Remarks on Wilson lines,modular invariance and possible string relics in Calabi-Yau compactifications

When one mods out a (2,2) conformal field theory by the action of a discrete group, it is possible to include Wilson lines to break the gauge symmetry. We simplify and generalize an earlier analysis by Witten of the constraints that modular invariance places on the allowed symmetry breaking patterns. The analysis does not depend on the details of the original conformal field theory. We then consider the fractionally charged states in such theories, first discussed by Wen and Witten. We note that these are rather generic, and consider the possibilities for their detection. We also note that, while in general they are expected to be massive (∼M_Planck), in models based on free fields, such as orbifold compactifications, there are likely to be massless (very light) fractionally charged states.     

Gauge symmetry breaking in compact multiply connected manifolds

In a multiply connected manifold, M₄⊗S₃/Z², we compute at one-loop level the gauge symmetry breaking due to Wilson loops. For an SU(3) model without matter fields a non-trivial vacuum, which breaks the gauge symmetry has lower energy.     

Gauge group breaking by Wilson loops

We examine the breaking of gauge symmetries by Wilson loops in the Hosotani-Toms model by determining the background gauge field which minimises the one-loop effective potential for massless Dirac fermions. For anti-periodic fermions, all gauge groups remain unbroken. For periodic fermions, the groups G₂, F₄ and E₈ are broken by quantum corrections due to fermions in any irreducible representation, whereas E₆, E₇ and the classical groups only break if the fermion representation is in the same congruency class as the adjoint.     

Hidden local gauge invariance in integrable magnetic chains

It is shown that local gauge transformations preserve the integrability of one-dimensional quantum Heisenberg chains. Abelian U(1) gauge transformations associated to z-rotations appear in the XXZ model which is worked out in detail. The exact energy spectrum derived by the Bethe ansatz turns out to be gauge-invariant whereas the eigenvectors are explicitly gauge-dependent. Isotropic XXX chains exhibit SU(2) ⊗ Z₂ gauge invariance properties and anisotropic XYZ chains possess discrete Z₂ ⊗ Z₂ gauge invariance.     

Renormalization Proof for Spontaneously Broken Yang–Mills Theory with Flow Equations

In this paper we present a renormalizability proof for spontaneously broken SU(2) gauge theory. It is based on Flow Equations, i.e. on the Wilson renormalization group adapted to perturbation theory. The power counting part of the proof, which is conceptually and technically simple, follows the same lines as that for any other renormalizable theory. The main difficulty stems from the fact that the regularization violates gauge invariance. We prove that there exists a class of renormalization conditions such that the renormalized Green functions satisfy the Slavnov-Taylor identities of SU(2) Yang-Mills theory on which the gauge invariance of the renormalized theory is based.     

E 6,7,8 magnetized extra-dimensional models

We study 10D super Yang–Mills theory with the gauge groups E ₆, E ₇ and E ₈. We consider the torus/orbifold compactification with magnetic fluxes and Wilson lines. They lead to 4D interesting models with three families of quarks and leptons, whose profiles in extra dimensions are quasi-localized because of magnetic fluxes.     

On the phase structure of five-dimensional SU(2) gauge theories with anisotropic couplings

The phase diagram of five-dimensional SU(2) gauge theories is explored using Monte Carlo simulations of the theory discretized on a Euclidean lattice using the Wilson plaquette action and periodic boundary conditions. We simulate anisotropic gauge couplings which correspond to different lattice spacings a₄ in four dimensions and a₅ along the extra dimension. In particular we study the case where a₅>a₄. We identify a line of first order phase transitions which separate the confined from the deconfined phase. We perform simulations in large volume at the bulk phase transition staying in the confined vacuum. The static potential measured in the hyperplanes orthogonal to the extra dimension hints at dimensional reduction. We also locate and analyze second order phase transitions related to breaking of the center along one direction.     

Singular and regular gauges in soft–collinear effective theory: The introduction of the new Wilson line T

Gauge invariance in soft–collinear effective theory (SCET) is discussed in regular (covariant) and singular (light-cone) gauges. It is argued that SCET, as it stands, is not capable to define in a gauge invariant way certain non-perturbative matrix elements that are an integral part of many factorization theorems. Those matrix elements involve two quark or gluon fields separated not only in light-cone direction but also in the transverse one. This observation limits the range of applicability of SCET. To remedy this we argue that one needs to introduce a new Wilson line as part of SCET formalism, that we call T. This Wilson line depends only on the transverse component of the gluon field. As such it is a new feature to the SCET formalism and it guarantees gauge invariance of the non-perturbative matrix elements in both classes of gauges.     

Migdal renormalization group approach to deconfinement phase transition

The Migdal renormalization group approach is applied to a finite temperature lattice gauge theory. Imposing the periodic boundary condition in the timelike orientation, the phase structure of the finite temperature lattice gauge system with a gauge groupG in (d+1)-dimensional space is determined by two kinds of recursion equations, describing spacelike and timelike correlations, respectively. One is the recursion equation for ad-dimensional gauge system with the gauge groupG, and the other corresponds to ad-dimensional spin system for which the effective theory is described by the nearest neighbor interaction of the Wilson lines. Detailed phase structure is investigated for theSU(2) gauge theory in (3+1)-dimensional space. Deconfinement phase transition is obtained. Using the recursion equation for the three dimensional spin system of the Wilson lines, it is shown that the flow of the renormalization group trajectories leads to a phase transition of the three dimensional Ising model.     

Gauge invariant quark Green’s functions with polygonal Wilson lines

Properties of gauge invariant two-point quark Green’s functions, defined with polygonal Wilson lines, are studied. The Green’s functions can be classified according to the number of straight line segments their polygonal lines contain. Functional relations are established between the Green’s functions with different numbers of segments on the polygonal lines. An integrodifferential equation is obtained for the Green’s function with one straight line segment, in which the kernels are represented by a series of Wilson loop vacuum averages along polygonal contours with an increasing number of segments and functional derivatives on them. The equation is exactly solved in the case of two-dimensional QCD in the large-N _c limit. The spectral properties of the Green’s function are displayed.     

Bose condensation and spontaneous breaking of the uniformity of time

The spontaneous breaking of gauge invariance accompanying Bose condensation in mesoscopic systems corresponds to thermodynamically equilibrium ground states with nonintegral average particle number and results in a spontaneous breaking of the uniformity of time. In Fermi systems, the breaking of gauge invariance can be also accompanied by spontaneous breaking of invariances with respect to spatial rotations by an angle of 2π and double time reversal. Possible experiments are discussed. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 63, No. 12, 963–969 (25 June 1996)     

Manifest gauge and Poincaré covariance

Manifest gauge invariance is known to be incompatible with manifest Poincaré covariance (Strocchi's theorem). By extending the notion of gauge invariance to that of gauge covariance, we circumvent that incompatibility, at least for free electromagnetic potentials. In the new formulation the potentials, A_G, for all permissible gauges G. act on a common Hilbert space. This formulation is shown to be inequivalent to the more conventional ones. (In particular, the Coulomb gauge is now inaccessible.) The abstract gauges G are represented by c-number potentials V_G, which play a central role in the theory. Even without interaction, they obey a field equation with a source, and thus they anticipate the existence of electric charges.     

Ghost-free non-Abelian gauge theory: renormalization and gauge-invariance

Although it has been known for a long time that the special case n^μA_μ = 0 for an axial gauge of a vector field A_μ, characterized by a direction n_μ, is free from the peculiar loop complications inherent in all other known gauges of non-Abelian gauge theories, practical use of this ghost-free gauge has often met with some reserve. The reasons were always difficulties in the development of the theoretical formalism, all of which can be traced back to a singularity at n^μp_μ = 0 where p is some four-momentum. This paper, which is a sequel to an earlier one by one of the authors, is intended to show that within the functional integration formalism a consistent field theory can be developed. Here we first prove the gauge invariance of the renormalized theory, allowing for the presence of an arbitrary number of scalar and fermion fields with spontaneous symmetry breaking. Then it is shown that all on-shell elements for the physical S-matrix between properly selected physical sources are independent of n_μ (gauge invariant) and so are the renormalized masses.     

Field theory on a non‐commutative plane: a non‐perturbative study

The 2d gauge theory on the lattice is equivalent to the twisted Eguchi–Kawai model, which we simulated at N ranging from 25 to 515. We observe a clear large N scaling for the 1‐ and 2‐point function of Wilson loops, as well as the 2‐point function of Polyakov lines. The 2‐point functions agree with a universal wave function renormalization. The large N double scaling limit corresponds to the continuum limit of non‐commutative gauge theory, so the observed large N scaling demonstrates the non‐perturbative renormalizability of this non‐commutative field theory. The area law for the Wilson loops holds at small physical area as in commutative 2d planar gauge theory, but at large areas we find an oscillating behavior instead. In that regime the phase of the Wilson loop grows linearly with the area. This agrees with the Aharonov‐Bohm effect in the presence of a constant magnetic field, identified with the inverse non‐commutativity parameter. Next we investigate the 3d λϕ⁴ model with two non‐commutative coordinates and explore its phase diagram. Our results agree with a conjecture by Gubser and Sondhi in d = 4, who predicted that the ordered regime splits into a uniform phase and a phase dominated by stripe patterns. We further present results for the correlators and the dispersion relation. In non‐commutative field theory the Lorentz invariance is explicitly broken, which leads to a deformation of the dispersion relation. In one loop perturbation theory this deformation involves an additional infrared divergent term. Our data agree with this perturbative result. We also confirm the recent observation by Ambjø rn and Catterall that stripes occur even in d = 2, although they imply the spontaneous breaking of the translation symmetry.     

Spontaneous breaking of supersymmetry and gauge invariance in supergravity

Using the new minimal auxiliary fields of N = 1 supergravity it is found possible to construct a model of local supersymmetry which spontaneously breaks both supersymmetry and gauge invariance. The status of the cosmological constant resulting from this breaking is discussed.     

Monte Carlo studies of wilson loops in four-dimensional U(2) gauge theory

Wilson loops are calculated using Monte Carlo simulations for pure U(2) gauge theory on a 6⁴ lattice. The loops appear to contain an area law piece in both the high and low temperature regions. The string tension is discontinuous at β = β_c, where β_c is the critical inverse temperature. This suggests that the first-order phase transition in U(2) gauge theory is not a deconfining phase transition. The determinant of the Wilson loop, however, extracts the U(1) part of the theory and appears to lose the area law at low temperature.     

The string landscape: On formulas for counting vacua

We derive formulas for counting certain classes of vacua in the string/M theory landscape. We do so in the context of the moduli space of M-theory compactifications on singular manifolds with _G2$G_2$ holonomy. Particularly, we count the numbers of gauge theories with different gauge groups but equal numbers of U(1)$U(1)$ factors which are dual to each other. The vacua correspond to various symmetry breaking patterns of grand unified theories. Counting these dual vacua is equivalent to counting the number of conjugacy classes of elements of finite order inside Lie groups. We also point out certain cases where the conventional expectation is that symmetry breaking patterns by Wilson lines and Higgs fields are the same, but we show they are in fact different.     

Compactifications of the heterotic string with unitary bundles

We describe a large new class of four‐dimensional supersymmetric string vacua defined as compactifications of the E₈ × E₈ and the SO(32) heterotic string on smooth Calabi‐Yau threefolds with unitary gauge bundles and heterotic five‐branes. The conventional gauge symmetry breaking via Wilson lines is replaced by the embedding of non‐flat line bundles into the ten‐dimensional gauge group, thus opening up the way for phenomenologically interesting string compactifications on simply connected manifolds. After a detailed analysis of the four‐dimensional effective theory we exemplify the general framework by means of a couple of explicit examples involving the spectral cover construction of stable holomorphic bundles. As for the SO(32) heterotic string, the resulting vacua can be viewed, in the S‐dual Type I picture, as a generalisation of magnetized D9/D5‐brane models. In the case of the E₈ × E₈ string, we find a natural way to construct realistic MSSM‐like models, either directly or via a flipped SU(5) GUT scenario.     

On supersymmetry breaking in superstring theories

We show that non-zero gaugino condensates of several non-abelian gauge groups G₁⊗…⊗G_k∃E₈ in low-energy d=4 superstring E₈⊗E₆ gauge theory can lead to the exponentially small (compared to the Planck scale) supersymmetry breaking scale. The Hosotani mechanism can provide the E₈→G₁⊗…⊗G_k breaking.     

Implications of gauge invariance for pion electroproduction at threshold

We discuss the implications of gauge invariance in the problem of the on-shell extrapolation of the electroproduction low-energy theorems. We show that there is an invariant amplitude which can be evaluated at the Breit threshold either using gauge invariance and on-shell dispersion relations or following the Fubini and Furlan [5] extrapolation method starting from the current-algebra low-energy value of the amplitude. Comparing the two expressions, we find a relation between the electromagnetic pion form factor, F_π (k²), and the axial-vector nucleon form factors, g_A (k²) and h_A (k²).