Julien Serreau

Parametric resonance in quantum field theory

We present the first study of parametric resonance in quantum field theory from a complete next-to-leading order calculation in a 1/N expansion of the two-particle irreducible effective action, which includes scattering and memory effects. We present a complete numerical solution for an O(N)-symmetric scalar theory and provide an approximate analytic description of the nonlinear dynamics in the entire amplification range. We find that the classical resonant amplification at early times is followed by a collective amplification regime with explosive particle production in a broad momentum range, which is not accessible in a leading-order calculation.

Thermalization of fermionic quantum fields

Abstract We solve the nonequilibrium dynamics of a (3+1)-dimensional theory with Dirac fermions coupled to scalars via a chirally invariant Yukawa interaction. The results are obtained from a systematic coupling expansion of the 2PI effective action to lowest nontrivial order, which includes scattering as well as memory and off-shell effects. The dynamics is solved numerically without further approximation, for different far-from-equilibrium initial conditions. The late-time behavior is demonstrated to be insensitive to the details of the initial conditions and to be uniquely determined by the initial energy density. Moreover, we show that at late time the system is very well characterized by a thermal ensemble. In particular, we are able to observe the emergence of Fermi–Dirac and Bose–Einstein distributions from the nonequilibrium dynamics.

Renormalized thermodynamics from the two-particle irreducible effective action

High-temperature resummed perturbation theory is plagued by poor convergence properties. The problem appears for theories with bosonic field content such as QCD, QED or scalar theories. We calculate the pressure as well as other thermodynamic quantities at high temperature for a scalar one-component field theory, solving a three-loop 2PI effective action numerically without further approximations. We present a detailed comparison with the two-loop approximation. One observes a strongly improved convergence behavior as compared to perturbative approaches. The renormalization employed in this work extends previous prescriptions, and is sufficient to determine all counterterms required for the theory in the symmetric as well as the spontaneously broken phase.

Effective potential for quantum scalar fields in a de Sitter geometry.

We study the quantum theory of an O(N) scalar field on de Sitter geometry at leading order in a nonperturbative 1/N expansion. This resums the infinite series of so-called superdaisy loop diagrams. We obtain the de Sitter symmetric solutions of the corresponding, properly renormalized, dynamical field equations and compute the complete effective potential. Because of its self-interactions, the field acquires a strictly positive square mass which screens potential infrared divergences. Moreover, strongly enhanced ultralong-wavelength fluctuations prevent the existence of a spontaneously broken symmetry state in any dimension.

Neutrino-nucleus interaction rates at a low-energy {beta}-beam facility

We compute the neutrino detection rates to be expected at a low-energy

Neutrino-antineutrino correlations in dense anisotropic media

\ensuremath{\beta}

Covariant gauges without Gribov ambiguities in Yang-Mills theories

-beam facility. We consider various nuclei as neutrino detectors and compare the case of a small versus large storage ring.

Quantum scalar fields in de Sitter space from the nonperturbative renormalization group

We derive the most general evolution equations describing in-medium (anti)neutrino propagation in the mean-field approximation. In particular, we consider various types of neutrino-antineutrino mixing, for both Dirac and Majorana fields, resulting either from nontrivial pair correlations or from helicity coherence due to the nonvanishing neutrino masses. We show that, unless the medium is spatially homogeneous and isotropic, these correlations are sourced by the usual neutrino and antineutrino densities. This may be of importance in astrophysical environments such as core-collapse supernovae.

Scalar field correlator in de Sitter space at next-to-leading order in a 1/N expansion

We propose a one-parameter family of nonlinear covariant gauges which can be formulated as an extremization procedure that may be amenable to lattice implementation. At high energies, where the Gribov ambiguities can be ignored, this reduces to the Curci-Ferrari-Delbourgo-Jarvis gauges. We further propose a continuum formulation in terms of a local action which is free of Gribov ambiguities and avoids the Neuberger zero problem of the standard Faddeev-Popov construction. This involves an averaging over Gribov copies with a nonuniform weight, which introduces a new gauge-fixing parameter. We show that the proposed gauge-fixed action is perturbatively renormalizable in four dimensions and we provide explicit expressions of the renormalization factors at one loop. We discuss the possible implications of the present proposal for the calculation of Yang-Mills correlators.

Out-of-equilibrium electromagnetic radiation

We investigate scalar field theories in de Sitter space by means of nonperturbative renormalization group techniques. We compute the functional flow equation for the effective potential of O(N) theories in the local potential approximation and we study the onset of curvature-induced effects as quantum fluctuations are progressively integrated out from subhorizon to superhorizon scales. This results in a dimensional reduction of the original action to an effective zero-dimensional Euclidean theory. We show that the latter is equivalent both to the late-time equilibrium state of the stochastic approach of Starobinsky and Yokoyama and to the effective theory for the zero mode on Euclidean de Sitter space. We investigate the immediate consequences of this dimensional reduction: symmetry restoration and dynamical mass generation.