118963546
Numerical studies of QGP instabilities and implications
Abstract.Because of the flat initial shape of the QGP in a heavy-ion collision, the momentum distribution becomes anisotropic after a short time. This leads to plasma instabilities, which may help explain how the plasma isotropizes. We explain the physics of instabilities and give the latest results of numerical simulations into their evolution. Non-Abelian interactions cut off the size to which the soft unstable fields grow, and energy in the soft fields subsequently cascades towards more ultraviolet scales. We present first results for the power spectrum of this cascade.
119023526
The phantom menaced: Constraints on low-energy effective ghosts
It has been suggested that a scalar field with negative kinetic energy, or ``ghost,'' could be the source of the observed late-time cosmological acceleration. Naively, such theories should be ruled out by the catastrophic quantum instability of the vacuum. We derive phenomenological bounds on the Lorentz-violating ultraviolet cutoff $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ which must apply to low-energy effective theories of ghosts, in order to keep the instability at unobservable levels. Assuming only that ghosts interact at least gravitationally, we show that $\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremath{\lesssim}3\mathrm{MeV}$ for consistency with the cosmic gamma ray background. We also show that theories of ghosts with a Lorentz-conserving cutoff are completely excluded.
10799212
Classical field dynamics of the electroweak phase transition
We investigate the thermodynamics and dynamics of the electroweak phase transition by modeling the infrared physics with classical Yang-Mills Higgs theory. We discuss the accuracy of this approach and conclude that, for quantities whose determination is dominated by the infrared, the classical method should be correct up to parametrically suppressed [i.e., O({alpha})] corrections. For a Higgs self-coupling which at the tree level corresponds to m{sub H}{approx_equal}50 GeV, we determine the jump in the order parameter to be {delta}{phi}=1.5gT, the surface tension to be {sigma}=0.07g{sup 4}T{sup 3}, and the friction coefficient on the moving bubble wall due to infrared bosons to be {eta}{equivalent_to}P/v{sub w}=0.03{plus_minus}0.004g{sup 6}T{sup 4}. We also investigate the response of the Chern-Simons number to a spatially uniform chemical potential and find that it falls off a short distance inside the bubble wall, both in equilibrium and below the equilibrium temperature. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
18843095
Classical sphaleron rate on fine lattices
We measure the sphaleron rate for hot, classical Yang-Mills theory on the lattice, in order to study its dependence on lattice spacing. By using a topological definition of Chern-Simons number and going to extremely fine lattices [up to $\ensuremath{\beta}=32,$ or lattice spacing ${a=1/(8g}^{2}T)]$ we demonstrate nontrivial scaling. The topological susceptibility, converted to physical units, falls with lattice spacing on fine lattices in a way which is consistent with linear dependence on a (the Arnold-Son-Yaffe scaling relation) and is difficult to reconcile with a nonzero continuum limit. We also explain some unusual behavior of the rate in small volumes, reported by Ambj\o{}rn and Krasnitz.
118416779
Next-to-leading order thermal photon production in a weakly coupled quark-gluon plasma
A bstractWe compute the next-to-leading order O(g) correction to the thermal photon production rate in a QCD plasma. The NLO contributions can be expressed in terms of gauge invariant condensates on the light cone, which are amenable to novel sum rules and Euclidean techniques. We expect these technologies to be generalizable to other NLO calculations. For the phenomenologically interesting value of αs = 0.3, the NLO correction represents a 20% increase and has a functional form similar to the LO result.
119279378
Bjorken flow, plasma instabilities, and thermalization
A bstractAt asymptotically high energies, thermalization in heavy ion collisions can be described via weak-coupling QCD. We present a complete treatment of how thermalization proceeds, at the parametric weak-coupling level. We show that plasma instabilities dominate the dynamics, from immediately after the collision until well after the plasma becomes nearly in equilibrium. Initially they drive the system close to isotropy, but Bjorken expansion and increasing diluteness makes the system again become more anisotropic. At time $ \tau \sim {\alpha^{{\frac{{ - 12}}{5}}}}Q_s^{{ - 1}} $ the dynamics become dominated by a nearly-thermal bath; and at time $ \tau \sim {\alpha^{{\frac{{ - 5}}{2}}}}Q_s^{{ - 1}} $ the bath comes to dominate the energy density, completing thermalization. After this time there is a nearly isotropic and thermal Quark-Gluon Plasma.
115161468
Four-Dimensional Wall-Crossing via Three-Dimensional Field Theory
We give a physical explanation of the Kontsevich-Soibelman wall-crossing formula for the BPS spectrum in Seiberg-Witten theories. In the process we give an exact description of the BPS instanton corrections to the hyperkähler metric of the moduli space of the theory on $${\mathbb R^3 \times S^1}$$. The wall-crossing formula reduces to the statement that this metric is continuous. Our construction of the metric uses a four-dimensional analogue of the two-dimensional tt* equations.
121922438
Modular Forms and Two Loop String Physics
Abstract The two-loop path integral for the closed bosonic string is given by a genus-two modular form: the product of the even theta functions. Thus the two-loop vacuum amplitude, scattering amplitudes, and the one-loop free energy may be expressed simply in terms of theta functions.
2410359
Extremal N=(2,2) 2D Conformal Field Theories and Constraints of Modularity
We explore the constraints on the spectrum of primary fields implied by modularity of the elliptic genus of N = (2, 2) 2D CFT’s. We show that such constraints have nontrivial implications for the existence of “extremal” N = (2, 2) conformal field theories. Applications to AdS_3 supergravity and flux compactifications are addressed.
56356836
Spin structures and superstrings
In superstring theory spin structures are present on both the 2-dimensional worldsheet and 10-dimensional spacetime. We present a new proposal for the B-field in superstring theory and demonstrate its interaction with worldsheet spin structures. Our formulation generalizes to orientifolds, where various twistings appear. A special case of the orientifold worldsheet B-field amplitude is a KO-theoretic construction of the Z/8Z-valued Kervaire invariant on pin-minus surfaces.
15950241
Self-duality, Ramond-Ramond fields and K-theory
Just as D-brane charge of type-IIA and type-IIB superstrings is classified, respectively, by K-1(X) and K(X), Ramond-Ramond fields in these theories are classified, respectively, by K(X) and K-1(X). By analyzing a recent proposal for how to interpret quantum self-duality of RR fields, we show that the Dirac quantization formula for the RR p-forms, when properly formulated, receives corrections that reflect curvature, lower brane charges, and an anomaly of D-brane world-volume fermions. The K-theory framework is important here, because the term involving the fermion anomaly cannot be naturally expressed in terms of cohomology and differential forms.