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1. Antimatter Gravity: Second Quantization and Lagrangian Formalism

   https://doi.org/10.3390/physics2030022  

   Jentschura, Ulrich D. (September 2020, Physics)

   null (Ed.)

   The application of the CPT (charge-conjugation, parity, and time reversal) theorem to an apple falling on Earth leads to the description of an anti-apple falling on anti–Earth (not on Earth). On the microscopic level, the Dirac equation in curved space-time simultaneously describes spin-1/2 particles and their antiparticles coupled to the same curved space-time metric (e.g., the metric describing the gravitational field of the Earth). On the macroscopic level, the electromagnetically and gravitationally coupled Dirac equation therefore describes apples and anti-apples, falling on Earth, simultaneously. A particle-to-antiparticle transformation of the gravitationally coupled Dirac equation therefore yields information on the behavior of “anti-apples on Earth”. However, the problem is exacerbated by the fact that the operation of charge conjugation is much more complicated in curved, as opposed to flat, space-time. Our treatment is based on second-quantized field operators and uses the Lagrangian formalism. As an additional helpful result, prerequisite to our calculations, we establish the general form of the Dirac adjoint in curved space-time. On the basis of a theorem, we refute the existence of tiny, but potentially important, particle-antiparticle symmetry breaking terms in which possible existence has been investigated in the literature. Consequences for antimatter gravity experiments are discussed. 

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2. Yukawa-Lorentz symmetry in non-Hermitian Dirac materials

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-024-01629-2  

   Juričić, Vladimir; Roy, Bitan (December 2024, Communications Physics)

   Abstract Lorentz space–time symmetry represents a unifying feature of the fundamental forces, typically manifest at sufficiently high energies, while in quantum materials it emerges in the deep low-energy regime. However, its fate in quantum materials coupled to an environment thus far remained unexplored. We here introduce a general framework of constructing symmetry-protected Lorentz-invariant non-Hermitian (NH) Dirac semimetals (DSMs), realized by invoking masslike anti-Hermitian Dirac operators to its Hermitian counterpart. Such NH DSMs feature purely real or imaginary isotropic linear band dispersion, yielding a vanishing density of states. Dynamic mass orderings in NH DSMs thus take place for strong Hubbard-like local interactions through a quantum phase transition, hosting a non-Fermi liquid, beyond which the system becomes an insulator. We show that depending on the internal Clifford algebra between the NH Dirac operator and candidate mass order-parameter, the resulting quantum-critical fluid either remains coupled with the environment or recovers full Hermiticity by decoupling from the bath, while always enjoying an emergent Yukawa-Lorentz symmetry in terms of a unique terminal velocity. We showcase the competition between such mass orderings, their hallmarks on quasi-particle spectra in the ordered phases, and the relevance of our findings for correlated designer NH Dirac materials. 

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3. Discrete Dirac reduction of implicit Lagrangian systems with abelian symmetry groups

   https://doi.org/10.3934/jgm.2023013  

   Abella, Álvaro Rodríguez; Leok, Melvin (January 2023, Journal of Geometric Mechanics)

   This paper develops the theory of discrete Dirac reduction of discrete Lagrange–Dirac systems with an abelian symmetry group acting on the configuration space. We begin with the linear theory and, then, we extend it to the nonlinear setting using retraction compatible charts. We consider the reduction of both the discrete Dirac structure and the discrete Lagrange–Pontryagin principle, and show that they both lead to the same discrete Lagrange–Poincaré–Dirac equations. The coordinatization of the discrete reduced spaces relies on the notion of discrete connections on principal bundles. At last, we demonstrate the method obtained by applying it to a charged particle in a magnetic field, and to the double spherical pendulum. 

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4. Gravitationally induced entanglement in a harmonic trap

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.107.106018  

   Yant, Jackson; Blencowe, Miles (May 2023, Physical Review D)

   Recent work has shown that it may be possible to detect gravitationally induced entanglement in tabletop experiments in the not-too-distant future. However, there are at present no thoroughly developed models for this type of experiment where the entangled particles are treated more fundamentally as excitations of a relativistic quantum field, and with the measurements modeled using expectation values of field observables. Here we propose a thought experiment where two particles are initially prepared in a superposition of coherent states within a common three-dimensional (3D) harmonic trap. The particles then develop entanglement through their mutual gravitational interaction, which can be probed through particle position detection probabilities. The present work gives a nonrelativistic quantum mechanical analysis of the gravitationally induced entanglement of this system, which we term the “gravitational harmonium” due to its similarity to the harmonium model of approximate electron interactions in a helium atom; the entanglement is operationally determined through the matter wave interference visibility. The present work serves as the basis for a subsequent investigation, which models this system using quantum field theory, providing further insights into the quantum nature of gravitationally induced entanglement through relativistic corrections, together with an operational procedure to quantify the entanglement. 

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5. Scalar boson emission from a magnetized relativistic plasma

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.108.096009  

   Jaber-Urquiza, Jorge; Shovkovy, Igor A. (November 2023, Physical Review D)

   We investigate the differential emission rate of neutral scalar bosons from a highly magnetized relativistic plasma. We show that three processes contribute at the leading order: particle splitting ($$\psi\rightarrow \psi+\phi $$), antiparticle splitting ($$\bar{\psi} \rightarrow \bar{\psi}+\phi $$), and particle-antiparticle annihilation ($$\psi + \bar{\psi}\rightarrow \phi $$). This is in contrast to the scenario with zero magnetic field, where only the annihilation processes contribute to boson production. We examine the impact of Landau-level quantization on the energy dependence of the rate and investigate the angular distribution of emitted scalar bosons. The differential rate resulting from both (anti)particle splitting and annihilation processes are typically suppressed in the direction of the magnetic field and enhanced in perpendicular directions. Overall, the background magnetic field significantly amplifies the total emission rate. We speculate that our model calculations provide valuable theoretical insights with potentially important applications. 

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