# Quantum Circuit Cosmology: The Expansion of the Universe Since the First Qubit [CL]

We consider cosmological evolution from the perspective of quantum information. We present a quantum circuit model for the expansion of a comoving region of space, in which initially-unentangled ancilla qubits become entangled as expansion proceeds. We apply this model to the comoving region that now coincides with our Hubble volume, taking the number of entangled degrees of freedom in this region to be proportional to the de Sitter entropy. The quantum circuit model is applicable for at most 140 $e$-folds of inflationary and post-inflationary expansion: we argue that no geometric description was possible before the time $t_1$ when our comoving region was one Planck length across, and contained one pair of entangled degrees of freedom. This approach could provide a framework for modeling the initial state of inflationary perturbations.

N. Bao, C. Cao, S. Carroll, et. al.
Fri, 24 Feb 17
11/50

Comments: 12 pages, 1 figure. Including appendix

# The nightmare scenario: measuring the stochastic gravitational-wave background from stalling massive black-hole binaries with pulsar-timing arrays [GA]

Massive black-hole binaries, formed when galaxies merge, are among the primary sources of gravitational waves targeted by ongoing Pulsar Timing Array (PTA) experiments and the upcoming space-based LISA interferometer. However, their formation and merger rates are still highly uncertain. Recent upper limits on the stochastic gravitational-wave background obtained by PTAs are starting being in marginal tension with theoretical models for the pairing and orbital evolution of these systems. This tension can be resolved by assuming that these binaries are more eccentric or interact more strongly with the environment (gas and stars) than expected, or by accounting for possible selection biases in the construction of the theoretical models. However, another (pessimistic) possibility is that these binaries do not merge at all, but stall at large ($\sim$ pc) separations. We explore this extreme scenario by using a galaxy-formation semi-analytic model including massive black holes (isolated and in binaries), and show that future generations of PTAs will detect the stochastic gravitational-wave background from the massive black-hole binary population within $10-15$ years of observations, even in the “nightmare scenario” in which all binaries stall at the hardening radius. Moreover, we argue that this scenario is too pessimistic, because our model predicts the existence of a sub-population of binaries with small mass ratios ($q \lesssim 10^{-3}$) that should merge within a Hubble time simply as a result of gravitational-wave emission. This sub-population will be observable with large signal-to-noise ratios by future PTAs thanks to next-generation radiotelescopes such as SKA or FAST, and possibly by LISA.

I. Dvorkin and E. Barausse
Fri, 24 Feb 17
30/50

# BRS structure of Simple Model of Cosmological Constant and Cosmology [CL]

In arXiv:1601.02203, a simple model has been proposed in order to solve one of the problems related with the cosmological constant. The model is given by a topological field theory and the model has an infinite numbers of the BRS symmetries. The BRS symmetries are, however, spontaneously broken in general. In this paper, we investigate the BRS symmetry in more details and show that there is one and only one BRS symmetry which is not broken and the unitarity can be guaranteed. In the model, the quantum problem of the vacuum energy, which may be identified with the cosmological constant, reduces to the classical problem of the initial condition. In this paper, we investigate the cosmology given by the model and specify the region of the initial conditions which could be consistent with the evolution of the universe. We also show that there is a stable solution describing the de Sitter space-time, which may explain the accelerating expansion in the current universe.

T. Mori, D. Nitta and S. Nojiri
Fri, 24 Feb 17
31/50

Comments: LaTeX 10 pages, 3 figures

# Fifty years of cosmological particle creation [CL]

In the early sixties Leonard Parker discovered that the expansion of the universe can create particles out of the vacuum, opening a new and fruitfull field in physics. We give a historical review in the form of an interview that took place during the Conference ERE2014 (Valencia 1-5, September, 2014).

L. Parker and J. Navarro-Salas
Fri, 24 Feb 17
35/50

# Assessing the impact of bulk and shear viscosities on large scale structure formation [CEA]

It is analyzed the effects of both bulk and shear viscosities on the perturbations, relevant for structure formation in late time cosmology. It is shown that shear viscosity can be as effective as the bulk viscosity on suppressing the growth of perturbations and delaying the nonlinear regime. A statistical analysis of the shear and bulk viscous effects is performed and some constraints on these viscous effects are given.

C. Barbosa, H. Velten, J. Fabris, et. al.
Fri, 24 Feb 17
37/50

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# Mimicking Dark Energy with the backreactions of gigaparsec inhomogeneities [CEA]

Spatial averaging and time evolving are non-commutative operations in General Relativity, which questions the reliability of the FLRW model. The long standing issue of the importance of backreactions induced by cosmic inhomogeneities is addressed for a toy model assuming a peak in the primordial spectrum of density perturbations and a simple CDM cosmology. The backreactions of initial Hubble-size inhomogeneities are determined in a fully relativistic framework, from a series of simulations using the BSSN formalism of numerical relativity. In the FLRW picture, these backreactions can be effectively described by two so-called morphon scalar fields, one of them acting at late time like a tiny cosmological constant. Initial density contrasts ranging from $10^{-2}$ down to $10^{-4}$, on scales crossing the Hubble radius between $z\sim 45$ and $z\sim 1000$ respectively, i.e. comoving gigaparsec scales, mimic a Dark Energy (DE) component that can reach $\Omega_{\mathrm{DE}} \approx 0.7$ when extrapolated until today. A similar effect is not excluded for lower density contrasts but our results are then strongly contaminated by numerical noise and thus hardly reliable. A potentially detectable signature of this scenario is a phantom-like equation of state $w< -1$, at redshifts $z\gtrsim 4$ for a density contrast of $10^{-2}$ initially, relaxing slowly to $w \approx -1$ today. This new class of scenarios would send the fine-tuning and coincidence issues of Dark energy back to the mechanism at the origin of the primordial power spectrum enhancement, possibly in the context of inflation.

S. Clesse, A. Roisin and A. Fuzfa
Thu, 23 Feb 17
30/48