantum Information and Computation
- Implications of a 130 GeV Gamma-Ray Line for Dark Matter
- Effects of a pre-inflation radiation-dominated epoch to CMB anisotropy
- Astrophysical and Cosmological Tests of Quantum Theory
- De Broglie-Bohm Guidance Equations for Arbitrary Hamiltonians
- Gravitino Dark Matter from Inflaton Decay
- A deterministic Bell model
- Long-time relaxation in pilot-wave theory
- Primordial quantum nonequilibrium and large-scale cosmic anomalies
- Universal Signature of Non-Quantum Systems
- Mechanism for the suppression of quantum noise at large scales on expanding space
- Relaxation to quantum equilibrium for Dirac fermions in the de Broglie-Bohm pilot-wave theory
- Gamma-ray line from radiative decay of gravitino dark matter
Cited by in corpus (18)
- De Broglie-Bohm Quantum Mechanics
- Beyond the Born rule in quantum gravity
- Anomalous spectral lines and relic quantum nonequilibrium
- Bouncing oil droplets, de Broglie's quantum thermostat and convergence to equilibrium
- Extreme quantum nonequilibrium, nodes, vorticity, drift, and relaxation retarding states
- Statistical anisotropy and cosmological quantum relaxation
- Perturbations and quantum relaxation
- Mechanism for nonlocal information flow from black holes
- Trans-Planckian fluctuations and the stability of quantum mechanics
- Evolution of Quantum Nonequilibrium for Coupled Harmonic Oscillators
- -Epistemic Quantum Cosmology?
- Quantum relaxation in a system of harmonic oscillators with time-dependent coupling
- Undecidability and unpredictability: not limitations, but triumphs of science
- Relaxation to quantum equilibrium and the Born rule in Nelson's stochastic dynamics
- Quantum gravity and quantum probability
- Cosmological perturbation theory with York time
- Signatures of relic quantum nonequilibrium
- A principle of information conservation for physical laws (Hidden information in quantum systems?)