118854749
From constrained stochastic processes to the nonlinear sigma model. Two old problems revisited
Abstract In this work a method is presented to derive the generating functional in path integral form for a system with an arbitrary number of degrees of freedom and constrained by general conditions. The method is applied to the case of the dynamics of an inextensible chain subjected to external forces. Next, the generating functional of the inextensible chain is computed assuming that the interactions are switched off. Finally, the generating functional of a two-dimensional nonlinear sigma model with O ( 3 ) symmetry is derived exploiting its similarities with the model describing the dynamics of the inextensible chain.
118282052
Toward a Field Theoretical Description of Topologically Linked Polymers
In this work a field theoretical model is constructed to describe the statistical mechanics of an arbitrary number of topologically linked polymers in the context of the analytical approach of Edwards. As an application, the effects of the topological interactions are studied in the one loop approximation. A natural way to include in the treatment also more sophisticated link invariants than the Gauss linking number is outlined.
121244510
On the stochastic quantization of the Chern-Simons theory
Abstract We present in this paper a refined treatment of the stochastic quantization of Chern-Simons field theories. We show in particular that the naive Langevin equation does not lead to a well-defined equilibrium limit. Our main issue is the introduction of a nontrivial kernel in the Langevin equation which yields the correct equilibrium limit. We restrict ourselves to the free field theory case.
18373561
Biharmonic conformal field theories
Abstract We construct in this paper a new class of conformal field theories (CFT's) in which the fields are characterized by equations of the biharmonic type. All these theories are interacting and admit an explicit Lagrangian formulation. For that reason, the biharmonic CFT's are useful in the study of interacting CFT's and can have also applications in string theories. Besides, it is possible to interprete the biharmonic CFT's as theories of conformal gravity in two dimensions, which represent an alternative to Liouville field theory.
121604245
Performance of the TOTEM neurochip in Higgs search
We present preliminary results on the ability of the neurochip TOTEM to discriminate Higgs particles from background in p-p high energy collisions.
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.
18522220
The BPS spectra and superconformal points in massive N = 2 supersymmetric QCD
We present a detailed study of the analytic structure, BPS spectra and superconformal points of the N = 2 susy SU(2) gauge theories with Nf = 1, 2, 3 massive quark hypermultiplets. We compute the curves of marginal stability with the help of the explicit solutions for the low-energy effective actions in terms of standard elliptic functions. We show that only a few of these curves are relevant. As a generic example, the case of Nf = 2 with two equal bare masses is studied in depth. We determine the precise existence domains for each BPS state, and show how they are compatible with the RG flows. At the superconformal point, where two singularities coincide, we prove that (for Nf = 2) the massless spectrum consists of four distinct BPS states and is S-invariant. This is due to the monodromy around the superconformal point being S, providing strong evidence for exact S-duality of the SCFT For all Nf, we compute the slopes ω of the β-functions at the fixed point couplings and show that they are related to the anomalous dimensions α of u = 〈trƒ2〉 by ω = 2(α − 1).
16567547
Exact multiplets of spontaneously broken discrete global symmetries: The example of N=2 SUSY QCD
In these notes, we emphasize the r\^ole of spontaneous broken global discrete symmetries acting on the moduli space of $N=2$ susy Yang-Mills theories and show how they can be used, together with the BPS condition, as a spectrum generating symmetry. In particular, in the strong-coupling region, all BPS states come in multiplets of this broken symmetry. This played a key r\^ole in the determination of the strong-coupling spectra.
119253138
2D Quantum Gravity at One Loop with Liouville and Mabuchi Actions
Abstract We study a new two-dimensional quantum gravity theory, based on a gravitational action containing both the familiar Liouville term and the Mabuchi functional, which has been shown to be related to the coupling of non-conformal matter to gravity. We compute the one-loop string susceptibility from a first-principle, path integral approach in the Kahler parameterization of the metrics and discuss the particularities that arise in the case of the pure Mabuchi theory. While we mainly use the most convenient spectral cutoff regularization to perform our calculations, we also discuss the interesting subtleties associated with the multiplicative anomaly in the familiar ζ -function scheme, which turns out to have a genuine physical effect for our calculations. In particular, we derive and use a general multiplicative anomaly formula for Laplace-type operators on arbitrary compact Riemann surfaces.
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.
117371335
Random Kähler Metrics
Abstract The purpose of this article is to propose a new method to define and calculate path integrals over metrics on a Kahler manifold. The main idea is to use finite dimensional spaces of Bergman metrics, as an approximation to the full space of Kahler metrics. We use the theory of large deviations to decide when a sequence of probability measures on the spaces of Bergman metrics tends to a limit measure on the space of all Kahler metrics. Several examples are considered.