Phases of supersymmetric gauge theories with flavors

We explore the phases of supersymmetric U(N) gauge theories with fundamental matter that arise as deformations of SQCD by the addition of a superpotential for the adjoint chiral multiplet. As the parameters in the superpotential are varied, the vacua of this theory sweep out various branches, which in some cases have multiple semiclassical limits. In such limits, we recover the vacua of various product gauge group theories, with flavors charged under some group factors. We describe in detail the structure of the vacua in both classical and quantum regimes, and develop general techniques such as an addition and a multiplication map which relate vacua of different gauge theories. We also consider possible indices characterizing different branches and potential relationships with matrix models.     

Two elementary proofs of the Wigner theorem on symmetry in quantum mechanics

In quantum theory, symmetry has to be defined necessarily in terms of the family of unit rays, the state space. The theorem of Wigner asserts that a symmetry so defined at the level of rays can always be lifted into a linear unitary or an antilinear antiunitary operator acting on the underlying Hilbert space. We present two proofs of this theorem which are both elementary and economical. Central to our proofs is the recognition that a given Wigner symmetry can, by post-multiplication by a unitary symmetry, be taken into either the identity or complex conjugation. Our analysis often focuses on the behaviour of certain two-dimensional subspaces of the Hilbert space under the action of a given Wigner symmetry, but the relevance of this behaviour to the larger picture of the whole Hilbert space is made transparent at every stage.     

A comment on the topological phase for anti-particles in a Lorentz-violating environment

Recently, a scheme to analyse topological phases in quantum mechanics by means of the non-relativistic limit of fermions non-minimally coupled to a Lorentz-breaking background has been proposed. In this Letter, we show that the fixed background, responsible for the Lorentz-symmetry violation, may induce opposite Aharonov–Casher phases for a particle and its corresponding anti-particle. We then argue that such a difference may be used to investigate the asymmetry for particle/anti-particle as well as to propose bounds on the associated Lorentz-symmetry violating parameters.     

Lorentz violation and black-hole thermodynamics: Compton scattering process

A Lorentz-noninvariant modification of quantum electrodynamics (QED) is considered, which has photons described by the nonbirefringent sector of modified Maxwell theory and electrons described by the standard Dirac theory. These photons and electrons are taken to propagate and interact in a Schwarzschild spacetime background. For appropriate Lorentz-violating parameters, the photons have an effective horizon lying outside the Schwarzschild horizon. A particular type of Compton scattering event, taking place between these two horizons (in the photonic ergoregion) and ultimately decreasing the mass of the black hole, is found to have a nonzero probability. These events perhaps allow for a violation of the generalized second law of thermodynamics in the Lorentz-noninvariant theory considered.     

Hidden nonlinear supersymmetry of finite-gap Lamé equation

A bosonized nonlinear (polynomial) supersymmetry is revealed as a hidden symmetry of the finite-gap Lamé equation. This gives a natural explanation for peculiar properties of the periodic quantum system underlying diverse models and mechanisms in field theory, nonlinear wave physics, cosmology and condensed matter physics.     

Emission and absorption of photons and the black-body spectrum in Lorentz-odd electrodynamics

We study emission and absorption of radiation by non-relativistic electrons within the framework of a Lorentz-breaking electrodynamics in (3+1)$(3+1)$ dimensions. We have realised that Planck-type law acquires extra terms proportional to the violating parameters: For the CPT-odd model, the leading extra terms appear to be linear or quadratic in these violating parameters according to the background vector is parallel or perpendicular to the photon wave-vector. In the CPT-even case a linear correction shows up. Besides these deviations in the black-body spectra, those violations may be also probed through a difference in the photon mean occupation number for the two modes. Our results also indicate that such violations are better probed at very low temperatures, where their effects on the thermal spectra are largely enhanced.     

Perturbative chiral violations for domain-wall QCD with improved gauge actions

We investigate, in the framework of perturbation theory at finite Ns$N_s$, the effectiveness of improved gauge actions in suppressing the chiral violations of domain-wall fermions. Our calculations show substantial reductions of the residual mass when it is compared at the same value of the gauge coupling, the largest suppression being obtained when the DBW2 action is used. Similar effects can also be observed for a power-divergent mixing coefficient which is chirally suppressed. No significant reduction instead can be seen in the case of the difference between the vector and axial-vector renormalization constants when improved gauge actions are used in place of the plaquette action. We also find that one-loop perturbation theory is not an adequate tool to carry out comparisons at the same energy scale (of about 2 GeV), and in fact in this case even an enhancement of the chiral violations is frequently obtained.     

Flavor changing neutral currents in the Lee–Wick Standard Model

Recently an extension of the Standard Model (the Lee–Wick Standard Model) based on ideas of Lee and Wick (LW) was introduced. It does not contain quadratic divergences in the Higgs mass and hence solves the hierarchy puzzle. The LW Standard Model contains new heavy LW-resonances at the TeV scale that decay to ordinary particles. In this Letter we examine in more detail the flavor structure of the theory. We integrate out the heavy LW-fermions at tree level and find that this induces flavor changing Z-boson couplings. However, these flavor changing neutral currents are acceptably small since they are automatically suppressed by small Yukawa couplings. This is the case even though the theory does not satisfy the principle of minimal flavor violation. New couplings of the charged W-bosons to quarks and leptons are also induced. We also integrate out the LW–Higgs and examine the four-fermion operators induced.     

Covariant description of Hamiltonian form for field dynamics

Hamiltonian form of field dynamics is developed on a space-like hypersurface in space-time. A covariant Poisson bracket on the space-like hypersurface is defined and it plays a key role to describe every algebraic relation into a covariant form. It is shown that the Poisson bracket has the same symplectic structure that was brought in the covariant symplectic approach. An identity invariant under the canonical transformations is obtained. The identity follows a canonical equation in which the interaction Hamiltonian density generates a deformation of the space-like hypersurface. The equation just corresponds to the Yang-Feldman equation in the Heisenberg pictures in quantum field theory. By converting the covariant Poisson bracket on the space-like hypersurface to four-dimensional commutator, we can pass over to quantum field theory in the Heisenberg picture without spoiling the explicit relativistic covariance. As an example the canonical QCD is displayed in a covariant way on a space-like hypersurface.     

Effects of eight-quark interactions on the hadronic vacuum and mass spectra of light mesons

The combined effective low energy QCD Lagrangians of Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) and ’t Hooft are supplemented with eight-quark interactions. This work is a follow-up of recent findings, namely (i) the six quark flavour determinant ’t Hooft term destabilizes the NJL vacuum, (ii) the addition of a chiral invariant eight-fermion contact term renders the ground state of the theory globally stable; (iii) stability constrains the values of coupling constants of the model, meaning that even in the presence of eight-quark forces the system can be unstable in a certain parameter region. In the present work we study a phenomenological output of eight-quark interactions considering the mass spectra of pseudoscalar and scalar mesons. Mixing angles are obtained and their equivalence to the two angle approach is derived. We show that the masses of pseudoscalars are almost neutral to the eight-quark forces. The only marked effect of the second order in the SU(3) breaking is found in the η-η′ system. The scalars are more sensitive to the eight-quark interactions. A strong repulsion between the singlet and octet members is the reason for the obtained low mass of the σ state within the model considered.     

Supersymmetry at the LHC

The success of supersymmetry is beyond any doubt. With the availability of the precise measurement of the dark-matter content of the universe, SUSY models are used as cosmological connection to particle physics. We are now ready to verify this theory directly at the upcoming large hadron collider (LHC). It is possible to use the LHC measurements to reconstruct the SUSY model parameters. These parameters will then be used to calculate the relic density very precisely to be compared with the dark-matter content measured from the astrophysical measurements. In this review, I will summarize various search strategies which will be important to measure supersymmetry parameters in different models in order to establish the cosmological connection.     

Spontaneous supersymmetry breaking by large-N matrices

Motivated by supersymmetry breaking in matrix model formulations of superstrings, we present some concrete models, in which the supersymmetry is preserved for any finite N, but gets broken at infinite N, where N is the rank of matrix variables. The models are defined as supersymmetric field theories coupled to some matrix models, and in the induced action obtained after integrating out the matrices, supersymmetry is spontaneously broken only when N is infinity. In our models, the large value of N gives a natural explanation for the origin of small parameters appearing in the field theories which trigger the supersymmetry breaking.     

Adjoint QCD1 + 1 in light-cone gauge, quantized at equal time

SU (2) gauge theory coupled to massless fermions in the adjoint representation is quantized in light-cone gauge by imposing the equal-time canonical algebra. The theory is defined on a space-time cylinder with “twisted” boundary conditions, periodic for one color component (the diagonal 3-component) and antiperiodic for the other two. The focus of the study is on the non-trivial vacuum structure and the fermion condensate. It is shown that the indefinite-metric quantization of free gauge bosons is not compatible with the residual gauge symmetry of the interacting theory. A suitable quantization of the unphysical modes of the gauge field is necessary in order to guarantee the consistency of the subsidiary condition and allow the quantum representation of the residual gauge symmetry of the classical Lagrangian: the 3-color component of the gauge field must be quantized in a space with an indefinite metric while the other two components require a positive-definite metric. The contribution of the latter to the free Hamiltonian becomes highly pathological in this representation, but a larger portion of the interacting Hamiltonian can be diagonalized, thus allowing perturbative calculations to be performed. The vacuum is evaluated through second order in perturbation theory and this result is used for an approximate determination of the fermion condensate.     

On the consistency of Lorentz invariance violation in QED induced by fermions in constant axial-vector background

We show for the first time that the induced parity-even Lorentz invariance violation can be unambiguously calculated in the physically justified and minimally broken, dimensional regularization scheme, suitably tailored for a spontaneous Lorentz symmetry breaking in a field theory model. The quantization of the Lorentz invariance violating quantum electrodynamics is critically examined and shown to be consistent either for a light-like cosmic anisotropy axial-vector or for a time-like one, when in the presence of a bare photon mass.     

Dynamical stabilization of runaway potentials at finite density

We study four-dimensional non-Abelian gauge theories with classical moduli. Introducing a chemical potential for a flavor charge causes moduli to become unstable and start condensing. We show that the moduli condensation in the presence of a chemical potential generates non-Abelian field strength condensates. These condensates are homogeneous but non-isotropic. The end point of the condensation process is a stable homogeneous, but non-isotropic, vacuum in which both gauge and flavor symmetries and the rotational invariance are spontaneously broken. Possible applications of this phenomenon for the gauge theory/string theory correspondence and in cosmology are briefly discussed.     

The ’t Hooft vertex revisited

In 1976 ’t Hooft introduced an elegant approach towards understanding the physical consequences of the topological structures that appear in non-Abelian gauge theories. These effects are concisely summarized in terms of an effective multi-fermion interaction. These old arguments provide a link between a variety of recent and sometimes controversial ideas including discrete chiral symmetries appearing in some models for unification, ambiguities in the definition of quark masses, and flaws with some simulation algorithms in lattice gauge theory.     

Conformal Invariance and Conserved Quantities of General Holonomic Systems

Conformed invariance and conserved quantities of general holonomic systems are studied. A one-parameter infinitesimal transformation group and its infinitesimal transformation vector of generators are described. The definition of conformal invariance and determining equation for the system are provided. The conformal factor expression is deduced from conformal invariance and Lie symmetry. The necessary and suttlcient condition, that conformal invariance of the system would be Lie symmetry, is obtained under the infinitesimal one-parameter transformation group. The corresponding conserved quantity is derived with the aid of a structure equation. Lastly, an example is given to demonstrate the application of the result.     

The radial problem in gauge field theory models

The study of spontaneous symmetry breaking patterns in theories in which the ground state is determined by the minima of a potential invariant under the symmetry group of the system may be traced back to the solution of two classes of problems, that we shall quote in Tolédano and Dmitriev’s suggestive words [P. Tolédano, V. Dmitriev, Reconstructive Phase Transitions in Crystals and Quasicrystals, World Scientific, Singapore, 1996] as angular and radial problem, respectively. Whilst the former problem, i.e., the determination of the isotropy-type stratification, has been extensively treated both in condensed matter physics and in particle physics, the radial problem, in particular the construction of the phenomenological potential allowing the realization of all the symmetry allowed symmetry phases, has up to now substantially been disregarded in gauge field theory, because renormalizability limits to four the degree of the Higgs potential and it is widely thought that spontaneous radiative mass generation can anyway fix the issue. Through a rigorous analysis in the framework of geometric invariant theory (-matrix approach) we review these facts, focussing our attention on the role of radiative corrections. Then, we propose a way of reconciling renormalizability requirement and tree-level observability of all the phases allowed by the symmetry. The idea will be illustrated in simple extensions of two-Higgs-doublet SM, with additional scalar singlets and discrete symmetries. This will allow us to explain the rationale behind all the extensions of the Higgs sectors so far proposed to generate the observed Baryon asymmetry of our Universe at the EW Phase Transition.     

Photon and axion splitting in an inhomogeneous magnetic field

The axion–photon system in an external magnetic field, when the direction of propagation of axions and photons is orthogonal to the direction of the external magnetic field, displays a continuous axion–photon duality symmetry in the limit the axion mass is neglected. The conservation law that follow in this effective (2+1)$(2+1)$-dimensional theory from this symmetry is obtained. The magnetic field interaction is seen to be equivalent to first order to the interaction of a complex charged field with an external electric potential, where this fictitious “electric potential” is proportional to the external magnetic field. This allows one to solve for the scattering amplitudes using already known scalar QED results. From the scalar QED analog the axion and the photon are symmetric and antisymmetric combinations of particle and antiparticle. If one considers therefore scattering experiments in which the two spatial dimensions of the effective theory are involved nontrivially, one observes that both particle and antiparticle components of photons and axions are preferentially scattered in different directions, thus producing the splitting or decomposition of the photon and axion into their particle and antiparticle components in an inhomogeneous magnetic field. This observable in principle effect is of first order in the axion–photon coupling, unlike the “light shining through a wall phenomena”, which is second order.