Gauge-invariant Theory Research Articles

Theory of Higgs modes in d -wave superconductors

By applying a microscopic gauge-invariant kinetic theory in $d$-wave superconductors, we analytically derive the energy spectra of the breathing Higgs mode and, in particular, rotating Higgs mode that is unique for the $d$-wave order parameter. Analytical investigation on their dynamic properties is also revealed. We show that the breathing Higgs mode is optically visible in the second-order regime. Whereas the rotating Higgs mode is optically inactive, we show that this mode can be detected in the pseudogap phase by magnetic resonance experiment. It is interesting to find that with a longitudinal temperature gradient, the charge-neutral rotating Higgs mode generates a thermal Hall current by magnetic field in the pseudogap phase, providing a unique scheme for its detection.

Spontaneously breaking non-Abelian gauge symmetry in non-Hermitian field theories

We generalise our previous formulation of gauge-invariant PT-symmetric field theories to include models with non-Abelian symmetries and discuss the extension to such models of the Englert-Brout-Higgs-Kibble mechanism for generating masses for vector bosons. As in the Abelian case, the non-Abelian gauge fields are coupled to non-conserved currents. We present a consistent scheme for gauge fixing, demonstrating Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin invariance, and show that the particle spectrum and interactions are gauge invariant. We exhibit the masses that gauge bosons in the simplest two-doublet SU(2)xU(1) model acquire when certain scalar fields develop vacuum expectation values: they and scalar masses depend quartically on the non-Hermitian mass parameter mu. The bosonic mass spectrum differs substantially from that in a Hermitian two-doublet model. This non-Hermitian extension of the Standard Model opens a new direction for particle model building, with distinctive predictions to be explored further.

Gauge-invariant approach to the parametrized post-Newtonian formalism

We present an approach to the parametrized post-Newtonian (PPN) formalism which is based on gauge-invariant higher order perturbation theory. This approach divides the components of the metric perturbations into gauge-invariant quantities, which carry information about the physical system under consideration, and pure gauge quantities, which describe the choice of the coordinate system. This separation generally leads to a simplification of the PPN procedure, since only the gauge-invariant quantities appear in the field equations and must be determined by solving them. Another simplification arises from the fact that the gauge-invariant approach supersedes the necessity to first choose a gauge for solving the gravitational field equations and later transforming the obtained solution into the standard PPN gauge, as it is conventionally done in the PPN formalism, whose standard PPN gauge is determined only after the full solution is known. In addition to the usual metric formulation, we also present a tetrad formulation of the gauge-invariant PPN formalism. To illustrate their practical application, we demonstrate the calculation of the PPN parameters of a well-known scalar-tensor class of theories.

Correlating ε′/ε with hadronic B decays via U(2)3 flavor symmetry

There are strong similarities between charge-parity (CP) violating observables in hadronic $B$ decays (in particular $\Delta A^-_{\rm CP}$ in $B\to K\pi$) and direct CP violation in Kaon decays ($\epsilon^\prime$): All these observables are very sensitive to new physics (NP) which is at the same time CP and isospin violating (i.e. NP with complex couplings which are different for up quarks and down quarks). Intriguingly, both the measurements of $\epsilon^\prime$ and $\Delta A^-_{\rm CP}$ show deviations from their Standard Model predictions, calling for a common explanation (the latter is known as the $B\to K\pi$ puzzle). For addressing this point, we parametrize NP using a gauge invariant effective field theory approach combined with a global $U(2)^3$ flavor symmetry in the quark sector (also known as less-minimal flavour violation). We first determine the operators which can provide a common explanation of $\epsilon^\prime$ and $\Delta A^-_{\rm CP}$ and then perform a global fit of their Wilson coefficients to the data from hadronic $B$ decays. Here we also include e.g. the recently measured CP asymmetry in $B_s\to KK$ as well as the purely isospin violating decay $B_s\to\phi\rho^0$, finding a consistent NP pattern providing a very good fit to data. Furthermore, we can at the same time explain $\epsilon^\prime/\epsilon$ for natural values of the free parameters within our $U(2)^3$ flavour approach, and this symmetry gives interesting predictions for hadronic decays involving $b\to d$ transitions.

Conservation laws and stability of higher derivative extended Chern-Simons

The higher derivative field theories are notorious for the stability problems both at classical and quantum level. Classical instability is connected with unboundedness of the canonical energy, while the unbounded energy spectrum leads to the quantum instability. For a wide class of higher derivative theories, including the extended Chern-Simons, other bounded conserved quantities which provide the stability can exist. The most general gauge invariant extended Chern-Simons theory of arbitrary finite order n admits (n − 1)-parameter series of conserved energy-momentum tensors. If the 00-component of the most general representative of this series is bounded, the theory is stable. The stability condition requires from the free extended Chern-Simons theory to describe the unitary reducible representation of the Poincaré group. The unstable theory corresponds to nonunitary representation.

Gauge-invariant microscopic kinetic theory of superconductivity: Application to the optical response of Nambu-Goldstone and Higgs modes

We show that the gauge-invariant kinetic equation of superconductivity provides an efficient approach to study the electromagnetic response of the gapless Nambu-Goldstone and gapful Higgs modes on an equal footing. We prove that the Fock energy in the kinetic equation is equivalent to the generalized Ward's identity. Hence, the gauge invariance directly leads to the charge conservation. Both linear and second-order responses are investigated. The linear response of the Higgs mode vanishes in the long-wave limit. Whereas the linear response of the Nambu-Goldstone mode interacts with the long-range Coulomb interaction, causing the original gapless spectrum lifted up to the plasma frequency as a result of the Anderson-Higgs mechanism, in consistency with the previous works. The second-order response exhibits interesting physics. On one hand, a finite second-order response of the Higgs mode is obtained in the long-wave limit. We reveal that this response, which has been experimentally observed, is attributed solely to the drive effect rather than the widely considered Anderson-pump effect. On the other hand, the second-order response of the Nambu-Goldstone mode, free from the influence of the long-range Coulomb interaction and hence the Anderson-Higgs mechanism, is predicted. We find that both Anderson-pump and drive effects play important role in this response. A tentative scheme to detect this second-order response is proposed.

Non-Abelian gauge theories invariant under diffeomorphisms

We discuss diffeomorphism and gauge invariant theories in three dimensions motivated by the fact that some models of interest do not have a suitable action description yet. The construction is based on a canonical representation of symmetry generators and on building of the corresponding canonical action. We obtain a class of theories whose number of local degrees of freedom depends on the dimension of the gauge group and the number of the independent constraints. By choosing the latter, we focus on three special cases, starting with a theory with maximal local number of degrees of freedom and finishing with a theory with zero degrees of freedom (Chern-Simons).

Computing one-loop corrections to effective vertices with two scales in the EFT for Multi-Regge processes in QCD

The computation of one-loop corrections to Reggeon-Particle-Particle effective vertices with two scales of virtuality is considered in the framework of gauge-invariant effective field theory for Multi-Regge processes in QCD. Rapidity divergences arising in loop integrals are regulated by “tilted Wilson lines” prescription. General analysis of rapidity divergences at one loop is given and necessary scalar integrals with one and two scales of virtuality are computed. Two examples of effective vertices at one loop are considered: the effective vertex of interaction of (space-like) virtual photon with one Reggeized and one Yang-Mills quark and the effective vertex of Reggeized gluon to Yang-Mills gluon transition with an insertion of the operator tr[GμνGμν] carrying the (space-like) off-shell momentum. All terms ∼r±ϵ in the rapidity-regulator variable r cancel between diagrams and only log⁡r-divergence is left. It is checked on several examples, that obtained results indeed allow one to reproduce Regge limit of one-loop QCD scattering amplitudes.

Explaining Defects of the Universal Vacua with Black Holes-Hedgehogs and Strings

Assuming the Multiple Point Principle (MPP) as a new law of Nature, we considered the existence of the two degenerate vacua of the Universe: (a) the first Electroweak (EW) vacuum at v 1 ≈ 246 GeV—“true vacuum”, and (b) the second Planck scale “false vacuum” at v 2 ∼ 10 18 GeV. In these vacua, we investigated different topological defects. The main aim of the paper is an investigation of the black-hole-hedgehogs configurations as defects of the false vacuum. In the framework of the f ( R ) gravity, described by the Gravi-Weak unification model, we considered a black-hole solution, which corresponds to a “hedgehog”—global monopole, that has been “swallowed” by the black-hole with mass core M B H ∼ 10 18 GeV and radius δ ∼ 10 − 21 GeV − 1 . Considering the results of the hedgehog lattice theory in the framework of the S U ( 2 ) Yang-Mills gauge-invariant theory with hedgehogs in the Wilson loops, we have used the critical value of temperature for the hedgehogs’ confinement phase ( T c ∼ 10 18 GeV). This result gave us the possibility to conclude that the SM shows a new physics (with contributions of the S U ( 2 ) -triplet Higgs bosons) at the scale ∼10 TeV. This theory predicts the stability of the EW-vacuum and the accuracy of the MPP.

Signatures of the bonding-antibonding splitting in the c -axis infrared response of moderately underdoped bilayer and trilayer cuprate superconductors

We report on results of our analysis of the c-axis infrared conductivity,sigma(c )(omega), of bilayer LnBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) (Ln=La, Nd, Y) and trilayer Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+delta high-T-c superconductors. The analysis employs the multilayer model involving the conductivity of the bilayer or trilayer unit, sigma(bl) (omega), and that of the spacing layers separating the latter units, sigma(int) (omega). For the YBa2Cu3O7-delta sample with concentration of holes p = 0.09, our fitting of the data strongly suggests that at low temperatures, the conductivity sigma(bl)(omega) possesses a pronounced and narrow Drude peak. For samples with p >= 0.115 however, the fitting indicates that sigma(bl)(omega) is, at low temperatures, dominated by a mode at a finite energy in the range from 30 to 60 meV. The properties of this resonance are in accord with those of a collective mode that appears in the spectra of sigma(bl)(omega) calculated using a microscopic gauge-invariant theory of sigma(c)(omega) by J. Chaloupka and coworkers [Phys. Rev. B 79, 184513 (2009)]. The frequency and spectral weight of the latter mode are determined by the magnitude of the splitting between the bonding and the antibonding band of the bilayer or trilayer unit. Our results, in conjunction with the microscopic theory, thus demonstrate that in moderately underdoped bilayer and trilayer high-T-c cuprates the bilayer (or trilayer) splitting is already developed. The observed doping dependence is consistent with results from angular resolved photoemission spectroscopy.

Wigner equation for general electromagnetic fields: The Weyl-Stratonovich transform

Gauge-invariant Wigner theories are formulated in terms of the kinetic momentum, which---being a physical quantity---is conserved after a change of the gauge. These theories rely on a transform of the density matrix, originally introduced by Stratonovich, which generalizes the Weyl transform by involving the vector potential. We thus present an alternative derivation of the Weyl-Stratonovich transform, which bridges the concepts and notions used by the different, available gauge-invariant approaches and thus links physically intuitive with formal mathematical viewpoints. Furthermore, an explicit form of the Wigner equation, suitable for numerical analysis and corresponding to general, inhomogeneous, and time-dependent electromagnetic conditions, is obtained. For a constant magnetic field, the equation reduces to two models: in the case of a constant electric field, this is the ballistic Boltzmann equation, where classical particles are driven by local forces. The second model, derived for general electrostatic conditions, involves novel physics, where the magnetic field acts locally via the Liouville operator, while the electrostatics is determined by the manifestly nonlocal Wigner potential. A significant consequence of our work is the fact that now the constant magnetic field case can be treated with existing numerical approaches developed for the standard, scalar potential Wigner theory. Therefore, in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, a stochastic method is applied to simulate a physically intuitive evolution problem.

Chiralspin Symmetry and Its Implications for QCD

In a local gauge-invariant theory with massless Dirac fermions, a symmetry of the Lorentz-invariant fermion charge is larger than a symmetry of the Lagrangian as a whole. While the Dirac Lagrangian exhibits only a chiral symmetry, the fermion charge operator is invariant under a larger symmetry group, S U ( 2 N F ) , that includes chiral transformations as well as S U ( 2 ) C S chiralspin transformations that mix the right- and left-handed components of fermions. Consequently, a symmetry of the electric interaction, which is driven by the charge density, is larger than a symmetry of the magnetic interaction and of the kinetic term. This allows separating in some situations electric and magnetic contributions. In particular, in QCD, the chromo-magnetic interaction contributes only to the near-zero modes of the Dirac operator, while confining chromo-electric interaction contributes to all modes. At high temperatures, above the chiral restoration crossover, QCD exhibits approximate S U ( 2 ) C S and S U ( 2 N F ) symmetries that are incompatible with free deconfined quarks. Consequently, elementary objects in QCD in this regime are quarks with a definite chirality bound by the chromo-electric field, without the chromo-magnetic effects. In this regime, QCD can be described as a stringy fluid.

Second order gauge invariant perturbation theory and conserved charges in cosmological Einstein gravity

Recently a new approach in constructing the conserved charges in cosmological Einstein gravity was given. In this new formulation, instead of using the explicit form of the field equations, a covariantly conserved rank-four tensor was used. In the resulting charge expression, instead of the first derivative of the metric perturbation, the linearized Riemann tensor appears along with the derivative of the background Killing vector fields. Here we give a detailed analysis of the first-order and the second-order perturbation theory in a gauge-invariant form in cosmological Einstein gravity. The linearized Einstein tensor is gauge-invariant at the first order but it is not so at the second order, which complicates the discussion. This method depends on the assumption that the first-order metric perturbation can be decomposed into gauge-variant and gauge-invariant parts and the gauge-variant parts do not contribute to physical quantities.

Remarks on the Chern-Simons photon term in the QED description of graphene

We revisit the Coleman-Hill theorem in the context of reduced planar QED. Using the global U(1) Ward identity for this non-local but still gauge invariant theory, we can confirm that the topological piece of the photon self-energy at zero momentum does not receive further quantum corrections apart from the potential one-loop contribution, even when considering the Lorentz non-invariant case due to the Fermi velocity $v_F<c$. This is of relevance to probe possible time parity odd dynamics in a planar sheet of graphene which has an effective description in terms of $(2+1)$-dimensional planar reduced QED.

Gauge-invariant microscopic kinetic theory of superconductivity in response to electromagnetic fields

Within a gauge-invariant microscopic kinetic theory, we study the electromagnetic response in the superconducting states. Both superfluid and normal-fluid dynamics are involved. We predict that the normal fluid is present only when the excited superconducting velocity $v_s$ is larger than a threshold $v_L=|\Delta|/k_F$. Interestingly, with the normal fluid, we find that there exists friction between the normal-fluid and superfluid currents. Due to this friction, part of the superfluid becomes viscous. Therefore, a three-fluid model: normal fluid, non-viscous and viscous superfluids, is proposed. For the stationary magnetic response, at $v_s<v_L$ with only the non-viscous superfluid, the Meissner supercurrent is excited and the gap equation can reduce to Ginzburg-Landau equation. At $v_s{\ge}v_L$, with the normal fluid, non-viscous and viscous superfluids, in addition to the directly excited Meissner supercurrent in the superfluid, normal-fluid current is also induced through the friction drag with the viscous superfluid current. Due to the normal-fluid and viscous superfluid currents, the penetration depth is influenced by the scattering effect. In addition, a modified Ginzburg-Landau equation is proposed. We predict an exotic phase in which both the resistivity and superconducting gap are {\em finite}. As for the optical response, the excited ${v_s}$ oscillates with time. When $v_s<v_L$, only the non-viscous superfluid is present whereas at $v_s{\ge}v_L$, normal fluid, non-viscous and viscous superfluids are present. We show that the excited normal-fluid current exhibits the Drude-model behavior while the superfluid current consists of the Meissner supercurrent and Bogoliubov quasiparticle current. Due to the friction between the superfluid and normal-fluid currents, the optical conductivity is captured by the three-fluid model. ......

Gauge invariant canonical cosmological perturbation theory with geometrical clocks in extended phase-space — A review and applications

The theory of cosmological perturbations is a well-elaborated field and has been successfully applied, e.g. to model the structure formation in our universe and the prediction of the power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background. To deal with the diffeomorphism invariance of general relativity, one generally introduces combinations of the metric and matter perturbations, which are gauge invariant up to the considered order in the perturbations. For linear cosmological perturbations, one works with the so-called Bardeen potentials widely used in this context. However, there exists no common procedure to construct gauge invariant quantities also for higher-order perturbations. Usually, one has to find new gauge invariant quantities independently for each order in perturbation theory. With the relational formalism introduced by Rovelli and further developed by Dittrich and Thiemann, it is in principle possible to calculate manifestly gauge invariant quantities, that is quantities that are gauge invariant up to arbitrary order once one has chosen a set of so-called reference fields, often also called clock fields. This article contains a review of the relational formalism and its application to canonical general relativity following the work of Garcia, Pons, Sundermeyer and Salisbury. As the starting point for our application of this formalism to cosmological perturbation theory, we also review the Hamiltonian formulation of the linearized theory for perturbations around FLRW spacetimes. The main aim of our work will be to identify clock fields in the context of the relational formalism that can be used to reconstruct quantities like the Bardeen potential as well as the Mukhanov–Sasaki variable. This requires a careful analysis of the canonical formulation in the extended ADM-phase-space where lapse and shift are treated as dynamical variables. The actual construction of such observables and further investigations thereof will be carried out in our companion paper.

Construction and applications of the manifestly gauge invariant expressions of the solutions of the cosmological perturbation theory

After giving how to construct the gauge invariant perturbation variable in an arbitrarily high order and in the arbitrary background spacetime, we consider the manifestly gauge invariant theory of the cosmological perturbations in the long wavelength limit with the spatially flat homogeneous isotropic universe being the background spacetime. In the previous paper, the physical laws, such as the evolution equations, the constraint equations and the junction conditions become manifestly gauge invariant, by writing them in terms of only the single time background/scalar like objects defined by our previous paper. In the present paper, by extending our definition of the background/scalar like objects from the single time case to the many time case and by writing the solution of the physical law in the form where many time background/scalar like objects are vanishing, the solutions become the manifestly gauge invariant. We derive the formula changing the bases of the many time background/scalar like objects by which we can change the time slices for many times appearing in the solution including the initial time and the final time. We use this formula to our treatment of the evolution of the several slow rolling scalar fields using the τ function introduced by our previous paper. In the manifestly gauge invariant manner, we discuss the solution of the many step reheating, that is, the reheating with the arbitrarily many energy transfer steps. Using the energy density ρ as the evolution parameter, we discuss how well the junction model in which the energy transfers from the oscillatory scalar field fluid to the radiation fluid are described by the metric junctions approximates the reheating process described by the differential equations with the decay terms. By using the useful parametrization of the many step reheating, we manifestly prove that in the many step reheating system where any initial perturbation of each component does not become extremely large compared with the initial perturbations of the other components, compared with the effects of the prominent fluctuation generation processes the nearest to the present time the effects of all the fluctuations generated by the previous fluctuation generation processes become negligibly small. Therefore it can be concluded that in order to know the first/second order Bardeen parameters at the present time it is sufficient to calculate only the effects of the fluctuation of the scalar field fluid which becomes energetically dominant lastly (the curvaton mechanism) and the fluctuation of the decay parameter by which this scalar field fluid decays into the radiation (the modulated reheating mechanism).

Mass gap in the weak coupling limit of ( 2+1 )-dimensional SU(2) lattice gauge theory

We develop the dual description of ($2+1$)-dimensional SU(2) lattice gauge theory as interacting ``Abelian-like'' electric loops by using Schwinger bosons. ``Point splitting'' of the lattice enables us to construct explicit Hilbert space for the gauge invariant theory which in turn makes dynamics more transparent. Using path integral representation in phase space, the interacting closed loop dynamics is analyzed in the weak coupling limit to get the mass gap.

Shear Viscosity of Uniform Fermi Gases with Population Imbalance

The shear viscosity has been an important topic in ultracold Fermi gases, and it has served as a diagnostic of various theories. Due to the complicated phase structures of population-imbalanced (polarized) Fermi gases with tunable attraction, past works on the shear viscosity mainly focused on unpolarized Fermi gases. Here we investigate the shear viscosity of homogeneous, population-imbalanced Fermi superfluid at finite temperatures by a pairing fluctuation theory for thermodynamical quantities and a gauge-invariant linear response theory for transport coefficients. The Cooper pairs lead to the anomalous shear viscosity analogous to the shear viscosity. We derive an exact relation connecting certain thermodynamic quantities and transport coefficients at the mean-field level for polarized unitary Fermi superfluids. An approximate relation beyond mean-field is proposed and only exhibits mild deviations from our numerical results. In the unitary and Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) regimes, the total shear viscosity increases with the polarization because the excess majority fermions cause gapless excitations acting like a normal fluid. Moreover, competition among the excess fermions, noncondensed pairs, and fermionic quasiparticles may lead to non-monotonic behavior of the ratio between the shear viscosity and relaxation time as the polarization increases.

DRGT theory of massive gravity from spontaneous symmetry breaking

In this note we propose a topological action for a Poincare times diffeomorphism invariant gauge theory. We show that there is Higgs phase where the gauge symmetry is spontaneous broken to a diagonal Lorentz subgroup and gives the Einstein–Hilbert action plus the dRGT potential terms. In this vacuum, there are five (three from Goldstone modes) propagating degrees of freedom which form polarizations of a massive spin 2 particle, an extra healthy heavy scalar (Higgs) mode and no Boulware–Deser ghost mode. We further show that the action can be derived in a limit from a topological de Sitter invariant gauge theory in 4 dimensions.