119693053
On Matrix Geometry and Effective Actions
Abstract We provide an elementary systematic discussion of single-trace matrix actions and of the group of matrix reparameterization that acts on them. The action of this group yields a generalized notion of gauge invariance which encompasses ordinary diffeomorphism and gauge invariances. We apply the formalism to non-abelian D-brane actions in arbitrary supergravity backgrounds, providing in particular explicit checks of the consistency of Myersʼ formulas with supergravity gauge invariances. We also draw interesting consequences for emergent space models based on the study of matrix effective actions. For example, in the case of the AdS 5 × S 5 background, we explain how the standard tensor transformation laws of the supergravity fields under ordinary diffeomorphisms emerge from the D-instanton effective action in this background.
119685691
Gravitational actions in two dimensions and the Mabuchi functional
Abstract The Mabuchi energy is an interesting geometric functional on the space of Kahler metrics that plays a crucial role in the study of the geometry of Kahler manifolds. We show that this functional, as well as other related geometric actions, contribute to the effective gravitational action when a massive scalar field is coupled to gravity in two dimensions in a small mass expansion. This yields new theories of two-dimensional quantum gravity generalizing the standard Liouville models.
119574064
Multi-loop zeta function regularization and spectral cutoff in curved spacetime
Abstract We emphasize the close relationship between zeta function methods and arbitrary spectral cutoff regularizations in curved spacetime. This yields, on the one hand, a physically sound and mathematically rigorous justification of the standard zeta function regularization at one loop and, on the other hand, a natural generalization of this method to higher loops. In particular, to any Feynman diagram is associated a generalized meromorphic zeta function. For the one-loop vacuum diagram, it is directly related to the usual spectral zeta function. To any loop order, the renormalized amplitudes can be read off from the pole structure of the generalized zeta functions. We focus on scalar field theories and illustrate the general formalism by explicit calculations at one-loop and two-loop orders, including a two-loop evaluation of the conformal anomaly.
15472365
Quantum parameter space and double scaling limits in N=1 super Yang-Mills theory
We study the physics of $\mathcal{N}=1$ super Yang-Mills theory with the gauge group $\mathrm{U}(N)$ and one adjoint Higgs field, by using the recently derived exact effective superpotentials. Interesting phenomena occur for some special values of the Higgs potential couplings. We find critical points with massless glueballs and/or massless monopoles, confinement without a mass gap, and tensionless domain walls. We describe the transitions between regimes with different patterns of gauge symmetry breaking, or, in the matrix model language, between solutions with a different number of cuts. The standard large N expansion is singular near the critical points, with domain wall tensions scaling as a fractional power of N. We argue that the critical points are four-dimensional analogues of the Kazakov critical points that are commonly found in low dimensional matrix integrals. We define a double scaling limit that yields the exact tension of BPS two-branes in the resulting $\mathcal{N}=1,$ four-dimensional noncritical string theory. D-brane states can be deformed continuously into closed string solitonic states, and vice versa, along paths that go over regions where the string coupling is strong.
119318242
Partial Gauge Fixing and Equivariant Cohomology
Given a gauge theory with gauge group G, it is sometimes useful to find an equivalent formulation in terms of a nontrivial gauge subgroup H⊂G. This amounts to fixing the gauge partially from G down to H. We study this problem systematically, both from the algebraic and from the path integral points of view. We find that the usual BRST cohomology must be replaced by an equivariant version and that the ghost Lagrangian must always include quartic ghost terms, even at tree level. Both the Cartan and Weil models for equivariant cohomology play a role and find natural interpretations within the physics framework. Applications include the construction of D-brane models of emergent space, the 't Hooft Abelian projection scenario in quantum chromodynamics and the formulation of the low-energy effective theories of grand unified models. © 2014 American Physical Society.
1817006
Curves of marginal stability, and weak- and strong-coupling BPS spectra in N = 2 supersymmetric QCD
We explicitly determine the global structure of the SL(2, Z) bundle over the Coulomb branch of the moduli space of asymptotically free N = 2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories with gauge group SU(2) when massless hypermultiplets are present. For each relevant number of flavours, we show that there is a curve of marginal stability of the Coulomb branch, diffeomorphic to a circle, across which the BPS spectrum is discontinuous. We determine rigorously and completely the BPS spectra inside and outside the curve. In all cases, the spectrum inside the curve consists of only those BPS states that are responsible for the singularities of the low energy effective action (in addition to the massless abelian gauge multiplet which is always present). The predicted decay patterns across the curve of marginal stability are perfectly consistent with all quantum numbers carried by the BPS states. As a byproduct, we also show that the electric and magnetic quantum numbers of the massless states at the singularities proposed by Seiberg and Witten are the only possible ones.
118955749
MULTIVALUED FIELDS ON THE COMPLEX PLANE AND BRAID GROUP STATISTICS
In this paper we study a class of theories of free particles on the complex plane satisfying a non-Abelian statistics. This kind of particles are generalizations of the anyons and are sometimes called plectons. The peculiarity of these theories is that they are associated to free conformal field theories defined on Riemann surfaces with a discrete and non-Abelian group of authomorphisms Dm. More explicitly, the plectons appear here as “induced vertex operators” that simulate, on the complex plane, the nontrivial topology of the Riemann surface. In order to express the local exchange algebra of the particles, one is led to introduce an R matrix satisfying a multiparameter generalization of the usual Yang-Baxter equations. It is interesting that analogous generalizations have already been investigated in connection with integrable models, in which the spectral parameter takes its values on a Riemann surface that is in many respects similar to the Riemann surfaces we are studying here. The explicit form of the R matrices mentioned above can be also used to define a multiparameter version of the quantum complex hyperplane.
119092707
Dirac quantization of the Chern-Simons field theory in the Coulomb gauge
Abstract In this letter the Chern-Simons field theories are studied in the Coulomb gauge using the Dirac's canonical formalism for constrained systems. As a strategy, we first work out the constraints and then quantize, replacing the Dirac brackets with quantum commutators. We find that the Chern-Simons field theories become two dimensional models with no propagation along the time direction. Moreover, we prove that, despite of the presence of non-trivial self-interactions in the gauge fixed functional, the commutation relations between the fields are trivial at any order in perturbation theory in the absence of couplings with matter fields. If these couplings are present, instead, the commutation relations become rather involved, but it is still possible to study their main properties and to show that they vanish at the tree level.
14698756
Multivalued fields on the complex plane and conformal field theories
In this paper a class of conformal field theories with nonabelian and discrete group of symmetry is investigated. These theories are realized in terms of free scalar fields starting from the simpleb-c systems and scalar fields on algebraic curves. The Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equations for the conformal blocks can be explicitly solved. Besides the fact that one obtains in this way an entire class of theories in which the operators obey nonstandard statistics, these systems are interesting in exploring the connection between statistics and curved space-times, at least in the two dimensional case.
16431838
PERTURBATIVE ANALYSIS OF CHERN–SIMONS FIELD THEORY IN THE COULOMB GAUGE
In this paper, we analyse the perturbative aspects of Chern–Simons field theories in the Coulomb gauge. We show that in the perturbative expansion of the Green functions there are neither ultraviolet nor infrared divergences. Moreover, all the radiative corrections are zero at any loop order. Some problems connected with the Coulomb gauge fixing, like the appearance of spurious singularities in the computation of the Feynman diagrams, are discussed and solved. The regularization used here for the spurious singularities can be easily applied also to the Yang–Mills case, which is affected by similar divergences.
16793358
FIELD THEORIES ON THE POINCARÉ DISK
The massive scalar field theory and the chiral Schwinger model are quantized on a Poincare disk of radius ρ. The amplitudes are derived in terms of Legendre functions. The behavior at long distances and near the boundary of some of the relevant correlation functions is studied. The exact computation of the chiral determinant appearing in the Schwinger model is obtained exploiting perturbation theory. This calculation poses interesting mathematical problems, as the Poincare disk is a noncompact manifold with a metric tensor which diverges when it approaches the boundary. The results presented in this paper are very useful in view of possible extensions to general Riemann surfaces. Moreover, they could also shed some light in the quantization of field theories on manifolds with constant curvature scalars in higher dimensions.