Superluminal travel, UV/IR mixing, and turbulence in a (1+1)-dimensional world

Abstract

We study renormalizable Lorentz invariant stable quantum field theories in two space-time dimensions with instantaneous causal structure (causal ordering induced by the light "cone" time ordering). These models provide a candidate UV-completion of the two-dimensional ghost condensate. They exhibit a peculiar UV/IR mixing - energies of all excitations become arbitrarily small at high spatial momenta. We discuss several phenomena associated with this mixing. These include the impossibility to reach a thermal equilibrium and metastability of all excitations towards decay into short wavelength modes resulting in an indefinite turbulent cascade. In spite of the UV/IR mixing in many cases the UV physics can still be decoupled from low energy phenomena. However, a patient observer in the Lineland is able to produce arbitrarily heavy particles simply by waiting for a long enough time.