Fermionic Ghost Research Articles

Dynamical Field Inference and Supersymmetry.

Knowledge on evolving physical fields is of paramount importance in science, technology, and economics. Dynamical field inference (DFI) addresses the problem of reconstructing a stochastically-driven, dynamically-evolving field from finite data. It relies on information field theory (IFT), the information theory for fields. Here, the relations of DFI, IFT, and the recently developed supersymmetric theory of stochastics (STS) are established in a pedagogical discussion. In IFT, field expectation values can be calculated from the partition function of the full space-time inference problem. The partition function of the inference problem invokes a functional Dirac function to guarantee the dynamics, as well as a field-dependent functional determinant, to establish proper normalization, both impeding the necessary evaluation of the path integral over all field configurations. STS replaces these problematic expressions via the introduction of fermionic ghost and bosonic Lagrange fields, respectively. The action of these fields has a supersymmetry, which means there exists an exchange operation between bosons and fermions that leaves the system invariant. In contrast to this, measurements of the dynamical fields do not adhere to this supersymmetry. The supersymmetry can also be broken spontaneously, in which case the system evolves chaotically. This affects the predictability of the system and thereby makes DFI more challenging. We investigate the interplay of measurement constraints with the non-linear chaotic dynamics of a simplified, illustrative system with the help of Feynman diagrams and show that the Fermionic corrections are essential to obtain the correct posterior statistics over system trajectories.

ADMISSIBLE LEVEL mathfrak{osp}left(1left|2right.right) MINIMAL MODELS AND THEIR RELAXED HIGHEST WEIGHT MODULES

The minimal model mathfrak{osp}left(1|2right) vertex operator superalgebras are the simple quotients of affine vertex operator superalgebras constructed from the affine Lie super algebra hat{mathfrak{osp}}left(1left|2right.right) at certain rational values of the level k. We classify all isomorphism classes of ℤ2-graded simple relaxed highest weight modules over the minimal model mathfrak{osp}left(1|2right) vertex operator superalgebras in both the Neveu–Schwarz and Ramond sectors. To this end, we combine free field realisations, screening operators and the theory of symmetric functions in the Jack basis to compute explicit presentations for the Zhu algebras in both the Neveu–Schwarz and Ramond sectors. Two different free field realisations are used depending on the level. For k < −1, the free field realisation resembles the Wakimoto free field realisation of affine mathfrak{sl}(2) and is originally due to Bershadsky and Ooguri. It involves 1 free boson (or rank 1 Heisenberg vertex algebra), one βγ bosonic ghost system and one bc fermionic ghost system. For k > −1, the argument presented here requires the bosonisation of the βγ system by embedding it into an indefinite rank 2 lattice vertex algebra.

Quantization of the nonprojectable2+1DHořava theory: The second-class constraints

We present the quantization of the 2+1 dimensional nonprojectable Horava theory. The central point of the approach is that this is a theory with second-class constraints, hence the quantization procedure must take account of them. We consider all the terms in the Lagrangian that are compatible with the foliation-preserving-diffeomorphisms symmetry, up to the z=2 order which is the minimal order indicated by power-counting renormalizability. The measure of the path integral must be adapted to the second-class constraints, and this has consequences in the quantum dynamics of the theory. Since this measure is defined in terms of Poisson brackets between the second-class constraints, we develop all the Hamiltonian formulation of the theory with the full Lagrangian. We found that the propagator of the lapse function (and the one of the metric) acquires a totally regular form. The quantization requires the incorporation of a Lagrange multiplier for a second-class constraint and fermionic ghosts associated to the measure of the second-class constraints. These auxiliary variables have still nonregular propagators.

K3 Elliptic Genus and an Umbral Moonshine Module

Umbral moonshine connects the symmetry groups of the 23 Niemeier lattices with 23 sets of distinguished mock modular forms. The 23 cases of umbral moonshine have a uniform relation to symmetries of K3 string theories. Moreover, a supersymmetric vertex operator algebra with Conway sporadic symmetry also enjoys a close relation to the K3 elliptic genus. Inspired by the above two relations between moonshine and K3 string theory, we construct a chiral CFT by orbifolding the free theory of 24 chiral fermions and two pairs of fermionic and bosonic ghosts. In this paper we mainly focus on the case of umbral moonshine corresponding to the Niemeier lattice with root system given by 6 copies of D4 root system. This CFT then leads to the construction of an infinite-dimensional graded module for the umbral group {G^{D_4^{oplus 6}}} whose graded characters coincide with the umbral moonshine functions. We also comment on how one can recover all umbral moonshine functions corresponding to the Niemeier root systems {A_5^{oplus 4}D_4}, {A_7^{oplus 2}D_5^{oplus 2}}, {A_{11}D_7 E_6}, {A_{17}E_7}, and {D_{10}E_7^{oplus 2}}.

Ghost-free scalar-fermion interactions

We discuss a covariant extension of interactions between scalar fields and fermions in a flat space-time. We show, in a covariant theory, how to evade fermionic ghosts appearing because of the extra degrees of freedom behind a fermionic nature even in the Lagrangian with first derivatives. We will give a concrete example of a quadratic theory with up to the first derivative of multiple scalar fields and a Weyl fermion. We examine not only the maximally degenerate condition, which makes the number of degrees of freedom correct, but also a supplementary condition guaranteeing that the time evolution takes place properly. We also show that proposed derivative interaction terms between scalar fields and a Weyl fermion cannot be removed by field redefinitions.

A BRST formulation for the conic constrained particle

We describe the gauge invariant BRST formulation of a particle constrained to move in a general conic. The model considered constitutes an explicit example of an originally second-class system which can be quantized within the BRST framework. We initially impose the conic constraint by means of a Lagrange multiplier leading to a consistent second-class system which generalizes previous models studied in the literature. After calculating the constraint structure and the corresponding Dirac brackets, we introduce a suitable first-order Lagrangian, the resulting modified system is then shown to be gauge invariant. We proceed to the extended phase space introducing fermionic ghost variables, exhibiting the BRST symmetry transformations and writing the Green’s function generating functional for the BRST quantized model.

Quantizing the Palatini action using a transverse traceless propagator

We consider the first order form of the Einstein-Hilbert action and quantize it using the path integral. Two gauge fixing conditions are imposed so that the graviton propagator is both traceless and transverse. It is shown that these two gauge conditions result in two complex Fermionic vector ghost fields and one real Bosonic vector ghost field. All Feynman diagrams to any order in perturbation theory can be constructed from two real Bosonic fields, two Fermionic ghost fields and one real Bosonic ghost field that propagate. These five fields interact through just five three point vertices and one four point vertex.

Supersymmetry breaking in spatially modulated vacua

We study spontaneous supersymmetry breaking in spatially modulated stable or meta-stable vacua in supersymmetric field theories. Such spatial modulation can be realized in a higher derivative chiral model for which vacuum energies are either positive, negative or zero, depending on the model parameters. There appears a Nambu-Goldstone boson associated with the spontaneously breaking of the translational and $U(1)$ symmetries without the quadratic kinetic term and with a quartic derivative term in the modulated direction, and a gapless Higgs mode. We show that there appears a Goldstino associated with the supersymmetry breaking at a meta-stable vacuum, where energy is positive, while it becomes a fermionic ghost in the negative energy vacuum, and zero norm state and disappears from the physical sector in the zero energy vacuum.

Studying fermionic ghost imaging with independent photons.

Ghost imaging with thermal fermions is calculated via two-particle interference based on the superposition principle for different alternatives in Feynman's path integral theory. It is found that ghost imaging with fully polarized thermal fermions can be simulated by ghost imaging with fully polarized thermal bosons and classical particles. Photons in pseudothermal light are employed to experimentally study fermionic ghost imaging. Ghost imaging with thermal bosons and fermions is discussed based on the point-to-point (spot) correlation between the object and image planes. The employed method offers an efficient guidance for future ghost imaging with real thermal fermions, which may also be generalized to study other second-order interference phenomena with fermions.

High-order correlation of chaotic bosons and fermions

We theoretically study the high-order correlation functions of chaotic bosons and fermions. Based on the different parity of the Stirling number, the products of the first-order correlation functions are well classified and employed to represent the high-order correlation function. The correlation of bosons conduces a bunching effect, which will be enhanced as order $N$ increases. Different from bosons, the anticommutation relation of fermions leads to the parity of the Stirling number, which thereby results in a mixture of bunching and antibunching behaviors in high-order correlation. By further investigating third-order ghost diffraction and ghost imaging, the differences between the high-order correlations of bosons and fermions are discussed in detail. A larger $N$ will dramatically improve the ghost image quality for bosons, but a good strategy should be carefully chosen for the fermionic ghost imaging process due to its complex correlation components.

Yang–Mills theory and fermionic path integrals

The Yang–Mills gauge field theory, which was proposed 60 years ago, is extremely successful in describing the basic interactions of fundamental particles. The Yang–Mills theory in the course of its developments also stimulated many important field theoretical machinery. In this brief review I discuss the path integral techniques, in particular, the fermionic path integrals which were developed together with the successful applications of quantized Yang–Mills field theory. I start with the Faddeev–Popov path integral formula with emphasis on the treatment of fermionic ghosts as an application of Grassmann numbers. I then discuss the ordinary fermionic path integrals and the general treatment of quantum anomalies. The contents of this review are mostly pedagogical except for a recent analysis of path integral bosonization.

BEST statistics of Markovian fluxes: a tale of Eulerian tours and Fermionic ghosts

We provide an exact expression for the statistics of the fluxes of Markov jump processes at all times, improving on asymptotic results from large deviation theory. The main ingredient is a generalization of the BEST theorem in enumeratoric graph theory to Eulerian tours with open ends. In the long-time limit we reobtain Sanov’s theorem for Markov processes, which expresses the exponential suppression of fluctuations in terms of relative entropy. The finite-time power-law term, increasingly important with the system size, is a spanning-tree determinant that, by introducing Grassmann variables, can be absorbed into the effective Lagrangian of a Fermionic ghost field on a metric space, coupled to a gauge potential. With reference to concepts in nonequilibrium stochastic thermodynamics, the metric is related to the dynamical activity that measures net communication between states, and the connection is made to a previous gauge theory for diffusion processes.

Nonquadratic gauge fixing and ghosts for gauge theories on the hypersphere

It has been suggested that using a gauge fixing Lagrangian that is not quadratic in a gauge fixing condition is most appropriate for gauge theories formulated on a hypersphere. We reexamine the appropriate ghost action that is to be associated with gauge fixing, applying a technique that has been used for ensuring that the propagator for a massless spin-two field is transverse and traceless. It is shown that this nonquadratic gauge fixing Lagrangian leads to two pair of complex Fermionic ghosts and two Bosonic real ghosts.

DDF construction and D-brane boundary states in pure spinor formalism

Open string boundary conditions for non-BPS D-branes in type II string theories discussed in hep-th/0505157 give rise to two sectors with integer (R sector) and half-integer (NS sector) modes for the combined fermionic matter and bosonic ghost variables in pure spinor formalism. Exploiting the manifest supersymmetry of the formalism we explicitly construct the DDF (Del Giudice, Di Vecchia, Fubini) states in both the sectors which are in one-to-one correspondence with the states in light-cone Green-Schwarz formalism. We also give a proof of validity of this construction. A similar construction in the closed string sector enables us to define a physical Hilbert space in pure spinor formalism which is used to project the covariant boundary states of both the BPS and non-BPS instantonic D-branes. These projected boundary states take exactly the same form as those found in light-cone Green-Schwarz formalism and are suitable for computing the cylinder diagram with manifest open-closed duality.

Boundary States in the Open String Channel and CFT near a Corner

We generalize the idea of boundary states to the open string channel. They describe emission and absorption of open strings in the presence of intersecting D-branes. We construct the explicit oscillator representation for the free boson and fermionic ghost. The inner product of such states describes a disk amplitude of rectangular shape and possesses modular covariance with a nontrivial conformal weight. We compare the result obtained here with those obtained using two different methods, one employing the path integral formalism and one employing the conformal anomaly. We find that all these methods give consistent results. In our method, we must be careful in our treatment of the singularity of the CFT near the corners. Specifically, we derive the correction to the conformal weight of the primary field inserted at the corner, and it gives the modular weight of the rectangle amplitude. We also carry out explicit computations of the correlation functions.

Normalization anomalies in level truncation calculations

We test oscillator level truncation regularization in string field theory by calculating descent relations among vertices, or equivalently, the overlap of wedge states. We repeat the calculation using bosonic, as well as fermionic ghosts, where in the bosonic case we do the calculation both in the discrete and in the continuous basis. We also calculate analogous expressions in field level truncation. Each calculation gives a different result. We point out to the source of these differences and in the bosonic ghost case we pinpoint the origin of the difference between the discrete and continuous basis calculations. The conclusion is that level truncation regularization cannot be trusted in calculations involving normalization of singular states, such as wedge states, rank-one squeezed state projectors and string vertices.

CONFORMAL MODULI AND b-c PICTURES FOR NSR STRINGS

We explore the geometry of superconformal moduli of the NSR superstring theory in order to construct the consistent sigma-model for NSR strings, free of picture-changing complications. The sigma-model generating functional is constructed by the integration over the bosonic and fermionic moduli, corresponding to insertions of the vertex operators in scattering amplitudes. While the integration over the supermoduli leads to the standard picture-changing insertions, the integration over the bosonic moduli results in the appearance of picture-changing operators for the b-c fermionic ghosts with the ghost number -1. Important example of the b-c ghost pictures involves the vertex operators in integrated and unintegrated forms. We obtain the BRST-invariant expressions for the b-c picture-changing operators for open and closed strings and study some of their properties. We also show that the superconformal moduli spaces of the NSR theory contain the global singularities, leading to the phenomenon of ghost-matter mixing and the appearance of nonperturbative D-brane creation operators.

Fermionic ghosts in Moyal string field theory

We complete the construction of the Moyal star formulation of bosonic open string field theory (MSFT) by providing a detailed study of the fermionic ghost sector. In particular, as in the case of the matter sector, (1) we construct a map from Witten's star product to the Moyal product, (2) we propose a regularization scheme which is consistent with the matter sector and (3) as a check of the formalism, we derive the ghost Neumann coefficients algebraically directly from the Moyal product. The latter satisfy the Gross-Jevicki nonlinear relations even in the presence of the regulator, and when the regulator is removed they coincide numerically with the expression derived from conformal field theory. After this basic construction, we derive a regularized action of string field theory in the Siegel gauge and define the Feynman rules. We give explicitly the analytic expression of the off-shell four point function for tachyons, including the ghost contribution. Some of the results in this paper have already been used in our previous publications. This paper provides the technical details of the computations which were omitted there.

Massive ghost theories with a line of defects

We study free massive fermionic ghosts, in the presence of an extended line of impurities, relying on the Lagrangian formalism. We propose two distinct defect interactions, respectively, of relevant and marginal nature. The corresponding scattering theories reveal the occurrence of resonances and instabilities in the former case and the presence of poles with imaginary residues in the latter. Correlation functions of the thermal and disorder operators are computed exactly, exploiting the bulk form factors and the matrix elements relative to the defect operator. In the marginal situation, the one-point function of the disorder operator displays a critical exponent continuously varying with the interaction strength.

String amplitudes from Moyal string field theory

We illustrate a basic framework for analytic computations of Feynman graphs using the Moyal star formulation of string field theory. We present efficient methods of computation based on (a) the monoid algebra in noncommutative space and (b) the conventional Feynman rules in Fourier space. The methods apply equally well to perturbative string states or nonperturbative string states involving D-branes. The ghost sector is formulated using Moyal products with fermionic (b,c) ghosts. We also provide a short account on how the purely cubic theory and/or vaccum string field theory proposals may receive some clarification of their midpoint structures in our regularized framework.