A new non-linear instability for scalar fields [CEA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/2107.14215


In this letter we introduce the non-linear partial differential equation (PDE) $\partial^2_{\tau} \pi \propto (\vec\nabla \pi)^2$ showing a new type of instability. Such equations appear in the effective field theory (EFT) of dark energy for the $k$-essence model as well as in many other theories based on the EFT formalism. We demonstrate the occurrence of instability in the cosmological context using a relativistic $N$-body code, and we study it mathematically in 3+1 dimensions within spherical symmetry. We show that this term dominates for the low speed of sound limit where some important linear terms are suppressed.

Read this paper on arXiv…

F. Hassani, P. Shi, J. Adamek, et. al.
Fri, 30 Jul 21
51/71

Comments: 5 pages, 2 figures