Related papers: Quantum vacuum and accelerated expansion
A quantum-mechanical system comes naturally equipped with a convex space: each (Hermitian) operator has a (real) expectation value, and the expectation value of the square any Hermitian operator must be non-negative. This space is of…
We show that the scalar-vacuum Brans-Dicke equations in 5D are equivalent to Brans-Dicke theory in 4D with a self interacting potential and an effective matter field. The cosmological implication, in the context of FRW models, is that the…
In this work we present the formal background used to develop the methods used in earlier works to extend the truncated Wigner representation of quantum and atom optics in order to address multi-time problems. The truncated Wigner…
An overview about recent progress in the calculation of the heat kernel and the one-loop effective action in quantum gravity and gauge theories is given. We analyse the general structure of the standard Schwinger-De Witt asymptotic…
Specific internal self-interactions in gaseous cosmic fluids are shown to give rise to effective negative pressures which may violate the strong energy condition. On this basis we discuss the transition from an initial de Sitter phase to a…
Physical interpretations of the time-symmetric formulation of quantum mechanics, due to Aharonov, Bergmann, and Lebowitz are discussed in terms of weak values. The most direct, yet somewhat naive, interpretation uses the time-symmetric…
We demonstrate that the recently introduced linear equation, reformulating the first Friedmann equation, is the first-order WKB expansion of a quantum cosmological equation. This result shows a deeper underlying connection between General…
In order to treat quantum cosmology in the framework of Weyl spacetimes we take the first step of extending the Arnowitt-Deser-Misner formalism to Weyl geometry. We then obtain an expression of the curvature tensor in terms of spatial…
We derive an effective gravitational potential, induced by the quantum wavefunction of a physical vacuum of a self-gravitating configuration, while the vacuum itself is viewed as the superfluid described by the logarithmic quantum wave…
The issues of quintessence and cosmic acceleration can be discussed in the framework of higher order theories of gravity. We can define effective pressure and energy density directly connected to the Ricci scalar of curvature of a generic…
A canonical formulation of effective equations describes quantum corrections by the back-reaction of moments on the dynamics of expectation values of a state. As a first step toward an extension to quantum-field theory, these methods are…
The behavior of the quantum potential is studied for a particle in a linear and a harmonic potential by means of an extended phase space technique. This is done by obtaining an expression for the quantum potential in momentum space…
The concept of quantum-mechanical nematic order, which is important in systems such as superconductors, is based on an analogy to classical liquid crystals, where order parameters are obtained through orientational expansions. We generalize…
The dynamics of open quantum systems is formulated in a minimally extended state space comprising the degrees of freedom of a system of interest and a finite set of non-unitary, pure-state reservoir modes. This formal structure, derived…
The paper deals with the scale discrepancy between the observed vacuum energy in cosmology and the theoretical quantum vacuum energy (cosmological constant problem). Here, we demonstrate that Einstein's equation and an analogy to particle…
A modified-gravity theory is considered with a four-form field strength F, a variable gravitational coupling parameter G(F), and a standard matter action. This theory provides a concrete realization of the general vacuum variable q as the…
The Heisenberg-Euler theory of the quantum vacuum supplements Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism with nonlinear light-light interactions. These originate in vacuum fluctuations, a key prediction of quantum theory, and can be triggered by…
We generalize Anderson's orthogonality determinant formula to describe the statistics of work performed on generic disordered, non-interacting fermionic nanograins during quantum quenches. The energy absorbed increases linearly with time,…
The $f(R, T)$ theory of gravity extends general relativity (GR) by allowing the gravitational Lagrangian to depend on both the Ricci scalar $R$ and the trace of the energy-momentum tensor $T$. The resulting matter-geometry coupling…
We discuss the relational strategy to solve the problem of time in quantum gravity and different ways in which it could be implemented, pointing out in particular the fundamentally new dimension that the problem takes in a quantum gravity…