Unitary Field Theory Research Articles

From loops to trees by-passing Feynman's theorem

We derive a duality relation between one-loop integrals and phase-space integrals emerging from them through single cuts. The duality relation is realized by a modification of the customary + i0 prescription of the Feynman propagators. The new prescription regularizing the propagators, which we write in a Lorentz covariant form, compensates for the absence of multiple cut contributions that appear in the Feynman Tree Theorem. The duality relation can be applied to generic one-loop quantities in any relativistic, local and unitary field theories. It is suitable for applications to the analytical calculation of one-loop scattering amplitudes, and to the numerical evaluation of cross-sections at next-to-leading order.

AN EQUIVALENCE OF TWO MASS GENERATION MECHANISMS FOR GAUGE FIELDS

Two mass generation mechanisms for gauge theories are studied. It is proved that in the Abelian case the topological mass generation mechanism introduced in Refs. 4, 12 and 15 is equivalent to the mass generation mechanism defined in Refs. 5 and 20 with the help of "localization" of a nonlocal gauge invariant action. In the non-Abelian case the former mechanism is known to generate a unitary renormalizable quantum field theory, describing a massive vector field.

Cosmological unparticle correlators

We introduce and study an extension of the correlator of unparticle matter operators in a cosmological environment. Starting from FRW spaces we specialize to a de Sitter space–time and derive its inflationary power spectrum which we find to be almost flat. We finally investigate some consequences of requiring the existence of a unitary boundary conformal field theory in the framework of the dS/CFT correspondence.

Geophysics and cosmology — A historical review

Two types of connections exist between cosmology and geophysics: any fundamental law of physics is incomplete without reference to initial and boundary conditions. That is true both for laboratory physics and for any cosmological physics a fortiori. The new ideas in cosmology, relativity and unitary field theory, show strong connections between the laws of elementary particle physics and space-time structure of the Universe. These connections give us new insight into the old ideas of Eddington and Ertel among others about cosmology and atom physics. The initial conditions which are resulting from the evolution and from the hot original state of the Universe, are also very important for the history of the Earth. On the other hand, geophysical research into the history of the Earth gives us information about “self-experienced” cosmology and about the proper history of physical laws and constants.

SUBFACTORS AND 1+1-DIMENSIONAL TQFTs

We construct a certain "cobordism category" [Formula: see text] whose morphisms are suitably decorated cobordism classes between similarly decorated closed oriented 1-manifolds, and show that there is essentially a bijection between (1+1-dimensional) unitary topological quantum field theories (TQFTs) defined on [Formula: see text], on the one hand, and Jones' subfactor planar algebras, on the other.

Charge conjugation invariance of the vacuum and the cosmological constant problem

We propose a method of field quantization which uses an indefinite metric in a Hilbert space of state vectors. The action for gravity and the standard model includes, as well as the positive energy fermion and boson fields, negative energy fields. The Hamiltonian for the action leads through charge conjugation invariance symmetry of the vacuum to a cancellation of the zero-point vacuum energy and a vanishing cosmological constant in the presence of a gravitational field. To guarantee the stability of the vacuum, we introduce a Dirac sea “hole” theory of quantization for gravity as well as the standard model. The vacuum is defined to be fully occupied by negative energy particles with a hole in the Dirac sea, corresponding to an anti-particle. We postulate that the negative energy bosons in the vacuum satisfy a para-statistics that leads to a para-Pauli exclusion principle for the negative energy bosons in the vacuum, while the positive energy bosons in the Hilbert space obey the usual Bose–Einstein statistics. This assures that the vacuum is stable for both fermions and bosons. Restrictions on the para-operator Hamiltonian density lead to selection rules that prohibit positive energy para-bosons from being observable. The problem of deriving a positive energy spectrum and a consistent unitary field theory from a pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonian is investigated.

Quantum field theories and critical phenomena on defects

We construct and investigate quantum fields induced on a d-dimensional dissipationless defect by bulk fields propagating in a ( d + 1 ) -dimensional space. All interactions are localized on the defect. We derive a unitary noncanonical quantum field theory on the defect, which is analyzed both in the continuum and on the lattice. The universal critical behavior of the underlying system is determined. It turns out that the O ( N ) -symmetric φ 4 theory, induced on the defect by massless bulk fields, belongs to the universality class of particular d-dimensional spin models with long-range interactions. On the other hand, in the presence of bulk mass the critical behavior crossovers to the one of d-dimensional spin models with short-range interactions.

Ghost busting:PT-symmetric interpretation of the Lee model

The Lee model was introduced in the 1950s as an elementary quantum field theory in which mass, wave function, and charge renormalization could be carried out exactly. In early studies of this model it was found that there is a critical value of g^2, the square of the renormalized coupling constant, above which g_0^2, the square of the unrenormalized coupling constant, is negative. Thus, for g^2 larger than this critical value, the Hamiltonian of the Lee model becomes non-Hermitian. It was also discovered that in this non-Hermitian regime a new state appears whose norm is negative. This state is called a ghost state. It has always been assumed that in this ghost regime the Lee model is an unacceptable quantum theory because unitarity appears to be violated. However, in this regime while the Hamiltonian is not Hermitian, it does possess PT symmetry. It has recently been discovered that a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian having PT symmetry may define a quantum theory that is unitary. The proof of unitarity requires the construction of a new time-independent operator called C. In terms of C one can define a new inner product with respect to which the norms of the states in the Hilbert space are positive. Furthermore, it has been shown that time evolution in such a theory is unitary. In this paper the C operator for the Lee model in the ghost regime is constructed exactly in the V/N-theta sector. It is then shown that the ghost state has a positive norm and that the Lee model is an acceptable unitary quantum field theory for all values of g^2.

On Metric and Matter in Unconnected, Connected, and Metrically Connected Manifolds

From Einstein's point of view, his General Relativity Theory had strengths as well as failings. For him, its shortcoming mainly was that it did not unify gravitation and electromagnetism and did not provide solutions to field equations which can be interpreted as particle models with discrete mass and charge spectra, As a consequence, General Relativity did (and does) not solve the quantum problem, either. Einstein tried to get rid of the shortcomings without losing the achievements of General Relativity Theory. Stimulated by papers of Weyl (Sitzungsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss (1918) 465) and Eddington (Proc. R. Soc. Hond. 99 (1921) 194), from 1923 onward, he believed that, to reach this goal, one has to transit to space–times which possess more comprehensive geometrical structures than the Riemann space–time. This was the beginning of a decade's lasting search for a unitary field theory. We describe this exciting part of the history of physics, discuss achievements and failures of this development, and ask how these early attempts of a unified theory strike us today. Taking into account the fact that the Equivalence Principle only speaks for a geometrization of gravitation, we consider an alternative way to give those non-Riemannian structures which were introduced by the unitary field approach a physical meaning, namely the meaning of a generalized gravitational field. This is interesting since there are arguments in favor of such a generalization of General Relativity Theory, e.g., the problems the latter theory meets with if one tries to quantize it and to unify gravitation with other interactions.

SUPERCONFORMAL ORBIFOLDS INVOLVING THE FERMION NUMBER OPERATOR

We consider orbifolds of two-dimensional unitary toroidal superconformal field theories with target spaces of arbitrary dimensions, where the orbifold group involves the space–time fermion number operator. We construct all so-called superaffine, orbifold prime and super-M-orbifold models by generalizing the constructions of Dixon, Ginsparg and Harvey. We also correct claims made by Dixon, Ginsparg and Harvey about multicritical points among those models with central charge [Formula: see text].

No UV/IR mixing in unitary space-time non-commutative field theory

In this article we calculate several divergent amplitudes in phi^4-theory on non-commutative space-time in the framework of Interaction Point Time Ordered Perturbation Theory (IPTOPT), continuing work done in hep-th/0209253. On the ground of these results we find corresponding Feynman rules which allow for a much easier diagrammatic calculation of amplitudes. The most important feature of the present theory is the lack of the UV/IR mixing problem in all amplitudes calculated so far. Although we are not yet able to give a rigorous proof, we provide a strong argument for this result to hold in general. Together with the found Feynman rules this opens promising vistas towards the systematic renormalization of non-commutative field theories.

The pionic width of the ω(782) meson within a well-defined, unitary quantum field theory of (anti-)particles and (anti-)holes

We investigate the indirect generation of the partial width of the ω(782) meson with respect to the reaction ω(782)→ ρ(770) π→ π + π − π 0 within the context of a “Unitary Effective Resonance Model” (UERM), which has previously been applied to resonant fermionic field operators, here extended to scalar, pseudoscalar and vector bosonic fields. The ω(782) meson is described by a (quasi-)real field, while the intermediate ρ(770) meson is considered to be a resonant degree of freedom, which can be treated consistently within the UERM. In the limit of an infinitesimal width (imaginary part of self-energy), the UERM yields a consistent treatment of relativistic quantum field theory (QFT). Some aspects of the UERM of (anti-)particles and (anti-)holes are discussed.

Algebraic orbifold conformal field theories.

The unitary rational orbifold conformal field theories in the algebraic quantum field theory and subfactor theory framework are formulated. Under general conditions, it is shown that the orbifold of a given unitary rational conformal field theory generates a unitary modular category. Many new unitary modular categories are obtained. It is also shown that the irreducible representations of orbifolds of rank one lattice vertex operator algebras give rise to unitary modular categories and determine the corresponding modular matrices, which has been conjectured for some time.

Crystallographic orbifolds: towards a classification of unitary conformal field theories with central charge c = 2

We study the moduli space C^2 of unitary two-dimensional conformal field theories with central charge c=2. We construct all the 28 nonexceptional nonisolated irreducible components of C^2 that may be obtained by an orbifold procedure from toroidal theories. The parameter spaces and partition functions are calculated explicitly, and all multicritical points and lines are determined. We show that all but four of the 28 irreducible components of C^2 corresponding to nonexceptional orbifolds are directly or indirectly connected to the moduli space of toroidal theories in C^2. We relate our results to those by Dixon, Ginsparg, Harvey on the classification of c=3/2 superconformal field theories and thereby give geometric interpretations to all nonisolated orbifolds discussed there.

Calculating the infra-red limit of quantum field theory using analyticity of correlation functions

We describe a general method for calculating the infra-red limit of physical quantities in unitary quantum field theories. Using analyticity of Green functions in a complex scale parameter, the infra-red limit is expressed as a contour integral entirely in the ultra-violet region. The infra-red limit is shown to be the limit of the Borel transform of the physical quantity. The method is illustrated by calculating the central charge of the perturbed unitary minimal models and the critical exponents of phi^4 theory in three dimensions. We obtain approximate values for the central charge which are very close to the exact values using only a one loop perturbative calculation. For phi^4 theory we obtain estimates which are within the errors of other more elaborate approaches.

Algebraic Coset Conformal Field Theories

All unitary Rational Conformal Field Theories (RCFT) are conjectured to be related to unitary coset Conformal Field Theories, i.e., gauged Wess-Zumino-Witten (WZW) models with compact gauge groups. In this paper we use subfactor theory and ideas of algebraic quantum field theory to approach coset Conformal Field Theories. Two conjectures are formulated and their consequences are discussed. Some results are presented which prove the conjectures in special cases. In particular, one of the results states that a class of representations of coset $W_N$ ($N\geq 3$) algebras with critical parameters are irreducible, and under the natural compositions (Connes' fusion), they generate a finite dimensional fusion ring whose structure constants are completely determined, thus proving a long-standing conjecture about the representations of these algebras.

C-Theorem for disordered systems

We find an analog of Zamolodchikov's c-theorem for disordered two-dimensional non-interacting systems in their supersymmetric field theory representation. We show that the energy momentum tensor of such field theories must be a part of a supermultiplet, and that a new parameter b can be introduced with the help of that multiplet. b flows along the renormalization group trajectories much like the central charge for unitary two-dimensional field theories. While it has not been established if this flow is irreversible, that is, if b always flows down to lower values, it does so for all the cases worked out so far. b gives a new way to label different conformal field theories for disordered systems whose central charge is always 0. b turns out to be related to the central extension of a certain algebra, a generalization of the Virasoro algebra, which we show may be present at the critical points of these theories. b is also related to the finite size corrections of the physical free energy of disordered systems. We discuss possible applications by computing b for two-dimensional Dirac fermions with random gauge potential, in other words, for U(1∣1) Kac-Moody algebra.

Abelian Chern–Simons theory. I. A topological quantum field theory

We give a construction of the Abelian Chern–Simons gauge theory from the point of view of a 2+1-dimensional topological quantum field theory. The definition of the quantum theory relies on geometric quantization ideas that have been previously explored in connection to the non-Abelian Chern–Simons theory [J. Diff. Geom. 33, 787–902 (1991); Topology 32, 509–529 (1993)]. We formulate the topological quantum field theory in terms of the category of extended 2- and 3-manifolds introduced in a preprint by Walker in 1991 and prove that it satisfies the axioms of unitary topological quantum field theories formulated by Atiyah [Publ. Math. Inst. Hautes Etudes Sci. Pans 68, 175–186 (1989)].

Exactly soluble sector of quantum gravity

Cartan's spacetime reformulation of the Newtonian theory of gravity is a generally-covariant Galilean-relativistic limit-form of Einstein's theory of gravity known as the Newton-Cartan theory. According to this theory, space is flat, time is absolute with instantaneous causal influences, and the degenerate `metric' structure of spacetime remains fixed with two mutually orthogonal non-dynamical metrics, one spatial and the other temporal. The spacetime according to this theory is, nevertheless, curved, duly respecting the principle of equivalence, and the non-metric gravitational connection-field is dynamical in the sense that it is determined by matter distributions. Here, this generally-covariant but Galilean-relativistic theory of gravity with a possible non-zero cosmological constant, viewed as a parameterized gauge theory of a gravitational vector-potential minimally coupled to a complex Schroedinger-field (bosonic or fermionic), is successfully cast -- for the first time -- into a manifestly covariant Lagrangian form. Then, exploiting the fact that Newton-Cartan spacetime is intrinsically globally-hyperbolic with a fixed causal structure, the theory is recast both into a constraint-free Hamiltonian form in 3+1-dimensions and into a manifestly covariant reduced phase-space form with non-degenerate symplectic structure in 4-dimensions. Next, this Newton-Cartan-Schroedinger system is non-perturbatively quantized using the standard C*-algebraic technique combined with the geometric procedure of manifestly covariant phase-space quantization. The ensuing unitary quantum field theory of Newtonian gravity coupled to Galilean-relativistic matter is not only generally-covariant, but also exactly soluble.

Classical and quantum implications of the causality structure of two-dimensional space–times with degenerate metrics

The causality structure of two-dimensional manifolds with degenerate metrics is analyzed in terms of global solutions of the massless wave equation. Certain novel features emerge. Despite the absence of a traditional Lorentzian Cauchy surface on manifolds with a Euclidean domain, it is possible to uniquely determine a global solution (if it exists), satisfying well-defined matching conditions at the degeneracy curve, from Cauchy data on certain spacelike curves in the Lorentzian region. In general, however, no global solution satisfying such matching conditions will be consistent with this data. Attention is drawn to a number of obstructions that arise prohibiting the construction of a bounded operator connecting asymptotic single particle states. The implications of these results for the existence of a unitary quantum field theory are discussed.