Quantum field theory effects in simple systems of harmonic oscillators

• Grant number: 20/14652-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2021
• End date: February 28, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Elementary Particle Physics and Fields
• Principal Investigator: George Emanuel Avraam Matsas
• Grantee: Gabriel Henrique Sarmento Aguiar
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Several effects of Quantum Field Theory (QFT) can be understood in terms of the physics of a few harmonic oscillators. At first, we intend to create a more acute intuition about this important theory that describes from the quantum behavior of quasi-particles in condensed matter to the elementary constituents of matter. In this step, we will also discuss the intrinsic characteristics of QFT that are not observed in the presence of a finite number of harmonic oscillators such as the divergence of vacuum energy. In a second step, we will replace quantum oscillators with classical ones in a state of white Gaussian noise and see what quantum aspects can and cannot be reproduced because they are classics. In a third step, we will study in what sense it is or is not possible to understand radioactive corrections with the physics of coupled quantum oscillators.