Quantum gravity is expected to introduce quantum aspects into the description of reference frames. In this paper (arXiv:2211.11347) we set the stage for exploring how quantum gravity induced deformations of classical symmetries could modify the transformation laws among reference frames in an effective regime. We invoke the quantum group SUq(2) as a description of deformed spatial rotations and interpret states of a representation of its algebra as describing the relative orientation between two reference frames. This leads to a quantization of one of the Euler angles and to the new paradigm of agency-dependence: space is reconstructed as a collection of fuzzy points, exclusive to each agent, which depends on their choice of reference frame. Each agent can choose only one direction in which points can be sharp, while points in all other directions become fuzzy in a way that depends on this choice. Two agents making different choices will thus observe the same points with different degrees of fuzziness.
Effects of new physics in neutrino propagation
In this work (arXiv:2210.10111) we consider the effects of Lorentz Invariance Violation over the observed flux of very high-energy neutrinos. For that, we study the neutrino propagation in a Modified Dispersion Relation scenario with a superluminal velocity. This makes the neutrino unstable and causes a cut-off in the flux of detected neutrinos. Using simple models, one can approximate the location of the cut-off as function of the parameters of new physics and the closest source.
Open call for two research positions
Two three-year research positions starting on November, 2022, are available in our group within the framework of the Project “Quantum reference frames, quantum groups, quantum information, entanglement and decoherence: applications in quantum communications“. The deadline for applications is October 25th. The call for applications can be found here, and interested candidates should contact us urgently at angelb@ubu.es.
Decay of superluminal neutrinos in the collinear approximation
In this paper (arXiv:2210.02222), the kinematics of the three body decay, with a modified energy-momentum relation of the particles due to a violation of Lorentz invariance, is presented in detail in the collinear approximation. The results are applied to the decay of superluminal neutrinos producing an electron-positron or a neutrino-antineutrino pair. Explicit expressions for the energy distributions, required for a study of the cascade of neutrinos produced in the propagation of superluminal neutrinos, are derived.
Shannon information entropy for a quantum nonlinear oscillator on a space of non-constant curvature
The so-called Darboux III oscillator is an exactly solvable N-dimensional nonlinear oscillator defined on a radially symmetric space with non-constant negative curvature. This oscillator can be interpreted as a smooth (super)integrable deformation of the usual N-dimensional harmonic oscillator in terms of a non-negative parameter λ which is directly related to the curvature of the underlying space. In this paper (arXiv:2209.05293), a detailed study of the Shannon information entropy for the quantum version of the Darboux III oscillator is presented, and the interplay between entropy and curvature is analysed. In particular, analytical results for the Shannon entropy in the position space can be found in the N-dimensional case, and the known results for the quantum states of the N-dimensional harmonic oscillator are recovered in the limit of vanishing curvature λ→0. However, the Fourier transform of the Darboux III wave functions cannot be computed in exact form, thus preventing the analytical study of the information entropy in momentum space. Nevertheless, in the one-dimensional case, we have computed the latter numerically and we find that by increasing the absolute value of the negative curvature (through a larger λ parameter) the information entropy in position space increases, while in momentum space it becomes smaller. This result is indeed consistent with the spreading properties of the wave functions of this quantum nonlinear oscillator, which are explicitly shown.
All noncommutative spaces of κ-Poincaré geodesics
Noncommutative spaces of geodesics provide an alternative way of introducing noncommutative relativistic kinematics endowed with quantum group symmetry. In this paper (arXiv:2208.05851) we present explicitly the seven noncommutative spaces of time-, space- and light-like geodesics that can be constructed from the time-, space- and light- versions of the κ-Poincaré quantum symmetry in (3+1) dimensions. Remarkably enough, only for the light-like (or null-plane) κ-Poincaré deformation the three types of noncommutative spaces of geodesics can be constructed, while for the time-like and space-like deformations both the quantum time-like and space-like geodesics can be defined, but not the light-like one. This obstruction comes from the constraint imposed by the coisotropy condition for the corresponding deformation with respect to the isotropy subalgebra associated to the given space of geodesics, since all these quantum spaces are constructed as quantizations of the corresponding classical coisotropic Poisson homogeneous spaces. The known quantum space of geodesics on the light cone is given by a five-dimensional homogeneous quadratic algebra, and the six nocommutative spaces of time-like and space-like geodesics are explicitly obtained as six-dimensional nonlinear algebras. Five out of these six spaces are here presented for the first time, and Darboux generators for all of them are found, thus showing that the quantum deformation parameter 1/κ plays exactly the same algebraic role on quantum geodesics as the Planck constant ℏ plays in the usual phase space description of quantum mechanics.
Upon the horizon’s verge: Thermal particle creation between and approaching horizons
Quantum particle creation from spacetime horizons, or accelerating boundaries in the dynamical Casimir effect, can have an equilibrium, or thermal, distribution. Using an accelerating boundary in flat spacetime (moving mirror), in this paper (arXiv:2208.01992) we investigate the production of thermal energy flux despite non-equilibrium accelerations, the evolution between equilibrium states, and the “interference” between horizons. In particular, this allows us to give a complete solution to the particle spectrum of the accelerated boundary correspondence with Schwarzschild-de Sitter spacetime.
Time delays, choice of energy-momentum variables and relative locality in doubly special relativity
Doubly Special Relativity (DSR) theories consider (quantum-gravity motivated) deformations of the symmetries of special relativity compatible with a relativity principle. The existence of time delays for massless particles, one of their proposed phenomenological consequences, is a delicate question, since, contrary to what happens with Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV) scenarios, they are not simply determined by the modification in the particle dispersion relation. While some studies of DSR assert the existence of photon time delays, in this paper (arXiv:2207.03799) we generalize a recently proposed model for time delay studies in DSR and show that the existence of photon time delays does not necessarily follow from a DSR scenario, determining in which cases this is so. Moreover, we clarify long-standing questions about the arbitrariness in the choice of the energy-momentum labels and the independence of the time delay on this choice, as well as on the consistency of its calculation with the relative locality paradigm of DSR theories. Finally, we show that the result for time delays is reproduced in models that consider propagation in a noncommutative spacetime.
Unimodularity and invariant volume forms for Hamiltonian dynamics on Poisson-Lie groups
In this paper (arXiv:2207.05511), we discuss several relations between the existence of invariant volume forms for Hamiltonian systems on Poisson-Lie groups and the unimodularity of the Poisson-Lie structure. In particular, we prove that Hamiltonian vector fields on a Lie group endowed with a unimodular Poisson-Lie structure preserve a multiple of any left-invariant volume on the group. Conversely, we also prove that if there exists a Hamiltonian function such that the identity element of the Lie group is a nondegenerate singularity and the associated Hamiltonian vector field preserves a volume form, then the Poisson-Lie structure is necessarily unimodular. Furthermore, we illustrate our theory with different interesting examples, both on semisimple and unimodular Poisson-Lie groups.
Cosmic neutrinos as a window to departures from special relativity
In this paper (arXiv:2206.14257) we review the peculiarities that make neutrino a very special cosmic messenger in high-energy astrophysics, and, in particular, to provide possible indications of deviations from special relativity, as it is suggested theoretically by quantum gravity models. In this respect, we examine the effects that one could expect in the production, propagation, and detection of neutrinos, not only in the well-studied scenario of Lorentz Invariance Violation, but also in models which maintain, but deform, the relativity principle, such as those considered in the framework of Doubly Special Relativity. We discuss the challenges and the promising future prospects offered by this phenomenological window to physics beyond special relativity.