No Arabic abstract
We discuss a special class of quantum gravity phenomena that occur on the scale of the Universe as a whole at any stage of its evolution. These phenomena are a direct consequence of the zero rest mass of gravitons, conformal non-invariance of the graviton field, and one-loop finiteness of quantum gravity. The effects are due to graviton-ghost condensates arising from the interference of quantum coherent states. Each of coherent states is a state of gravitons and ghosts of a wavelength of the order of the horizon scale and of different occupation numbers. The state vector of the Universe is a coherent superposition of vectors of different occupation numbers. To substantiate the reliability of macroscopic quantum effects, the formalism of one-loop quantum gravity is discussed in detail. The theory is constructed as follows: Faddeev-Popov path integral in Hamilton gauge -> factorization of classical and quantum variables, allowing the existence of a self-consistent system of equations for gravitons, ghosts and macroscopic geometry -> transition to the one-loop approximation. The ghost sector corresponding to the Hamilton gauge ensures of one-loop finiteness of the theory off the mass shell. The Bogolyubov-Born-Green-Kirckwood-Yvon (BBGKY) chain for the spectral function of gravitons renormalized by ghosts is used to build a self-consistent theory of gravitons in the isotropic Universe. We found three exact solutions of the equations, consisting of BBGKY chain and macroscopic Einsteins equations. The solutions describe virtual graviton, ghost, and instanton condensates and are reproduced at the level of exact solutions for field operators and state vectors. Each exact solution corresponds to a certain phase state of graviton-ghost substratum. We establish conditions under which a continuous quantum-gravity phase transitions occur between different phases of the graviton-ghost condensate.
We show that cosmological acceleration, Dark Energy (DE) effect is a consequence of the zero rest mass, conformal non-invariance of gravitons, and 1-loop finiteness of quantum gravity (QG). The effect is due to graviton-ghost condensates arising from the interference of quantum coherent states. The theory is constructed as follows: Faddeev-Popov-De Witt gauged path integral -> factorization of classical and quantum variables -> transition to the 1-loop approximation -> choice of ghost sector, satisfying 1-loop finiteness of the theory off the mass shell. The Bogolyubov-Born-Green-Kirckwood-Yvon (BBGKY) chain for the spectral function of gravitons renormalized by ghosts is used to build a theory of gravitons in the isotropic Universe. We found three exact solutions of the equations that describe virtual graviton and ghost condensates as well as condensates of instanton fluctuations. Exact solutions correspond to various condensates with different graviton-ghost compositions. The formalism of the BBGKY chain takes into account the contribution of non-relativistic matter in the formation of a common self-consistent gravitational field. It is shown that the era of non-relativistic matter dominance must be replaced by an era of dominance of graviton-ghost condensate. Pre-asymptotic state of DE is a condensate of virtual gravitons and ghosts with a constant conformal wavelength. The asymptotic state predicted by the theory is a graviton-ghost condensate of constant physical wavelength in the De Sitter space. Such DE phenomenon is presented in the form of the model that interpolates the exact solutions of equations of 1-loop QG. Processing of observational DE data extracted from the Hubble diagram for supernovae SNIa suggests that the graviton-ghost condensate is an adequate variable component of DE.
A specific theoretical framework is important for designing and conducting an experiment, and for interpretation of its results. The field of gravitational physics is expanding, and more clarity is needed. It appears that some popular notions, such as `inflation and `gravity is geometry, have become more like liabilities than assets. A critical analysis is presented and the ways out of the difficulties are proposed.
It has been shown beyond reasonable doubt that the majority (about 95%) of the total energy budget of the universe is given by the dark components, namely Dark Matter and Dark Energy. What constitutes these components remains to be satisfactorily understood however, despite a number of promising candidates. An associated conundrum is that of the coincidence, i.e. the question as to why the Dark Matter and Dark Energy densities are of the same order of magnitude at the present epoch, after evolving over the entire expansion history of the universe. In an attempt to address these, we consider a quantum potential resulting from a quantum corrected Raychaudhuri/Friedmann equation in presence of a cosmic fluid, which is presumed to be a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of ultralight bosons. For a suitable and physically motivated macroscopic ground state wavefunction of the BEC, we show that a unified picture of the cosmic dark sector can indeed emerge, thus resolving the issue of the coincidence. The effective Dark energy component turns out to be a cosmological constant, by virtue of a residual homogeneous term in the quantum potential. Furthermore, comparison with the observational data gives an estimate of the mass of the constituent bosons in the BEC, which is well within the bounds predicted from other considerations.
The quantum to classical transition of fluctuations in the early universe is still not completely understood. Some headway has been made incorporating the effects of decoherence and the squeezing of states, though the methods and procedures continue to be challenged. But new developments in the analysis of the most recent Planck data suggest that the primordial power spectrum has a cutoff associated with the very first quantum fluctuation to have emerged into the semi-classical universe from the Planck domain at about the Planck time. In this paper, we examine the implications of this result on the question of classicalization, and demonstrate that the birth of quantum fluctuations at the Planck scale would have been a `process supplanting the need for a `measurement in quantum mechanics. Emerging with a single wavenumber, these fluctuations would have avoided the interference between different degrees of freedom in a superposed state. Moreover, the implied scalar-field potential had an equation-of-state consistent with the zero active mass condition in general relativity, allowing the quantum fluctuations to emerge in their ground state with a time-independent frequency. They were therefore effectively quantum harmonic oscillators with classical correlations in phase space from the very beginning.
We consider static cosmological solutions along with their stability properties in the framework of a recently proposed theory of massive gravity. We show that the modifcation introduced in the cosmological equations leads to several new solutions, only sourced by a perfect fluid, generalizing the Einstein Static Universe found in General Relativity. Using dynamical system techniques and numerical analysis, we show that the found solutions can be either neutrally stable or unstable against spatially homogeneous and isotropic perturbations.