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

Journal Article · Fri Apr 15 04:00:00 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), Journal Name: Phys. Rev. D; (United States) Vol. 37:8; ISSN PRVDA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640106* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Cosmology
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ANNIHILATION
BASIC INTERACTIONS
EINSTEIN FIELD EQUATIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERACTIONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS OF STATE
EXPECTATION VALUE
FIELD EQUATIONS
FUNCTIONS
GREEN FUNCTION
INTERACTIONS
LIE GROUPS
MASSLESS PARTICLES
METRICS
PARTICLE PRODUCTION
RENORMALIZATION
SCALAR FIELDS
SPACE-TIME
SYMMETRY BREAKING
SYMMETRY GROUPS
U GROUPS
U-1 GROUPS
ULTRAVIOLET DIVERGENCES
UNIVERSE
VACUUM STATES