Growth of scalar-field quantum fluctuations in Robertson-Walker universes

Journal Article · Fri Apr 15 00:00:00 EDT 1988 · Phys. Rev. D; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.37.2099· OSTI ID:5378534

Pathinayake, C; Ford, L H

We investigate the behavior of the quantum expectation value of phi/sup 2/ where phi is a massless, minimally coupled scalar field in a spatially flat Robertson-Walker universe. The scale factor is a(t)proportionalt/sup ..cap alpha../, where t is the comoving time. If ..cap alpha..>>1, this metric is locally approximately de Sitter space. It is found that grows linearly in time for a finite interval during which it is approximated by the de Sitter-space result: = H/sup 3/t/(4..pi../sup 2/). It subsequently approaches a constant value. If R/sub 0/ denotes the value of the scalar curvature at the time that growth begins, then the interval of growth lasts for a time of the order of ..delta..t = ..cap alpha..(3/R/sub 0/)/sup 1/2/ and the asymptotic value of is ..cap alpha..R/sub 0//(96..pi../sup 2/).sequence

• Research Organization: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155
• OSTI ID: 5378534
• Journal Information: Phys. Rev. D; (United States), Vol. 37:8
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
UNIVERSE
SCALAR FIELDS
ANNIHILATION
EINSTEIN FIELD EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS OF STATE
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GREEN FUNCTION
MASSLESS PARTICLES
METRICS
PARTICLE PRODUCTION
RENORMALIZATION
SPACE-TIME
SYMMETRY BREAKING
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ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
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640106* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Cosmology