Lorentz-invariant Theory Research Articles

Universal entanglement spectra of gapped one-dimensional field theories

We discuss the entanglement spectrum of the ground state of a gapped (1+1)-dimensional system in a phase near a quantum phase transition. In particular, in proximity to a quantum phase transition described by a conformal field theory (CFT), the system is represented by a gapped Lorentz invariant field theory in the "scaling limit" (correlation length $\xi$ much larger than microscopic 'lattice' scale $a$), and can be thought of as a CFT perturbed by a relevant perturbation. We show that for such (1+1) gapped Lorentz invariant field theories in infinite space, the low-lying entanglement spectrum obtained by tracing out, say, left half-infinite space, is precisely equal to the physical spectrum of the unperturbed gapless, i.e. conformal field theory defined on a finite interval of length $L_\xi=$ $\log(\xi/a)$ with certain boundary conditions. In particular, the low-lying entanglement spectrum of the gapped theory is the finite-size spectrum of a boundary conformal field theory, and is always discrete and universal. Each relevant perturbation, and thus each gapped phase in proximity to the quantum phase transition, maps into a particular boundary condition. A similar property has been known to hold for Baxter's Corner Transfer Matrices in a very special class of fine-tuned, namely integrable off-critical lattice models, for the entire entanglement spectrum and independent of the scaling limit. In contrast, our result applies to completely general gapped Lorentz invariant theories in the scaling limit, without the requirement of integrability, for the low-lying entanglement spectrum. - The finite-size spectra of the entanglement Hamiltonian and of the physical Hamiltonian on an interval of length R exhibit entirely different behaviors upon crossover from the critical regime $R \ll \xi$ to the gapped regime $R \gg \xi$.

The effective gravitation theory at large scale with Lorentz violation

The Doopler effect of CMB (cosmic microwave background) may indicates the Lorentz boost violation at the cosmological scale. It is revealed that there are some anomalies in the low-l multipole expansion of the CMB spectrum in the obeservation of Planck, which are not consistent with LCDM model, the standard model of cosmology. A famous one is the existence of the axis of evil. Combining the the anomalies exhibited by the low-l multipole expansion of the CMB observation, we propose that the Lorentz symmetry may start to be violated partly from the scale of galaxy and the boost invariance is violated eventrully at the cosmological scale. We take the symmetry groups of very special relativity as the examples to illustrate the Lorentz violation effect on the large scale gravity by constructing the corresponding gauge theories as the effective large scale gravitation theories. The estimated symmetry groups for very special relativity are Sim(2), Hom(2) and E(2) which are all constructed by adding generators to the T(2) group, a 2-parameter subgroup of Lorentz group. We first review the gauge principle approach to the construction of gravitation theory based on the equivalence principle which indicates the local Lorentz invariance. The choice of dynamics of the spacetime gauge theory based on the gauge principle and the Newtonian limit at the weak coupling limit reveals that the local Lorentz invariant theory is a theory with torsion in general case. However in the case of scalar matter source, the theory is exactly the theory of general relativity with Leci-Civita connection and zero torsion. We investigate the gauge approaches for all the very special relativity cases, Sim(2), Hom(2) and E(2) as well as the case of T(2). We find that these gravitation theories share a common feather, the non-trivial distribution of space-time torsion and the contortion, which contribute an effective enegy momentum dirtribution addition to the ordinary matter souce distribution even for the case of scalar matter source, while general relativity predicts the zero torsion and contortion and space-time connection as the Levi-Civita connection in this case. To restrict the theory with a local Lorentz subgroup, one need to postpone constrain conditions on the Lorentz gauge potentials which is similar to the gauge fixing condition in the ordinary internal gauge theory. In the Sim(2) case, there needs 8 constrain conditions. The equations of motion for the gauge fields finally reduce the independent Kontortion components from 24 to 8, which is consistent with the 8 constrain equations in addition to the equation of motion for the gravitation field. The numbers of independent Kontortion components is 12 for the cases of Hom(2) and E(2) and 16 for the case of T(2), while there are 12 and 16 constrain equations in addition to the gravitation field equations respectively. The non-zero distribution of contortion may be regarded as the dark matter effect in the static case at the galaxy or the galaxy cluster scale and both the dark matter and dark energy effect in the case of expanding Robertron-Walker like solution at the cosmoligical sacle. We investigate the self consistence of the gauge theories in the Sim(2) case by examining the closure of Maurer-Cartan equation within the Sim(2) algebra and the first and second Bianchi identities induced by Jacobi identity of the Sim(2) gauge theory.

E(2) gauge theory model of effective gravitational theory at large scale

At the cosmological scale, there exist many anisotropic anomalies in the low-l multipoles of the CMB angular power spectrum. Especially, the normals to the octopole and quadrupole planes are aligned with the direction of the cosmological dipole at a level inconsistent with Gaussian random. The inconsistency indicates that the anomalies may not be boost effect from the CMB rest frame to the peculiar frame. It hints us that the boost invariance might be violated on a cosmological scale. There are some discrepancies between the astronomical and cosmological observations, and the predictions are solely based on general relativity and the standard model for elementary particle physics. The solutions are the introduction of dark matter and dark energy. However, all the experiments aiming at finding dark matter particles give negative result and it is still a mystery:what the dark energy is comprised of. We suppose that the Lorentz symmetry begins to be violated partly from the scale of galaxy and utilize the very special relativity symmetry group E(2) as an example to illustrate the Lorentz violation effect on the large-scale effective gravity. A local E(2) but Lorentz invariant gauge theory can be constructed based on the equivalence principle and the gauge principle. To realize the E(2) symmetry, the closure requirement of Maurer-Cartan eqnarray on E(2) algebra needs to be satisfied by postulating constraint conditions among the components of the Lorentz connection. The local Lorentz invariant gauge theory with a Hilbert-Einstein action is a theory with torsion in general case. However in the case of scalar matter source, the theory is exactly the theory of general relativity with Levi-Civita connection and zero torsion. In the E(2) gauge theory case, the closure requirement of Maurer-Cartan eqnarray for E(2) algebra postulates 12 constraint eqnarrays among the components of the Lorentz connection and the eqnarrays of motion for connection reduce the number of independent components of connection to 12. The eqnarrays of motion for the tetrad field do not contain only the involved tetrad field components nor these relevant independent components. So the whole number of variables needed to be solved is 12 more than that in general relativity while there are 12 more eqnarrays in the meantime. The torsion or the contortion field of the E(2) gauge theory is non-trivial even in the case of scalar matter source distribution. Decompose the connection into Levi-Civita one and the contortion part and rewrite the eqnarrays for tetrad field in the formalism of general relativity, then there will appear an effective energy-momentum tensor contributed by the contortion distribution, in addition to the ordinary matter source distribution even for the case of scalar matter source. We expect it to contribute at least part of the dark matter effect. We also examine the holding of the first and second Bianchi identities induced by Jacobi identity of the E(2) gauge theory. The approach of our modified gravity is different from other approach of modified gravity in the sense that we construct the modified gravity by modifying the spacetime symmetry on a large scale and the emergence of effective energy-momentum tensor caused by Lorentz violation effect is due to a purely large scale effect.

Why the Road to Unification Likely Goes through Krogdahl’s Relativity

Deriving an acceptable quantum field theory of gravitation from general relativity has eluded some of the best scientific thinkers. It is gradually becoming more apparent that general relativity’s classical assumptions are simply incompatible with quantum mechanics. For instance, simultaneous certainty of the location and momentum of any moving body, regardless of size, is a fundamental feature of general relativity. And yet, special relativity and quantum mechanics (thru Heisenberg’s uncertainty) reject the very notion of simultaneity. Since special relativity is already fully integrated into quantum field theory concerning the other forces of nature, were it possible to remove the confounding smoothly curved space-time fabric of general relativity and replace it in the form of a new and improved Lorentz-invariant (flat space-time) gravitational theory, final unification might well be achievable. This brief review paper further informs the reader as to why Krogdahl’s recent Lorentz-invariant relativity model of gravitation improves on general relativity, thus providing a deeper understanding of black holes, the cosmological flatness problem and dark energy. Most importantly, since the smoothly curved space-time of general relativity may well have been the road block to unification, Krogdahl’s flat space-time model is predicted to lead to an acceptable quantum theory of gravitation (i.e., “quantum gravity”) and unification (i.e., a so-called “theory of everything”).

Role of matter in extended quasidilaton massive gravity

The extended quasidilaton theory is one of the simplest Lorentz-invariant massive gravity theories which can accommodate a stable self-accelerating vacuum solution. In this paper we revisit this theory and study the effect of matter fields. For a matter sector that couples minimally to the physical metric, we find hints of a Jeans type instability in the IR. In the analogue k-essence field set-up, this instability manifests itself as an IR ghost for the scalar field perturbation, but this can be interpreted as a classical instability that becomes relevant below some momentum scale in terms of matter density perturbations. We also consider the effect of the background evolution influenced by matter on the stability of the gravity sector perturbations. In particular, we address the previous claims of ghost instability in the IR around the late time attractor. We show that, although the matter-induced modification of the evolution potentially brings tension to the stability conditions, one goes beyond the regime of validity of the effective theory well before the solutions become unstable. We also draw attention to the fact that the IR stability conditions are also enforced by the existence requirements of consistent background solutions.

On the emergent dynamics of fermions in curved spacetime

Relativistic spin-(1/2) particles in curved spacetime are naturally described by Dirac theory, which is a dynamical and Lorentz-invariant field theory. In this work, we propose a non-dynamical fermion theory in 3+1 dimensions dubbed spinor topological field theory, built in terms of a spinor field and a Cartan connection related to de Sitter group. We show that our model gives rise to the Dirac theory in curved spacetime when the local de Sitter gauge invariance of the model breaks down to the Lorentz gauge invariance, providing also a geometric origin to the fermion mass. Finally, we show that other gauge fields and suitable four-fermion interactions can be included in a straightforward way.

RG flow and thermodynamics of causal horizons in higher-derivative AdS gravity

In arXiv:1508.01343 [hep-th], one of the authors proposed that in AdS/CFT the gravity dual of the boundary $c$-theorem is the second law of thermodynamics satisfied by causal horizons in AdS and this was verified for Einstein gravity in the bulk. In this paper we verify this for higher derivative theories. We pick up theories for which an entropy expression satisfying the second law exists and show that the entropy density evaluated on the causal horizon in a RG flow geometry is a holographic c-function. We also prove that given a theory of gravity described by a local covariant action in the bulk a sufficient condition to ensure holographic c-theorem is that the second law of causal horizon thermodynamics be satisfied by the theory. This allows us to explicitly construct holographic c-function in a theory where there is curvature coupling between gravity and matter and standard null energy condition cannot be defined although second law is known to hold. Based on the duality between c-theorem and the second law of causal horizon thermodynamics proposed in arXiv:1508.01343 [hep-th] and the supporting calculations of this paper we conjecture that every Unitary higher derivative theory of gravity in AdS satisfies the second law of causal horizon thermodynamics. If this is not true then c-theorem will be violated in a unitary Lorentz invariant field theory.

Conditions for Lorentz-invariant superluminal information transfer without signaling

We understand emergent quantum mechanics in the sense that quantum mechanics describes processes of physical emergence relating an assumed sub-quantum physics to macroscopic boundary conditions. The latter can be shown to entail top-down causation, in addition to usual bottom-up scenarios. With this example it is demonstrated that definitions of “realism” in the literature are simply too restrictive. A prevailing manner to define realism in quantum mechanics is in terms of pre-determination independent of the measurement. With our counter-example, which actually is ubiquitous in emergent, or self-organizing, systems, we argue for realism without pre-determination. We refer to earlier results of our group showing how the guiding equation of the de Broglie-Bohm interpretation can be derived from a theory with classical ingredients only. Essentially, this corresponds to a “quantum mechanics without wave functions” in ordinary 3-space, albeit with nonlocal correlations.This, then, leads to the central question of how to deal with the nonlocality problem in a relativistic setting. We here show that a basic argument discussing the allegedly paradox time ordering of events in EPR-type two-particle experiments falls short of taking into account the contextuality of the experimental setup. Consequently, we then discuss under which circumstances (i.e. physical premises) superluminal information transfer (but not signaling) may be compatible with a Lorentz-invariant theory. Finally, we argue that the impossibility of superluminal signaling - despite the presence of superluminal information transfer - is not the result of some sort of conspiracy (á la “Nature likes to hide”), but the consequence of the impossibility to exactly reproduce in repeated experimental runs a state's preparation, or of the no-cloning theorem, respectively.

Scale invariance, conformality, and generalized free fields

This paper addresses the question of whether there are 4D Lorentz invariant unitary quantum field theories with scale invariance but not conformal invariance. An important loophole in the arguments of Luty-Polchinski-Rattazzi and Dymarsky-Komargodski-Schwimmer-Theisen is that trace of the energy-momentum tensor T could be a generalized free field. In this paper we rule out this possibility. The key ingredient is the observation that a unitary theory with scale but not conformal invariance necessarily has a non-vanishing anomaly for global scale transformations. We show that this anomaly cannot be reproduced if T is a generalized free field unless the theory also contains a dimension-2 scalar operator. In the special case where such an operator is present it can be used to redefine (“improve”) the energy-momentum tensor, and we show that there is at least one energy-momentum tensor that is not a generalized free field. In addition, we emphasize that, in general, large momentum limits of correlation functions cannot be understood from the leading terms of the coordinate space OPE. This invalidates a recent argument by Farnsworth-Luty-Prilepina (FLP). Despite the invalidity of the general argument of FLP, some of the techniques turn out to be useful in the present context.

Expansion Potentials for Exact Far-from-Equilibrium Spreading of Particles and Energy.

The rates at which energy and particle densities move to equalize arbitrarily large temperature and chemical potential differences in an isolated quantum system have an emergent thermodynamical description whenever the energy or particle current commutes with the Hamiltonian. Concrete examples include the energy current in the 1D spinless fermion model with nearest-neighbor interactions (XXZ spin chain), the energy current in Lorentz-invariant theories or the particle current in interacting Bose gases in arbitrary dimension. Even far from equilibrium, these rates are controlled by state functions, which we call "expansion potentials," expressed as integrals of equilibrium Drude weights. This relation between nonequilibrium quantities and linear response implies nonequilibrium Maxwell relations for the Drude weights. We verify our results via density-matrix renormalization group calculations for the XXZ chain.

Chern–Simons theory in SIM(1) superspace

In this paper, we will analyse a three dimensional supersymmetric Chern-Simons theory in SIM(1) superspace formalism. The breaking of the Lorentz symmetry down to the SIM(1) symmetry, breaks half the supersymmetry of the Lorentz invariant theory. So, the supersymmetry of the Lorentz invariant Chern-Simons theory with N=1 supersymmetry will break down to N=1/2 supersymmetry, when the Lorentz symmetry is broken down to the SIM(1) symmetry. First, we will write the Chern-Simons action using SIM(1) projections of N=1 superfields. However, as the SIM(1) transformations of these projections are very complicated, we will define SIM(1) superfields which transform simply under SIM(1) transformations. We will then express the Chern-Simons action using these SIM(1) superfields. Furthermore, we will analyse the gauge symmetry of this Chern-Simons theory. This is the first time that a Chern-Simons theory with N=1/2 supersymmetry will be constructed on a manifold without a boundary.

Spinning squashed extra dimensions and chiral gauge theory from [formula omitted] SYM

New solutions of SU(N) N=4 SYM on R4 interpreted as spinning self-intersecting extra dimensions are discussed. Remarkably, these backgrounds lead to a low-energy sector with 3 generations of chiral fermions coupled to scalar and gauge fields, with standard Lorentz-invariant kinematics. This sector arises from zero modes localized on the rotation axes, which are oblivious to the background rotation. The remaining modes are not described by a Lorentz-invariant field theory and are mostly “heavy”, but there is one sextet of tachyonic excitations. Assuming that the latter get stabilized, e.g. by quantum effects, we argue that different rotation frequencies would induce a VEV for some of the low-energy scalar fields. We discuss configurations which may lead to a low-energy physics not far from the broken phase of the standard model.

Asymptotically free lattice gauge theory in five dimensions

A lattice formulation of Lifshitz-type gauge theories is presented. While the Lorentz-invariant Yang-Mills theory is not renormalizable in five dimensions, non-Abelian Lifshitz-type gauge theories are renormalizable and asymptotically free. We construct a lattice gauge action and numerically examine the continuum limit and the bulk phase structure.

Nature and Raman signatures of the Higgs amplitude mode in the coexisting superconducting and charge-density-wave state

We investigate the behavior of the Higgs (amplitude) mode when superconductivity emerges on a preexisting charge-density-wave state. We show that the weak overdamped square-root singularity of the amplitude fluctuations in a standard BCS superconductor is converted in a sharp, undamped power-law divergence in the coexisting state, reminiscent of the Higgs behavior in Lorentz-invariant theories. This effect reflects in a strong superconducting resonance in the Raman spectra, both for an electronic and a phononic mechanism leading to the Raman visibility of the Higgs. In the latter case, our results are relevant to the interpretation of the Raman spectra measured experimentally in NbSe2.

Lorentz invariance in chiral kinetic theory.

We show that Lorentz invariance is realized nontrivially in the classical action of a massless spin-1/2 particle with definite helicity. We find that the ordinary Lorentz transformation is modified by a shift orthogonal to the boost vector and the particle momentum. The shift ensures angular momentum conservation in particle collisions and implies a nonlocality of the collision term in the Lorentz-invariant kinetic theory due to side jumps. We show that 2/3 of the chiral-vortical effect for a uniformly rotating particle distribution can be attributed to the magnetic moment coupling required by the Lorentz invariance. We also show how the classical action can be obtained by taking the classical limit of the path integral for a Weyl particle.

Entanglement does not generally decrease under renormalization

Renormalization is often described as the removal or ‘integrating out’ of high energy degrees of freedom. In the context of quantum matter, one might suspect that quantum entanglement provides a sharp way to characterize such a loss of degrees of freedom. Indeed, for quantum many-body systems with Lorentz invariance, such entanglement monotones have been proven to exist in one, two, and three spatial dimensions. In each dimension d, a certain term in the entanglement entropy of a d-ball decreases along renormalization group (RG) flows. Given that most quantum many-body systems available in the laboratory are not Lorentz invariant, it is important to generalize these results if possible. In this work we demonstrate the impossibility of a wide variety of such generalizations. We do this by exhibiting a series of counterexamples with understood renormalization group flows which violate entanglement RG monotonicity. We discuss bosons at finite density, fermions at finite density, and majorization in Lorentz invariant theories, among other results.

Renormalization of a Lorentz invariant doubled worldsheet theory

Manifestly T-duality covariant worldsheet string models can be constructed by doubling the coordinate fields. We describe the underlying gauge symmetry of a recently proposed Lorentz invariant doubled worldsheet theory that makes half of the worldsheet degrees of freedom redundant. By shifting the Lagrange multiplier, that enforces the gauge fixing condition, the worldsheet action can be cast into various guises. We investigate the renormalization of this theory using a non-linear background/quantum split by employing a normal coordinate expansion adapted to the gauge-fixed theory. The propagator of the doubled coordinates contains a projection operator encoding that half of them do not propagate. We determine the doubled target space equations of motion by requiring one-loop Weyl invariance. Some of them are generalizations of the conventional sigma model beta-functions, while others seem to be novel to the doubled theory: in particular, a dilaton equation seems related to the strong constraint of double field theory. However, the other target space field equations are not identical to those of double field theory.

Generalized Galileon duality

We generalize the Galileon duality to any single scalar field Lagrangian coupled locally to any matter field. Under the duality, a generalized Galileon maps into another generalized Galileon via a one-parameter group of transformations, with only a simple modification of the Lagrangian functions. We find a special class of generalized Galileons for which the duality is a symmetry of the action. We further extend the duality to the case of vector fields and give the dual formulations of the Maxwell and Proca theories. We include arbitrary local couplings to matter fields and show that the duality always maps a local interacting theory into a local interacting theory. We also discuss the coupling to gravity and uncover a new class of Lorentz-invariant massive theories which map into themselves under the duality. Finally, we show that the duality can be used to map solutions of a theory with superluminal (luminal) group velocity into one with luminal (subluminal) group velocity. We find that the duality nevertheless preserves the classical causal structure and emphasize the need to include the quantum corrections to ascertain relativistic causality.

Emergent time and the M5-brane

We consider the maximal super-Yang-Mills theory in 5 Euclidean dimensions with SO(5) R-symmetry and 16 supersymmetries. We argue that the strong coupling limit of this theory (with a possible UV completion) has an emergent time dimension and gives a description of the 5+1 dimensional Lorentz invariant (2,0) theory of the M5-brane, compactified on a timelike circle with radius R=g^2/4\pi^2 . Our discussion involves issues of quantization of Euclidean theories without time.

Lorentz violation and higher derivative gravity

In this work, we analyze a gravity model with higher derivatives including a $CPT$-even Lorentz-violating term. In principle, the model could be a low-energy limit of a Lorentz-invariant theory presenting the violation of Lorentz symmetry as a consequence of a spontaneous symmetry-breaking mechanism if a decoupling between the metric and the Nambu-Goldstone modes is assumed. We have set up a convenient operator basis for the expansion of wave operators for symmetric second-rank tensors in the presence of a background vector. By using this set of operators, the particle content is obtained, and its consistency, regarding the conditions for stability and unitarity, is discussed. We conclude that this extra Lorentz noninvariant contribution is unable to address the problems of stability and unitarity of higher-derivative gravity models.