15735242
Hard Thermal Loops and the Sphaleron Rate on the Lattice
Abstract We measure the sphaleron rate (topological susceptibility) of hot SU(2) gauge theory, using a lattice implementation of the hard thermal loop (HTL) effective action. The HTL degrees of freedom are implemented by an expansion in spherical harmonics and truncation. Our results for the sphaleron rate agree with the parametric prediction of Arnold, Son and Yaffe: Γ ∝ α 5 T 4 .
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.
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.
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.
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}
15223007
SOME COMMENTS ON BRANES, G-FLUX, AND K-THEORY
Summary of a talk explaining three ways in which string theory and M-theory are related to the mathematics of K-theory.
17230629
Threshold corrections in K3 × T2 heterotic string compactifications
Abstract We consider compactifications of the heterotic string on K 3 × T 2 so that the resulting theory in d = 4 space-time dimensions has N = 2 supersymmetry. The gravitational and gauge coupling constants of the low-energy effective theory receive threshold corrections from loops of superheavy string states. We calculate these corrections for the case when the K 3 surface is a Z n orbifold of a four-torus T 4. The results are used to determine the one-loop prepotential F 0 (1) for the vector multiplets and the gravitational coupling F 1 (1) .
14579879
Exact Gravitational Threshold Correction in the FHSV Model
We consider the automorphic forms which govern the gravitational threshold correction F1 in models of heterotic/IIA duality with N = 2 supersymmetry in four dimensions. In particular we derive the full nonperturbative formula for F1 for the dual pair originally considered by Ferrara, Harvey, Strominger and Vafa (FHSV). The answer involves an interesting automorphic product constructed by Borcherds which is associated to the “fake Monster Lie superalgebra.” As an application of this result we rederive a result of Jorgenson & Todorov on determinants of ∂̄ operators on K3 surfaces.
11647083
A Derivation of K theory from M theory
We show how some aspects of the K-theory classification of RR fluxes follow from a careful analysis of the phase of the M-theory action. This is a shortened and simplified companion paper to ``E8 Gauge Theory, and a Derivation of K-Theory from M-Theory.''
17176395
Localized tachyons and the quantum McKay correspondence
The condensation of closed string tachyons localized at the fixed point of a d/Γ orbifold can be studied in the framework of renormalization group flow in a gauged linear sigma model. The evolution of the Higgs branch along the flow describes a resolution of singularities via the process of tachyon condensation. The study of the fate of D-branes in this process has lead to a notion of a ``quantum McKay correspondence.'' This is a hypothetical correspondence between fractional branes in an orbifold singularity in the ultraviolet with the Coulomb and Higgs branch branes in the infrared. In this paper we present some nontrivial evidence for this correspondence in the case 2/n by relating the intersection form of fractional branes to that of ``Higgs branch branes,'' the latter being branes which wrap nontrivial cycles in the resolved space.