Entanglement entropy of $alpha$-vacua in de Sitter space

We consider the entanglement entropy of a free massive scalar field in the one parameter family of $alpha$-vacua in de Sitter space by using a method developed by Maldacena and Pimentel. An $alpha$-vacuum can be thought of as a state filled with particles from the point of view of the Bunch-Davies vacuum. Of all the $alpha$-vacua we find that the entanglement entropy takes the minimal value in the Bunch-Davies solution. We also calculate the asymptotic value of the Renyi entropy and find that it increases as $alpha$ increases. We argue these feature stem from pair condensation within the non-trivial $alpha$-vacua where the pairs have an intrinsic quantum correlation.

Observer dependence of bubble nucleation and Schwinger pair production

Pair production in a constant electric field is closely analogous to bubble nucleation in a false vacuum. The classical trajectories of the pairs are Lorentz invariant, but it appears that this invariance should be broken by the nucleation process. Here, we use a model detector, consisting of other particles interacting with the pairs, to investigate how pair production is seen by different Lorentzian observers. We focus on the idealized situation where a constant external electric field is present for an infinitely long time, and we consider the in-vacuum state for a charged scalar field that describes the nucleating pairs. The in-vacuum is defined in terms of modes which are positive frequency in the remote past. Even though the construction uses a particular reference frame and a gauge where the vector potential is time dependent, we show explicitly that the resulting quantum state is Lorentz invariant. We then introduce a detector particle which interacts with the nucleated pairs, and show that all Lorentzian observers will see the particles and antiparticles nucleating preferentially at rest in the detectors rest frame. Similar conclusions are expected to apply to bubble nucleation in a sufficiently long lived vacuum. We also comment on certain unphysical aspects of the Lorentz invariant in-vacuum, associated with the fact that it contains an infinite density of particles. This can be easily remedied by considering Lorentz breaking initial conditions.

Kaluza-Klein braneworld cosmology with static internal dimensions

We investigate the Kaluza-Klein braneworld cosmology from the point of view of observers on the brane. We first generalize the Shiromizu-Maeda-Sasaki (SMS) equations to higher dimensions. As an application, we study a (4+n)-dimensional brane with n dimensions compactified on the brane, in a (5+n)-dimensional bulk. By assuming that the size of the internal space is static, that the bulk energy-momentum tensor can be neglected, we determine the effect of the bulk geometry on the Kaluza-Klein braneworld. Then we derive the effective Friedmann equation on the brane. It turns out that the Friedmann equation explicitly depends on the equation of state, in contrast to the braneworld in a 5-dimensional bulk spacetime. In particular, in a radiation-dominated era, the effective Newton constant depends on the scale factor logarithmically. If we include a pressureless matter on the brane, this dependence disappears after the radiation-matter equality. This may be interpreted as stabilization of the Newton constant by the matter on the brane. Our findings imply that the Kaluza-Klein braneworld cosmology is quite different from the conventional Kaluza-Klein cosmology even at low energy.