119020278
Energy loss of leading partons in a thermal QCD medium
We consider bremsstrahlung energy loss for hard partons traversing a quark-gluon plasma (QCP). Accounting correctly for the probabilistic nature of the energy loss, and making a leading-order-accurate treatment of bremsstrahlung, we find that the suppression of the spectrum is nearly flat, with the most suppression at energies $E~30\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}T$ (where T is the QGP temperature), without the need for initial state effects such as shadowing and the Cronin effect. This flat pattern should also be observed at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) out to an energy of $~30\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{GeV}$.
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}
15482372
How to calculate the bubble nucleation rate in first order transitions non-perturbatively
We present a new method for calculating the bubble nucleation rate in first order phase transitions non-perturbatively on the lattice. The method takes into account all fluctuations and the full dynamical pre-factor. We also present results from applying it to the cubic anisotropy model, which has a radiatively induced, strongly first order phase transition.
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.
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.
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.
18983191
T duality, and the K theoretic partition function of type IIA superstring theory
Abstract We study the partition function of type IIA string theory on 10-manifolds of the form T 2 × X , where X is 8-dimensional, compact, and spin. We pay particular attention to the effects of the topological phases in the supergravity action implied by the K-theoretic formulation of RR fields, and we use these to check the T-duality invariance of the partition function. We find that the partition function is only T-duality invariant when we take into account the T-duality anomalies in the RR sector, the fermionic path integral (including 4-fermi interaction terms), and 1-loop corrections including worldsheet instantons. We comment on applications of our computation to speculations about the role of the Romans mass in M-theory. We also discuss some issues which arise when one attempts to extend these considerations to checking the full U-duality invariance of the theory.
125232166
Matrix Models of 2D Gravity and Isomonodromic Deformation
One of the principal goals of the theory of 2D gravity is making sense of the formal expression 
 
$$Z\left( {\mu ,\kappa ;{t_i}} \right) = \sum\limits_h {{{\int_{ME{T_h}} {dge} }^{\mu \int {\sqrt g + k\int {\sqrt g } + k} }}} {Z_{QFT\left( {{t_i}} \right)}}\left[ g \right]$$ 
 
(1.1) 
 
where we integrate over metrics g on surfaces with h handles with a weight defined by the Einstein-Hilbert action (μ is the cosmological constant and κ is Newton’s constant, or, equivalently, the string coupling) together with the partition function of some 2D quantum field theory, QFT(t i ). The parameters t i are coordinates on a subspace of the space of 2D field theories, or, equivalently, coordinates for a space of string backgrounds.
122027749
The Ising Model, the Yang-Lee Edge Singularity, and 2D Quantum Gravity
Abstract We consider one-and two-matrix models recently used to define nonperturbative 2D quantum gravity. We prove the equivalence of the m = 3 multicritical one-matrix model and the Yang-Lee edge singularity coupled to 2D quantum gravity. We also derive formulae for the correlation functions for the Yang-Lee edge singularity and for the Ising model in their summed over topologies formulations.
119242941
Wall-crossing in coupled 2d-4d systems
A bstractWe introduce a new wall-crossing formula which combines and generalizes the Cecotti-Vafa and Kontsevich-Soibelman formulas for supersymmetric 2d and 4d systems respectively. This 2d-4d wall-crossing formula governs the wall-crossing of BPS states in an $ \mathcal{N}=2 $ supersymmetric 4d gauge theory coupled to a supersymmetric surface defect. When the theory and defect are compactified on a circle, we get a 3d theory with a supersymmetric line operator, corresponding to a hyperholomorphic connection on a vector bundle over a hyperkähler space. The 2d-4d wall-crossing formula can be interpreted as a smoothness condition for this hyperholomorphic connection. We explain how the 2d-4d BPS spectrum can be determined for 4d theories of class $ \mathcal{S} $, that is, for those theories obtained by compactifying the six-dimensional (0, 2) theory with a partial topological twist on a punctured Riemann surface C. For such theories there are canonical surface defects. We illustrate with several examples in the case of A1 theories of class $ \mathcal{S} $. Finally, we indicate how our results can be used to produce solutions to the A1 Hitchin equations on the Riemann surface C.
8410357
The Singular geometry of the sliver
We consider ``sliver'' states which act as projection operators in the matter star product of Witten's cubic string field theory. These sliver states, which might be associated with Dp-branes, are not finite norm states in the matter string Hilbert space. We describe the singularities of these states, and demonstrate that the sliver states are composed of strings having singular geometric features. These singularities take a particularly simple form in the zero slope limit α'→0, where the star algebra factorizes into a product of the algebra of functions on space-time and the non-commutative star product of fields associated with higher string modes. An analogy to the sliver geometry suggests a natural mechanism for describing closed string states in open string field theory.