Instanton effects in supersymmetric gauge theories

We investigate how in supersymmetric gauge theories non-perturbative effects are able to generate non-trivial vacuum properties otherwise forbidden by perturbative non-renormalization theorems. This conclusion can be reliably drawn since the constancy of certain Green functions — due to supersymmetry (SUSY) — allows one to connect vacuum-dominated large distances with short-distance behaviour which is reliably computed by instanton methods. In all the cases we discuss (without matter, with massive or massless matter in real representations and, finally, with matter in complex representations) instanton calculations imply the occurrence of a variety of condensates. For the pure SUSY gauge theory, a gluino condensate induces the spontaneous breaking of Z_2N. For massive super-quantum chromodynamics (SQCD) we find a peculiar mass dependence of matter condensates whose origin is traced to mass singularities of non-zero mode instanton contributions. These contributions force the massless limit of SQCD to differ from the strictly massless case, in which the spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetries is induced. Inconsistency with an anomaly equation forces either infinite matter condensates or spontaneous SUSY breaking in the massless cases. For non-constant Green functions, instantons are shown to provide new calculable short-distance singularities of an obvious non-perturbative nature.     

Order α 2 s massive quark contribution to the vacuum polarization of massles quarks

We calculate to order α ₂ ^s in the QCD coupling the effect of massive quarks on the vacuum polarization of massless quarks both in a momentum subtraction scheme and in the (modified) minimal subtraction scheme. We also illustrate how decoupling of heavy quarks takes place in this context in the minimal subtraction scheme.     

Dimensional regularization of massless theories in spherical space-time

The use of space-time curvature as an infra-red cut-off has been suggested for massless theories. In this paper we investigate the renormalization of massless theories in a spherical space-time (Euclidean version of de Sitter space) using dimensional regularization. Naive expectations are confirmed, namely that the coupling constant and wave-function renormalizations are independent of the curvature. Furthermore the curvature does not induce divergent mass terms or vacuum field values as would be possible on purely dimensional grounds. Although we have investigated only scalar field theories, φ⁴ theory in four dimensions and φ³ theory in six, these results are encouraging for an application of the method to gauge theories.Formally massless theories are conformally invariant so the formulation of the theory in a spherical space ought to be equivalent to its formulation in flat space. In fact the renormalization procedure breaks conformal invariance and removes this equivalence. We show that to achieve the flat space limit it is necessary to invoke the aid of the renormalization group. Thus the zero curvature limit can be achieved for infra-red stable theories (φ₄⁴) but not for infra-red unstable theories (φ₆³ as might be expected.     

Massless composites with massive constituents

We construct model field theories in which a confining gauge interaction binds massive elementary fermions into massless composite particles. The massless composites are either Goldstone bosons or $\text{spin}\text{-}\text{1}\text{2}$ fermions. In these models, the manner in which exact chiral symmetries are realized changes at a critical value of the elementary fermion mass of order (e²/16π²)Λ, where Λ is the confinement scale and e is a weak gauge coupling.     

On the exponentiation of leading infrared divergences in massless Yang-Mills theories

We derive, in the axial gauge, the effective U matrix which governs the behaviour of leading infrared singularities in the self-energy functions of Yang-Mills particles. We then show in a very simple manner, that these divergences, which determine the leading singularities in massless Yang-Mills theories, exponentiate.     

Superconformal deformation,zero-norm states and space-time symmetries of the superstring theories

We present a formalism to study type II and Heterotic superstrings with massless and massive background fields in the bosonic sector. This formalism is appropriate to study high energy symmetries of the superstring. As an example, we explicitly relate all massless symmetries to the massless zero-norm states in the spectrum. This includes theE ₈ ?E ₈ andSO (32) gauge symmetries in the ten-dimensional Heterotic string. The first (evenG-parity) massive level is briefly described. We then argue the existence of new symmetries for the massive Yang-Mills-like gauge bosons and tensor fields at each fixed mass level. These enlarged stringy symmetries correspond to the decoupling of massive zero-norm states in the spectrum.     

Inclusive D production in $\gamma \gamma$ collisions: including the single-resolved contribution with massive quarks

We have calculated the next-to-leading order cross section for the inclusive production of charm quarks as a function of the transverse momentum p_T and the rapidity in two approaches using massive or massless charm quarks. For the single-resolved cross section we have derived the massless limit from the massive theory. We find that this limit differs from the genuine massless version with factorization by finite corrections. By adjusting subtraction terms we establish a massive theory with subtraction which approaches the massless theory very fast with increasing transverse momentum. With these results and including the equivalent results for the direct cross section obtained previously as well as double-resolved contributions, we calculate the inclusive cross section in collisions using realistic evolved non-perturbative fragmentation functions and compare with recent data from the LEP collaborations ALEPH, L3 and OPAL. We find good agreement. Received: 14 February 2003 / Published online: 5 May 2003     

Renormalization group and infrared behaviour in theories with coupled massless fields

The renormalization-group method is applied to investigate the infrared singularities in gauge theories with Abelian or non-Abelian symmetry, involving both massive and massless fermions. In the Abelian gauge model the infrared structures of massive and massless fermion propagators and of a massive fermion form factor are found. In the non-Abelian gauge model (quantum chromodynamics) the infrared behaviour of a massless gluon propagator and a massive quark form factor is considered in the logarithmic approximation.     

Non-perturbative effects and infrared renormalons within the 1/N expansion of the O(N) non-linear sigma model

We analyze the structure of the Borel transform of the two-dimensional O(N) non-linear σ model within its $\text{1}\text{N}$ expansion. We check the existence of IR singularities (IR renormalons) and the presence of non-perturbative terms which organize themselves in an operator expansion à la Shifman-Vainshtein-Zakharov. We prove that renormalons cancel between the different terms of the operator expansion, so that there is a well-defined resummation procedure of the perturbative series. We suggest that this mechanism provides a general solution of the IR renormalons problem for massless UV free field theories.     

Spin and mass content of linearized Poincaré gauge theories

A unified gauge theory of massless and massive spin-2 fields is of considerable current interest. The Poincaré gauge theories with quadratic Lagrangian are linearized, and the conditions on the parameters are found which will lead to viable linear theories with massive gauge particles. As well as the 2⁺ massless gravitons coming from the translational gauge potential, the rotational gauge potentials, in the linearized limit, give rise to 2⁺ and 2⁻ particles of equal mass, as well as a massive pseudoscalar.     

Effective field theory for massive gravitons and gravity in theory space

We introduce a technique for restoring general coordinate invariance into theories where it is explicitly broken. This is the analog for gravity of the Callan-Coleman-Wess-Zumino formalism for gauge theories. We use this to elucidate the properties of interacting massless and massive gravitons. For a single graviton with a Planck scale M_Pl and a mass m_g, we find that there is a sensible effective field theory which is valid up to a high-energy cutoff Λ parametrically above m_g. Our methods allow for a transparent understanding of the many peculiarities associated with massive gravitons, among them the need for the Fierz-Pauli form of the Lagrangian, the presence or absence of the van Dam-Veltman-Zakharov discontinuity in general backgrounds, and the onset of non-linear effects and the breakdown of the effective theory at large distances from heavy sources. The natural sizes of all non-linear corrections beyond the Fierz-Pauli term are easily determined. The cutoff scales as Λ∼(m_g⁴M_Pl)^1/5 for the Fierz-Pauli theory, but can be raised to Λ∼(m_g²M_Pl)^1/3 in certain non-linear extensions. Having established that these models make sense as effective theories, there are a number of new avenues for exploration, including model building with gravity in theory space and constructing gravitational dimensions.     

A compensating functional method in the massive Yang-Mills theory

In the massive and massless Yang-Mills theories the generating functional (the S-matrix) independence of the gauge parameter is provided on the mass shell without introducing an extra degree of freedom (gauge group integration).     

M theory and singularities of exceptional holonomy manifolds

M theory compactifications on G₂ holonomy manifolds, whilst supersymmetric, require singularities in order to obtain non-Abelian gauge groups, chiral fermions and other properties necessary for a realistic model of particle physics. We review recent progress in understanding the physics of such singularities. Our main aim is to describe the techniques which have been used to develop our understanding of M theory physics near these singularities. In parallel, we also describe similar sorts of singularities in Spin(7) holonomy manifolds which correspond to the properties of three dimensional field theories. As an application, we review how various aspects of strongly coupled gauge theories, such as confinement, mass gap and non-perturbative phase transitions may be given a simple explanation in M theory.     

Fermionic Casimir effect with helix boundary condition

In this paper, we consider the fermionic Casimir effect under a new type of space-time topology using the concept of quotient topology. The relation between the new topology and that in Feng and Li (Phys. Lett. B 691:167, 2010), Zhai et al. (Mod. Phys. Lett. A 26:669, 2011) is something like that between a Möbius strip and a cylindric. We obtain the exact results of the Casimir energy and force for the massless and massive Dirac fields in the (D+1)-dimensional space-time. For both massless and massive cases, there is a Z ₂ symmetry for the Casimir energy. To see the effect of the mass, we compare the result with that of the massless one and we found that the Casimir force approaches the result of the force in the massless case when the mass tends to zero and vanishes when the mass tends to infinity.     

Tractors,mass, and Weyl invariance

Deser and Nepomechie established a relationship between masslessness and rigid conformal invariance by coupling to a background metric and demanding local Weyl invariance, a method which applies neither to massive theories nor theories which rely upon gauge invariances for masslessness. We extend this method to describe massive and gauge invariant theories using Weyl invariance. The key idea is to introduce a new scalar field which is constant when evaluated at the scale corresponding to the metric of physical interest. This technique relies on being able to efficiently construct Weyl invariant theories. This is achieved using tractor calculus—a mathematical machinery designed for the study of conformal geometry. From a physics standpoint, this amounts to arranging fields in multiplets with respect to the conformal group but with novel Weyl transformation laws. Our approach gives a mechanism for generating masses from Weyl weights. Breitenlohner–Freedman stability bounds for Anti-de Sitter theories arise naturally as do direct derivations of the novel Weyl invariant theories given by Deser and Nepomechie. In constant curvature spaces, partially massless theories—which rely on the interplay between mass and gauge invariance—are also generated by our method. Another simple consequence is conformal invariance of the maximal depth partially massless theories. Detailed examples for spins s?2$s?2$ are given including tractor and component actions, on-shell and off-shell approaches and gauge invariances. For all spins s?2$s?2$ we give tractor equations of motion unifying massive, massless, and partially massless theories.     

Local existence of the Borel transform in euclidean massless Φ 4 4

We extend the methods of [1] to prove large order estimates on the renormalized Feynman amplitudes of massless ₄ ⁴ euclidean field theory, at non-exceptional momenta. The Borel transform of the perturbative series is analytic in a disk centered at the origin of the complex plane. This result is a step towards the rigorous investigation of the infra-red singularities in the Borel plane, for theories containing massless particles, like the gauge theories.     

Gauge boson exchange in AdSd+1

We study the amplitude for exchange of massless gauge bosons between pairs of massive scalar fields in anti-de Sitter space. In the AdS/CFT correspondence this amplitude describes the contribution of conserved flavor symmetry currents to 4-point functions of scalar operators in the boundary conformal theory. A concise, covariant, Y2K compatible derivation of the gauge boson propagator in AdS_{d + 1} is given. Techniques are developed to calculate the two bulk integrals over AdS space leading to explicit expressions or convenient, simple integral representations for the amplitude. The amplitude contains leading power and sub-leading logarithmic singularities in the gauge boson channel and leading logarithms in the crossed channel. The new methods of this paper are expected to have other applications in the study of the Maldacena conjecture.     

The Operator Product Expansion Converges in Massless {\varphi_{4}^{4}}-Theory

It has been shown recently (Hollands and Kopper, Commun. Math. Phys. 313:257–290, 2012) that the mathematical status of the operator product expansion (OPE) is better than had previously been expected: namely considering massive Euclidean \({\varphi_4^4}\)-theory in the perturbative loop expansion, the OPE converges at any loop order when considering (as is usually done) composite operator insertions into correlation functions. In the present paper we prove the same result for the massless theory. While the short-distance properties of massive and massless theories may be expected to be similar on physical grounds, the proof in the massless case requires entirely new techniques, becausewe have to control with sufficient precision the exceptional momentum singularities of the massless correlation functions. Thebounds we state are organised in terms of weight factors associated to certain tree graphs (“tree dominance”). Our proof is again based on the flow equations of the renormalisation group, which we combine with such graph structures.     

J A functions in the Passarino-Veltman reduction

In this paper we consider a special class of Passarino-Veltman functions which appear during the reduction of the box-type diagrams with infrared divergences and mass singularities. A systematic procedure has been proposed to separate both types of singularities into sthe simplest objects: C ₀ functions. New J _A functions are certain linear combinations of the standard D ₀ and C ₀ functions, which are free from all types of singularities, and they have a compact expression in terms of logarithms and dilogarithms. Our results have been numerically compared with the calculations using the well-known package LoopTools.     

Partial masslessness of higher spins in (A)dS

Massive spin s⩾3/2 fields can become partially massless in cosmological backgrounds. In the plane spanned by m² and Λ, there are lines where new gauge invariances permit intermediate sets of higher helicities, rather than the usual flat space extremes of all 2s+1 massive or just 2 massless helicities. These gauge lines divide the (m²,Λ) plane into unitarily allowed or forbidden intermediate regions where all 2s+1 massive helicities propagate but lower helicity states can have negative norms. We derive these consequences for s=3/2,2 by studying both their canonical (anti)commutators and the transmutation of massive constraints to partially massless Bianchi identities. For s=2, a Hamiltonian analysis exhibits the absence of zero helicity modes in the partially massless sector. For s=5/2,3 we derive Bianchi identities and their accompanying gauge invariances for the various partially massless theories with propagating helicities (±5/2,±3/2) and (±3,±2), (±3,±2,±1), respectively. Of these, only the s=3 models are unitary. To these ends, we also provide the half integer generalization of the integer spin wave operators of Lichnerowicz. Partial masslessness applies to all higher spins in (A)dS as seen by their degree of freedom counts. Finally a derivation of massive d=4 constraints by dimensional reduction from their d=5 massless Bianchi identity ancestors is given.