Thermodynamics of decaying vacuum cosmologies

Journal Article · Thu Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1996 · Physical Review, D

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.54.2571· OSTI ID:286846

Lima, J A ^[1]

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1. Physics Department, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912 (United States)

The thermodynamic behavior of decaying vacuum cosmologies is investigated within a manifestly covariant formulation. Such a process corresponds to a continuous, irreversible energy flow from the vacuum component to the created matter constituents. It is shown that if the specific entropy per particle remains constant during the process, the equilibrium relations are preserved. In particular, if the vacuum decays into photons, the energy density {rho} and average number density of photons {ital n} scale with the temperature as {rho}{approximately}{ital T}{sup 4} and {ital n}{approximately}{ital T}{sup 3}. The temperature law is determined and a generalized Planckian-type form of the spectrum, which is preserved in the course of the evolution, is also proposed. Some consequences of these results for decaying vacuum FRW-type cosmologies as well as for models with {open_quote}{open_quote}adiabatic{close_quote}{close_quote} photon creation are discussed. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}

• Research Organization: Brown University
• DOE Contract Number: FG02-91ER40688
• OSTI ID: 286846
• Journal Information: Physical Review, D, Journal Name: Physical Review, D Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 54; ISSN PRVDAQ; ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
COSMOLOGY
DECAY
ENERGY DENSITY
ENTROPY
EQUILIBRIUM
MATTER
PHOTONS
SPECTRA
THERMODYNAMICS
VACUUM STATES