Dispersion, topological scattering, and self-interference in multiply connected Robertson-Walker cosmologies (Q1325729): Difference between revisions

The paper is a continuation of the author's researches in the field. In one of these previous papers [J. Math. Phys. 34, No. 3, 1022-1042 (1993; Zbl 0811.53075)], in the framework of a simply connected topology of the Minkowski hyperboloid, the dispersion of classical densities produced by the instability of the flow lines was compared with the dispersion of quantum mechanical wave packets. It was found an asymptotic equivalence of the classical and quantum dispersion in regimes where no annihilation/creation processes occur, and the author concluded that in the above mentioned universes the classical instability produces the same dispersion phenomena as wave fields. In a subsequent paper [J. Math. Phys. 32, No. 10, 2571-2579 (1991; Zbl 0746.58060)], the author pointed out that for Robertson-Walker (RW) cosmologies of negative spatial curvature the spacelike slices can take a ``time dependent'' topological structure. The metric of a multiply connected and infinite 3-space can vary in time if its curvature remains constant, quite contrary to the case of simply connected RW cosmologies, with \(S^ 3\), \(R^ 3\), \(H^ 3\) as spacelike slices. In the present paper, the purpose of the author is to investigate the topological scattering phenomena produced by the multiple connectivity of the 3-space. Such phenomena are somewhat analogous to the scattering of wave packets in a metric that is rapidly varying in time and was predicted long time ago by Schrödinger. The author formulates the concept of a horospherical flow on a multiply connected space-time manifold with the line element \[ ds^ 2 = -c^ 2 d\tau^ 2 + a\tau^ 2 d\sigma^ 2 \] where \(d\sigma^ 2\) denotes the line element of the open 3-space manifold, which is represented as a fundamental polyhedron \(F\) in the Poincaré ball \(B^ 3\). Starting with the continuity equation in \(R^{(+)} \times B^ 3\), \[ {1\over \sqrt{-g}} {\partial \over \partial x^ \mu} (\sqrt{-g} j^ \mu) = 0 \] and seeking for its solutions, using the method of images it is shown that the Gaussian densities evolve under a flow of parallel geodesics in \(B^ 3\) issuing from a point \(\eta\) at infinity of the hyperbolic space. The surfaces of constant action are horospheres, namely spheres that meet \(S_ \infty\) (the boundary of \(B^ 3\)) tangentially at \(\eta\). Next, the horospherical geodesic current is compared with the current of wave fields satisfying the Klein-Gordon equation \[ {1\over \sqrt{-g}} {\partial \over \partial x^ \mu}(\sqrt{-g} g^{\mu \nu} {\partial \over x^ \nu} \psi) - \left({mc \over \hbar} \right)^ 2 \psi - \xi \widehat{R} \psi = 0 \] in a multiply connected RW cosmology. It is found that the classical current is asymptotic equivalent to the quantum current, \(j_ c^ \mu \sim j_ a^ \mu\), in regimes where positive- and negative-frequency solutions can be identified. If the 3-space is multiply connected, one has topological scattering, and the scattered wave trains interfere. This interference is accounted for in the off- diagonal elements of \(j_{\alpha\beta}^ \mu\), which make the difference from the classical current. As the simplest example of a hyperbolic 3-manifold that is open and multiply connected, the author choose the solid torus. The final part of the paper deals with the study of topological scattering in RW cosmologies whose spacelike slices are solid tori, the scattering and dispersion of horospherical flows in the early and late stages of the expansion, and the self-interference in quantum case. Within this study it is predicted that wave packets as well as classical densities have finite limit widths.