Exact WKB Analysis Research Articles

Sheaf quantization from exact WKB analysis

Abstract A sheaf quantization is a sheaf associated to a Lagrangian brane. By using the results of exact WKB analysis, we sheaf-quantize spectral curves over the Novikov ring under some assumptions on the behavior of Stokes curves. For Schrödinger equations, we prove that the local system associated to the sheaf quantization (microlocalization a.k.a. abelianization) over the spectral curve can be identified with the Voros–Iwaki–Nakanishi coordinate. We expect that these sheaf quantizations are the object-level realizations of the ℏ \hbar -enhanced Riemann–Hilbert correspondence.

TBA equations and exact WKB analysis in deformed supersymmetric quantum mechanics

We study the spectral problem in deformed supersymmetric quantum mechanics with polynomial superpotential by using the exact WKB method and the TBA equations. We apply the ODE/IM correspondence to the Schrödinger equation with an effective potential deformed by integrating out the fermions, which admits a continuous deformation parameter. We find that the TBA equations are described by the ℤ4-extended ones. For cubic superpotential corresponding to the symmetric double-well potential, the TBA system splits into the two D3-type TBA equations. We investigate in detail this example based on the TBA equations and their analytic continuation as well as the massless limit. We find that the energy spectrum obtained from the exact quantization condition is in good agreement with the diagonalization approach of the Hamiltonian.

Anisotropic Kondo line defect and ODE/IM correspondence

We study the anisotropic Kondo line defects in products of chiral SU(2) WZW models. We propose an ODE/IM correspondence for the anisotropic Kondo problems by considering the four-dimensional Chern Simons theory in the trigonometric case. We verify the claim both by explicit perturbative calculations in the ultraviolet and by exact WKB analysis in the infrared. In doing so, we derived the infrared dynamics of a large class of anisotropic line defects.

Exact WKB Analysis of Eigenvalue Problems for an Ordinary Differential Equation Arising from the Mathematical Model of Mesons

Exact WKB Analysis of Eigenvalue Problems for an Ordinary Differential Equation Arising from the Mathematical Model of Mesons

Exact conditions for quasi-normal modes of extremal M5-branes and exact WKB analysis

We study the quasi-normal modes (QNMs) of a massless scalar perturbation to the extremal M5-branes metric by using the exact WKB analysis. The exact WKB analysis provides two exact QNMs conditions depending on the argument of the complex frequency of the perturbation. The exact conditions show that the discontinuity of the perturbative part of the QNMs leads the non-perturbative part of themselves. We also find a new example of the Seiberg-Witten/gravity correspondence, which helps us to compute the QNMs from our conditions.

Exact WKB analysis for SUSY and quantum deformed potentials: Quantum mechanics with Grassmann fields and Wess-Zumino terms

Quantum deformed potentials arise naturally in quantum mechanical systems of one bosonic coordinate coupled to ${N}_{f}$ Grassmann valued fermionic coordinates, or to a topological Wess-Zumino term. These systems decompose into sectors with a classical potential plus a quantum deformation. Using exact Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin, we derive exact quantization condition and its median resummation. The solution of median resummed form gives physical Borel-Ecalle resummed results, as we show explicitly in quantum deformed double- and triple-well potentials. Despite the fact that instantons have finite actions, for generic quantum deformation, they do not contribute to the energy spectrum at leading order in semiclassics. For certain quantized quantum deformations, where the alignment of levels to all order in perturbation theory occurs, instantons contribute to the spectrum. If deformation parameter is not properly quantized, their effect disappears, but higher-order effects in semiclassics survive. In this sense, we classify saddle contributions as fading and robust. Finally, for quantum deformed triple-well potential, we demonstrate the perturbative/nonperturbative relation, by computing period integrals and Mellin transform.

The Exact WKB analysis for asymmetric scalar preheating

Using the exact WKB analysis of the higher-order differential equations, we analyze the asymmetry in dynamical particle production of a complex scalar field. The solution requires the Stokes phenomena of the fourth-order differential equation. We found that the interference of different types of the Stokes phenomena causes matter-antimatter asymmetry. We also showed a specific example where asymmetry is forbidden in the exact calculation, but a false asymmetry appears in the perturbative expansion.

EXACT SOLUTIONS FOR THE SINGULARLY PERTURBED RICCATI EQUATION AND EXACT WKB ANALYSIS

AbstractThe singularly perturbed Riccati equation is the first-order nonlinear ordinary differential equation $\hbar \partial _x f = af^2 + bf + c$ in the complex domain where $\hbar $ is a small complex parameter. We prove an existence and uniqueness theorem for exact solutions with prescribed asymptotics as $\hbar \to 0$ in a half-plane. These exact solutions are constructed using the Borel–Laplace method; that is, they are Borel summations of the formal divergent $\hbar $ -power series solutions. As an application, we prove existence and uniqueness of exact WKB solutions for the complex one-dimensional Schrödinger equation with a rational potential.

The Exact WKB analysis and the Stokes phenomena of the Unruh effect and Hawking radiation

The physical observables of quantum theory can be described by perturbation theory, which is often given by diverging power series. This divergence is connected to the existence of non-perturbative phenomena, where resurgence allows us to study this connection. Applying this idea to the WKB expansion, the exact WKB analysis gives a clear connection to non-perturbative phenomena. In this paper, we apply the exact WKB analysis to the Unruh effect and Hawking radiation. The mechanism we found in this paper is similar to the Schwinger effect of a constant electric field, where the background is static but the Stokes phenomenon appears in the temporal part. Comparing this with a sonic black hole, our calculations show a clear discrepancy between them. Then, we briefly explain how quantum backreactions can be included in the exact WKB formalism.

Quasi-normal modes for the D3-branes and Exact WKB analysis

We demonstrate how the Exact WKB analysis works in the study of the quasi-normal modes (QNMs). We apply the Exact WKB analysis to a massless scalar perturbation to the D3-brane metric as a concrete example. The Exact WKB analysis provides an exact condition for the QNMs. We numerically check our exact condition by using the Borel-Padé approximation. We also present an analytic form and an asymptotic behavior of the QNMs.

On the Wall-Crossing Formula for Quadratic Differentials

Abstract We prove an analytic version of the Kontsevich–Soibelman wall-crossing formula describing how the number of finite-length trajectories of a quadratic differential jumps as the differential is varied. We characterize certain birational automorphisms of an algebraic torus appearing in this wall-crossing formula using Fock–Goncharov coordinates. As an application, we compute the Stokes automorphisms for the Voros symbols appearing in the exact WKB analysis of Schrödinger’s equation.

Exact WKB and the quantum Seiberg-Witten curve for 4d N = 2 pure SU(3) Yang-Mills. Abelianization

We investigate the exact WKB method for the quantum Seiberg-Witten curve of 4d N = 2 pure SU(3) Yang-Mills in the language of abelianization. The relevant differential equation is a third-order equation on ℂℙ1 with two irregular singularities. We employ the exact WKB method to study the solutions to such a third-order equation and the associated Stokes phenomena. We also investigate the exact quantization condition for a certain spectral problem. Moreover, exact WKB analysis leads us to consider new Darboux coordinates on a moduli space of flat SL(3,ℂ)-connections. In particular, in the weak coupling region we encounter coordinates of the higher length-twist type generalizing Fenchel-Nielsen coordinates. The Darboux coordinates are conjectured to admit asymptotic expansions given by the formal quantum periods series and we perform numerical analysis supporting this conjecture.

The exact WKB and the Landau-Zener transition for asymmetry in cosmological particle production

Cosmological particle production by a time-dependent scalar field is common in cosmology. We focus on the mechanism of asymmetry production when interaction explicitly violates symmetry and its motion is rapid enough to create particles by itself. Combining the exact WKB analysis and the Landau-Zener transition, we point out that perturbation before the non-perturbative analysis may drastically change the structure of the Stokes lines of the theory. The Exact WKB can play an important role in avoiding such discrepancies.

The hypergeometric function, the confluent hypergeometric function and WKB solutions

Relations between the hypergeometric function with a large parameter and Borel sums of WKB solutions of the hypergeometric differential equation with the large parameter are established. The confluent hypergeometric function is also investigated from the viewpoint of exact WKB analysis. As applications, asymptotic expansion formulas for those classical special functions with respect to parameters are obtained.

Voros coefficients and the topological recursion for the hypergeometric differential equation of type (1, 4)

In my joint papers with Iwaki and Koike, we found an intriguing relation between the Voros coefficients in the exact WKB analysis and the free energy in the topological recursion introduced by Eynard and Orantin in the case of the confluent family of the Gauss hypergeometric differential equations. In this paper, we discuss its generalization to the case of the hypergeometric differential equation of type .

Exact-WKB, complete resurgent structure, and mixed anomaly in quantum mechanics on S1

We investigate the exact-WKB analysis for quantum mechanics in a periodic potential, with N minima on S1. We describe the Stokes graphs of a general potential problem as a network of Airy-type or degenerate Weber-type building blocks, and provide a dictionary between the two. The two formulations are equivalent, but with their own pros and cons. Exact-WKB produces the quantization condition consistent with the known conjectures and mixed anomaly. The quantization condition for the case of N-minima on the circle factorizes over the Hilbert sub-spaces labeled by discrete theta angle (or Bloch momenta), and is consistent with ’t Hooft anomaly for even N and global inconsistency for odd N. By using Delabaere-Dillinger-Pham formula, we prove that the resurgent structure is closed in these Hilbert subspaces, built on discrete theta vacua, and by a transformation, this implies that fixed topological sectors (columns of resurgence triangle) are also closed under resurgence.

Quantum periods and TBA equations for [formula omitted]SU(2) Nf = 2 SQCD with flavor symmetry

We apply the exact WKB analysis to the quantum Seiberg-Witten curve for 4-dimensional N=2SU(2)Nf=2 SQCD with the flavor symmetry. The discontinuity and the asymptotic behavior of the quantum periods define a Riemann-Hilbert problem. We derive the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz (TBA) equations as a solution to this problem. We also compute the effective central charge of the underlying CFT, which is shown to be proportional to the one-loop beta function of the SQCD.

Exact WKB analysis of the vacuum pair production by time-dependent electric fields

We study the vacuum pair production by a time-dependent strong electric field based on the exact WKB analysis. We identify the generic structure of a Stokes graph for systems with the vacuum pair production and show that the number of produced pairs is given by a product of connection matrices for Stokes segments connecting pairs of turning points. We derive an explicit formula for the number of produced pairs, assuming the semi-classical limit. The obtained formula can be understood as a generalization of the divergent asymptotic series method by Berry, and is consistent with other semi-classical methods such as the worldline instanton method and the steepest descent evaluation of the Bogoliubov coefficients done by Brezin and Izykson. We also use the formula to discuss effects of time-dependence of the applied strong electric field including the interplay between the perturbative multi-photon pair production and non-peturbative Schwinger mechanism, and the dynamically assisted Schwinger mechanism.

On exact-WKB analysis, resurgent structure, and quantization conditions

There are two well-known approaches to studying nonperturbative aspects of quantum mechanical systems: saddle point analysis of the partition functions in Euclidean path integral formulation and the exact-WKB analysis based on the wave functions in the Schrödinger equation. In this work, based on the quantization conditions obtained from the exact-WKB method, we determine the relations between the two formalism and in particular show how the two Stokes phenomena are connected to each other: the Stokes phenomenon leading to the ambiguous contribution of different sectors of the path integral formulation corresponds to the change of the “topology” of the Stoke curves in the exact-WKB analysis. We also clarify the equivalence of different quantization conditions including Bohr-Sommerfeld, path integral and Gutzwiller’s ones. In particular, by reorganizing the exact quantization condition, we improve Gutzwiller’s analysis in a crucial way by bion contributions (incorporating complex periodic paths) and turn it into an exact result. Furthermore, we argue the novel meaning of quasi-moduli integral and provide a relation between the Maslov index and the intersection number of Lefschetz thimbles.

Exact WKB and Abelianization for the $$T_3$$ Equation

We describe the exact WKB method from the point of view of abelianization, both for Schr\"odinger operators and for their higher-order analogues (opers). The main new example which we consider is the "$T_3$ equation," an order $3$ equation on the thrice-punctured sphere, with regular singularities at the punctures. In this case the exact WKB analysis leads to consideration of a new sort of Darboux coordinate system on a moduli space of flat $\mathrm{SL}(3)$-connections. We give the simplest example of such a coordinate system, and verify numerically that in these coordinates the monodromy of the $T_3$ equation has the expected asymptotic properties. We also briefly revisit the Schr\"odinger equation with cubic potential and the Mathieu equation from the point of view of abelianization.