Evolution of inhomogeneous condensates: Self-consistent variational approach
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260 (United States)
- Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)
- LPTHE, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI) et Denis Diderot (Paris VII), Tour 16, 1er. etage, 4, Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris, Cedex 05 (France)
- Dipartimento di Fisica and Sezione INFN, Universita di Perugia, 06100 Perugia, Italia (Italy)
We establish a self-consistent variational framework that allows us to study numerically the non-equilibrium evolution of non-perturbative inhomogeneous field configurations including quantum back reaction effects. After discussing the practical merits and disadvantages of different approaches we provide a closed set of local and renormalizable update equations that determine the dynamical evolution of inhomogeneous condensates and can be implemented numerically. These incorporate self-consistently the back reaction of quantum fluctuations and particle production. This program requires the solution of a self-consistent inhomogeneous problem to provide initial Cauchy data for the inhomogeneous condensates and Green`s functions. We provide a simple solvable ansatz for such an initial value problem for the sine-Gordon and {phi}{sup 4} quantum field theories in one spatial dimension. We compare exact known results of the sine-Gordon model to this simple ansatz. We also study the linear sigma model in the large N limit in three spatial dimensions as a microscopic model for pion production in ultrarelativistic collisions. We provide a solvable self-consistent ansatz for the initial value problem with cylindrical symmetry. For this case we also obtain a closed set of local and renormalized update equations that can be numerically implemented. A novel phenomenon of spinodal instabilities and pion production arises as a result of a Klein paradox for large amplitude inhomogeneous condensate configurations. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}
- OSTI ID:
- 656293
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review, D, Vol. 58, Issue 2; Other Information: PBD: Jul 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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