37616
Glueball operators and the microscopic approach to N = 1 gauge theories
We explain how to generalize Nekrasov's microscopic approach to = 2 gauge theories to the = 1 case, focusing on the typical example of the U(N) theory with one adjoint chiral multiplet X and an arbitrary polynomial tree-level superpotential Tr W(X). We provide a detailed analysis of the generalized glueball operators and a non-perturbative discussion of the Dijkgraaf-Vafa matrix model and of the generalized Konishi anomaly equations. We compute in particular the non-trivial quantum corrections to the Virasoro operators and algebra that generate these equations. We have performed explicit calculations up to two instantons, that involve the next-to-leading order corrections in Nekrasov's Ω-background.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
119050628
Cosmic ray recipes
Cosmic rays represent one of the most fascinating research themes in modern astronomy and physics. After almost a century since their discovery, a huge amount of scientific literature has been written on this topic and it is not always easy to extract from it the necessary information for somebody who approaches the subject for the first time. This has been the main motivation for preparing this article, which is a concise and self-contained review for whoever is interested in studying cosmic rays. The priority has been given here to well established facts, which are not at risk to get obsolete in a few years due to the fast progress of the research in this field. Also many data are presented, which are useful to characterize the doses of ionizing radiation delivered to organisms living on the Earth due to cosmic rays. The technical terms which are often encountered in the scientific literature are explained in a separate appendix.
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.
16103872
On the Schwinger model on Riemann surfaces
Abstract In this paper the Schwinger model or two-dimensional quantum electrodynamics is exactly solved on a Riemann surface providing the explicit expression of the partition function and of the generating functional of the amplitudes between the fermionic currents. This offers one of the few examples in which it is possible to integrate in an explicit way a gauge field theory interacting with matter on a Riemann surface.
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.