Studies of Quantum Fields in Cosmological and Black Hole Spacetimes

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This award supports several projects that study quantum effects related to cosmology and black holes. One of the most important ideas in cosmology today is that early in its history the universe underwent a process of extremely rapid expansion called inflation. Quantum effects would have been very important both during and shortly after this period of inflation. Many calculations of such effects use a classical (not quantum) treatment of gravity and a quantum mechanical treatment of everything else. The validity of this semi-classical approximation will be investigated both in the cosmological setting and near black holes. The completion of these investigations will drive progress in our understanding of various phenomena ranging from the expansion of the universe to the effects of quantum fields on black holes. For example, if quantum fluctuations destabilize an exponentially expanding universe, predictions of its future and most inflationary scenarios will be affected. There is a long history of undergraduate and graduate students working with the PI on these types of projects and gaining training in both numerical and analytical research techniques.