Functional Properties of Hörmander’s Space of Distributions Having a Specified Wavefront Set

The space \({\mathcal{D}_\Gamma^\prime}\) of distributions having their wavefront sets in a closed cone \({\Gamma}\) has become important in physics because of its role in the formulation of quantum field theory in curved spacetime. In this paper, the topological and bornological properties of \({\mathcal{D}_\Gamma^\prime}\) and its dual \({\mathcal{E}_\Lambda^\prime}\) are investigated. It is found that \({\mathcal{D}_\Gamma^\prime}\) is a nuclear, semi-reflexive and semi-Montel complete normal space of distributions. Its strong dual \({\mathcal{E}_\Lambda^\prime}\) is a nuclear, barrelled and (ultra)bornological normal space of distributions which, however, is not even sequentially complete. Concrete rules are given to determine whether a distribution belongs to \({\mathcal{D}_\Gamma^\prime}\) , whether a sequence converges in \({\mathcal{D}_\Gamma^\prime}\) and whether a set of distributions is bounded in \({\mathcal{D}_\Gamma^\prime}\) .     

Classical {\mathcal{W}}-Algebras and Generalized Drinfeld–Sokolov Hierarchies for Minimal and Short Nilpotents

We derive explicit formulas for λ-brackets of the affine classical \({\mathcal{W}}\) -algebras attached to the minimal and short nilpotent elements of any simple Lie algebra \({\mathfrak{g}}\) . This is used to compute explicitly the first non-trivial PDE of the corresponding integrable generalized Drinfeld–Sokolov hierarchies. It turns out that a reduction of the equation corresponding to a short nilpotent is Svinolupov’s equation attached to a simple Jordan algebra, while a reduction of the equation corresponding to a minimal nilpotent is an integrable Hamiltonian equation on 2h ˇ?3 functions, where h ˇ is the dual Coxeter number of \(\mathfrak{g}\) . In the case when \(\mathfrak{g}\) is \({\mathfrak{sl}_2}\) both these equations coincide with the KdV equation. In the case when \(\mathfrak{g}\) is not of type \({C_n}\) , we associate to the minimal nilpotent element of \(\mathfrak{g}\) yet another generalized Drinfeld–Sokolov hierarchy.     

Self-Dual Noncommutative {\phi^4} -Theory in Four Dimensions is a Non-Perturbatively Solvable and Non-Trivial Quantum Field Theory

We study quartic matrix models with partition function \({\mathcal{Z}[E, J] = \int dM}\) exp(trace \({(JM - EM^{2} - \frac{\lambda}{4} M^4)}\) ). The integral is over the space of Hermitean \({\mathcal{N} \times \mathcal{N}}\) -matrices, the external matrix E encodes the dynamics, \({\lambda > 0}\) is a scalar coupling constant and the matrix J is used to generate correlation functions. For E not a multiple of the identity matrix, we prove a universal algebraic recursion formula which gives all higher correlation functions in terms of the 2-point function and the distinct eigenvalues of E. The 2-point function itself satisfies a closed non-linear equation which must be solved case by case for given E. These results imply that if the 2-point function of a quartic matrix model is renormalisable by mass and wavefunction renormalisation, then the entire model is renormalisable and has vanishing β-function. As the main application we prove that Euclidean \({\phi^4}\) -quantum field theory on four-dimensional Moyal space with harmonic propagation, taken at its self-duality point and in the infinite volume limit, is exactly solvable and non-trivial. This model is a quartic matrix model, where E has for \({\mathcal{N} \to \infty}\) the same spectrum as the Laplace operator in four dimensions. Using the theory of singular integral equations of Carleman type we compute (for \({\mathcal{N} \to \infty}\) and after renormalisation of \({E, \lambda}\) ) the free energy density (1/volume) log \({(\mathcal{Z}[E, J]/\mathcal{Z}[E, 0])}\) exactly in terms of the solution of a non-linear integral equation. Existence of a solution is proved via the Schauder fixed point theorem. The derivation of the non-linear integral equation relies on an assumption which in subsequent work is verified for coupling constants \({\lambda \leq 0}\) .     

Blow Up Dynamics for Equivariant Critical Schrödinger Maps

For the Schrödinger map equation \({u_t = u \times \triangle u \, {\rm in} \, \mathbb{R}^{2+1}}\) , with values in S ², we prove for any \({\nu > 1}\) the existence of equivariant finite time blow up solutions of the form \({u(x, t) = \phi(\lambda(t) x) + \zeta(x, t)}\) , where \({\phi}\) is a lowest energy steady state, \({\lambda(t) = t^{-1/2-\nu}}\) and \({\zeta(t)}\) is arbitrary small in \({\dot H^1 \cap \dot H^2}\) .     

Microcanonical Analysis of the Curie–Weiss Anisotropic Quantum Heisenberg Model in a Magnetic Field

The anisotropic quantum Heisenberg model with Curie-Weiss-type interactions is studied analytically in several variants of the microcanonical ensemble. (Non)equivalence of microcanonical and canonical ensembles is investigated by studying the concavity properties of entropies. The microcanonical entropy \(s(e,\varvec{m})\) is obtained as a function of the energy \(e\) and the magnetization vector \({\varvec{m}}\) in the thermodynamic limit. Since, for this model, \(e\) is uniquely determined by \({\varvec{m}}\) , the same information can be encoded either in \(s(\varvec{m})\) or \(s(e,m_1,m_2)\) . Although these two entropies correspond to the same physical setting of fixed \(e\) and \({\varvec{m}}\) , their concavity properties differ. The entropy \(s_{{\varvec{h}}}(u)\) , describing the model at fixed total energy \(u\) and in a homogeneous external magnetic field \({\varvec{h}}\) of arbitrary direction, is obtained by reduction from the nonconcave entropy \(s(e,m_1,m_2)\) . In doing so, concavity, and therefore equivalence of ensembles, is restored. \(s_{{\varvec{h}}}(u)\) has nonanalyticities on surfaces of co-dimension 1 in the \((u,\varvec{h})\) -space. Projecting these surfaces into lower-dimensional phase diagrams, we observe that the resulting phase transition lines are situated in the positive-temperature region for some parameter values, and in the negative-temperature region for others. In the canonical setting of a system coupled to a heat bath of positive temperatures, the nonanalyticities in the microcanonical negative-temperature region cannot be observed, and this leads to a situation of effective nonequivalence even when formal equivalence holds.     

Renormalization of Critical Gaussian Multiplicative Chaos and KPZ Relation

Gaussian Multiplicative Chaos is a way to produce a measure on \({\mathbb{R}^d}\) (or subdomain of \({\mathbb{R}^d}\) ) of the form \({e^{\gamma X(x)} dx}\) , where X is a log-correlated Gaussian field and \({\gamma \in [0, \sqrt{2d})}\) is a fixed constant. A renormalization procedure is needed to make this precise, since X oscillates between ?∞ and ∞ and is not a function in the usual sense. This procedure yields the zero measure when \({\gamma = \sqrt{2d}}\) . Two methods have been proposed to produce a non-trivial measure when \({\gamma = \sqrt{2d}}\) . The first involves taking a derivative at \({\gamma = \sqrt{2d}}\) (and was studied in an earlier paper by the current authors), while the second involves a modified renormalization scheme. We show here that the two constructions are equivalent and use this fact to deduce several quantitative properties of the random measure. In particular, we complete the study of the moments of the derivative multiplicative chaos, which allows us to establish the KPZ formula at criticality. The case of two-dimensional (massless or massive) Gaussian free fields is also covered.     

The Isospin Mixing in the X(3872) Decay Spectrum

The large isospin symmetry breaking found in the X(3872) decay is investigated by looking into the transfer strength from the \({{c}\bar{c}}\) quarkonium to the two-meson states: \({c\bar{c} \rightarrow D^{0}\overline{D}^{*0}, D^{+} D^{*-} , J /\psi\omega, {\rm and} \, J /\psi\rho}\) . The widths of the \({\rho}\) and \({\omega}\) mesons are taken into account in the calculation. It is found that very narrow \({J /\psi\omega}\) and \({J /\psi\rho}\) peaks appear at the \({D^{0}\overline{D}^{*0}}\) threshold. These narrow peaks appear provided that the strength of the \({D^{0}\overline{D}^{*0}}\) component is large around the threshold. The large width of the \({\rho}\) meson enhances the isospin-one component in the transfer strength considerably, which reduces the ratio \({{\rm Br}(X \rightarrow J /\psi\omega)/{\rm Br}(X \rightarrow J /\psi\rho)}\) down to 2.5.     

Stability of Black Holes and Black Branes

We establish a new criterion for the dynamical stability of black holes in D ≥ 4 spacetime dimensions in general relativity with respect to axisymmetric perturbations: Dynamical stability is equivalent to the positivity of the canonical energy, ${\mathcal{E}}$ , on a subspace, ${\mathcal{T}}$ , of linearized solutions that have vanishing linearized ADM mass, momentum, and angular momentum at infinity and satisfy certain gauge conditions at the horizon. This is shown by proving that—apart from pure gauge perturbations and perturbations towards other stationary black holes— ${\mathcal{E}}$ is nondegenerate on ${\mathcal{T}}$ and that, for axisymmetric perturbations, ${\mathcal{E}}$ has positive flux properties at both infinity and the horizon. We further show that ${\mathcal{E}}$ is related to the second order variations of mass, angular momentum, and horizon area by ${\mathcal{E} = \delta^2 M -\sum_A \Omega_A \delta^2 J_A - \frac{\kappa}{8\pi}\delta^2 A}$ , thereby establishing a close connection between dynamical stability and thermodynamic stability. Thermodynamic instability of a family of black holes need not imply dynamical instability because the perturbations towards other members of the family will not, in general, have vanishing linearized ADM mass and/or angular momentum. However, we prove that for any black brane corresponding to a thermodynamically unstable black hole, sufficiently long wavelength perturbations can be found with ${\mathcal{E} < 0}$ and vanishing linearized ADM quantities. Thus, all black branes corresponding to thermodynmically unstable black holes are dynamically unstable, as conjectured by Gubser and Mitra. We also prove that positivity of ${\mathcal{E}}$ on ${\mathcal{T}}$ is equivalent to the satisfaction of a “ local Penrose inequality,” thus showing that satisfaction of this local Penrose inequality is necessary and sufficient for dynamical stability. Although we restrict our considerations in this paper to vacuum general relativity, most of the results of this paper are derived using general Lagrangian and Hamiltonian methods and therefore can be straightforwardly generalized to allow for the presence of matter fields and/or to the case of an arbitrary diffeomorphism covariant gravitational action.     

Asymptotic Quantum Many-Body Localization from Thermal Disorder

We consider a quantum lattice system with infinite-dimensional on-site Hilbert space, very similar to the Bose–Hubbard model. We investigate many-body localization in this model, induced by thermal fluctuations rather than disorder in the Hamiltonian. We provide evidence that the Green–Kubo conductivity κ(β), defined as the time-integrated current autocorrelation function, decays faster than any polynomial in the inverse temperature β as \({\beta \to 0}\) . More precisely, we define approximations \({\kappa_{\tau}(\beta)}\) to κ(β) by integrating the current-current autocorrelation function up to a large but finite time \({\tau}\) and we rigorously show that \({\beta^{-n}\kappa_{\beta^{-m}}(\beta)}\) vanishes as \({\beta \to 0}\) , for any \({n,m \in \mathbb{N}}\) such that m?n is sufficiently large.     

Classes of Invariant Subspaces for Some Operator Algebras

New results showing connections between structural properties of von Neumann algebras and order theoretic properties of structures of invariant subspaces given by them are proved. We show that for any properly infinite von Neumann algebra M there is an affiliated subspace \({\mathcal{L}} \) such that all important subspace classes living on \({\mathcal{L}} \) are different. Moreover, we show that \({\mathcal{L}} \) can be chosen such that the set of σ-additive measures on subspace classes of \({\mathcal{L}} \) are empty. We generalize measure theoretic criterion on completeness of inner product spaces to affiliated subspaces corresponding to Type I factor with finite dimensional commutant. We summarize hitherto known results in this area, discuss their importance for mathematical foundations of quantum theory, and outline perspectives of further research.     

Determinantal Quintics and Mirror Symmetry of Reye Congruences

We study a certain family of determinantal quintic hypersurfaces in \({\mathbb{P}^{4}}\) whose singularities are similar to the well-studied Barth–Nieto quintic. Smooth Calabi–Yau threefolds with Hodge numbers (h ^1,1,h ^2,1) = (52, 2) are obtained by taking crepant resolutions of the singularities. It turns out that these smooth Calabi–Yau threefolds are in a two dimensional mirror family to the complete intersection Calabi–Yau threefolds in \({\mathbb{P}^{4}\times\mathbb{P}^{4}}\) which have appeared in our previous study of Reye congruences in dimension three. We compactify the two dimensional family over \({\mathbb{P}^{2}}\) and reproduce the mirror family to the Reye congruences. We also determine the monodromy of the family over \({\mathbb{P}^{2}}\) completely. Our calculation shows an example of the orbifold mirror construction with a trivial orbifold group.     

Photon Asymmetries in {nd\rightarrow} 3 Hγ Using EFT({/\!\!\!\pi}) Approach

The parity-violating Lagrangian of the weak nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction in the pionless effective field theory (EFT( \({/\!\!\!\pi}\) )) approach contains five independent unknown low-energy coupling constants (LECs). The photon asymmetry with respect to neutron polarization in \({np\rightarrow d\gamma A_\gamma^{np}}\) , the circular polarization of outgoing photon in \({np\rightarrow d\gamma P_\gamma^{np}}\) , the neutron spin rotation in hydrogen \({\frac{1}{\rho}\frac{d\phi^{np}}{dl}}\) , the neutron spin rotation in deuterium \({\frac{1}{\rho}\frac{d\phi^{nd}}{dl}}\) and the circular polarization of γ-emission in \({nd\rightarrow}\) ³ Hγ \({P^{nd}_\gamma}\) are the parity-violating observables which have been recently calculated in terms of parity-violating LECs in the EFT( \({/\!\!\!\pi}\) ) framework. We obtain the LECs by matching the parity-violating observables to the Desplanques, Donoghue, and Holstein (DDH) best value estimates. Then, we evaluate photon asymmetry with respect to the neutron polarization \({a^{nd}_\gamma}\) and the photon asymmetry in relation to deuteron polarization \({A^{nd}_\gamma}\) in \({nd\rightarrow}\) ³ Hγ process. We finally compare our EFT( \({/\!\!\!\pi}\) ) photon asymmetries results with the experimental values and the previous calculations based on the DDH model.     

Tail Asymptotics of Free Path Lengths for the Periodic Lorentz Process: On Dettmann’s Geometric Conjectures

In the simplest case, consider a \({\mathbb{Z}^d}\) -periodic (d ≥ 3) arrangement of balls of radii < 1/2, and select a random direction and point (outside the balls). According to Dettmann’s first conjecture, the probability that the so determined free flight (until the first hitting of a ball) is larger than t >  > 1 is \({\sim\frac{C}{t}}\) , where C is explicitly given by the geometry of the model. In its simplest form, Dettmann’s second conjecture is related to the previous case with tangent balls (of radii 1/2). The conjectures are established in a more general setup: for \({\mathcal{L}}\) -periodic configuration of—possibly intersecting—convex bodies with \({\mathcal{L}}\) being a non-degenerate lattice. These questions are related to Pólya’s visibility problem (Arch Math Phys Ser 2:135–142, 1918), to theories of Bourgain et al. (Commun Math Phys 190:491–508,1998), and of Marklof–Strömbergsson (Ann Math 172:1949–2033,2010). The results also provide the asymptotic covariance of the periodic Lorentz process assuming it has a limit in the super-diffusive scaling, a fact if d = 2 and the horizon is infinite.     

Maximal Distance Travelled by N Vicious Walkers Till Their Survival

We consider N Brownian particles moving on a line starting from initial positions \(\mathbf{{u}}\equiv \{u_1,u_2,\ldots u_N\}\) such that \(0 . Their motion gets stopped at time \(t_s\) when either two of them collide or when the particle closest to the origin hits the origin for the first time. For \(N=2\) , we study the probability distribution function \(p_1(m|\mathbf{{u}})\) and \(p_2(m|\mathbf{{u}})\) of the maximal distance travelled by the \(1^{\text {st}}\) and \(2^{\text {nd}}\) walker till \(t_s\) . For general N particles with identical diffusion constants \(D\) , we show that the probability distribution \(p_N(m|\mathbf{u})\) of the global maximum \(m_N\) , has a power law tail \(p_i(m|\mathbf{{u}}) \sim {N^2B_N\mathcal {F}_{N}(\mathbf{u})}/{m^{\nu _N}}\) with exponent \(\nu _N =N^2+1\) . We obtain explicit expressions of the function \(\mathcal {F}_{N}(\mathbf{u})\) and of the N dependent amplitude \(B_N\) which we also analyze for large N using techniques from random matrix theory. We verify our analytical results through direct numerical simulations.     

On Gravitational Effects in the Schrödinger Equation

The Schrödinger  equation for a particle of rest mass $m$ and electrical charge $ne$ interacting with a four-vector potential $A_i$ can be derived as the non-relativistic limit of the Klein–Gordon  equation $\left( \Box '+m^2\right) \varPsi =0$ for the wave function $\varPsi $ , where $\Box '=\eta ^{jk}\partial '_j\partial '_k$ and $\partial '_j=\partial _j -\mathrm {i}n e A_j$ , or equivalently from the one-dimensional  action $S_1=-\int m ds +\int neA_i dx^i$ for the corresponding point particle in the semi-classical approximation $\varPsi \sim \exp {(\mathrm {i}S_1)}$ , both methods yielding the equation $\mathrm {i}\partial _0\varPsi \approx \left( \frac{1}{2m}\eta ^{\alpha \beta }\partial '_{\alpha }\partial '_{\beta } + m + n e\phi \right) \varPsi $ in Minkowski  space–time  , where $\alpha ,\beta =1,2,3$ and $\phi =-A_0$ . We show that these two methods generally yield equations  that differ in a curved background  space–time   $g_{ij}$ , although they coincide when $g_{0\alpha }=0$ if $m$ is replaced by the effective mass $\mathcal{M}\equiv \sqrt{m^2-\xi R}$ in both the Klein–Gordon  action $S$ and $S_1$ , allowing for non-minimal coupling to the gravitational  field, where $R$ is the Ricci scalar and $\xi $ is a constant. In this case $\mathrm {i}\partial _0\varPsi \approx \left( \frac{1}{2\mathcal{M}'} g^{\alpha \beta }\partial '_{\alpha }\partial '_{\beta } + \mathcal{M}\phi ^{(\mathrm g)} + n e\phi \right) \varPsi $ , where $\phi ^{(\mathrm g)} =\sqrt{g_{00}}$ and $\mathcal{M}'=\mathcal{M}/\phi ^{(\mathrm g)} $ , the correctness of the gravitational  contribution to the potential having been verified to linear order $m\phi ^{(\mathrm g)} $ in the thermal-neutron beam interferometry experiment due to Colella et al. Setting $n=2$ and regarding $\varPsi $ as the quasi-particle wave function, or order parameter, we obtain the generalization of the fundamental macroscopic Ginzburg-Landau equation of superconductivity to curved space–time. Conservation of probability and electrical current requires both electromagnetic gauge and space–time  coordinate conditions to be imposed, which exemplifies the gravito-electromagnetic analogy, particularly in the stationary case, when div ${{\varvec{A}}}=\hbox {div}{{\varvec{A}}}^{(\mathrm g)}=0$ , where ${{\varvec{A}}}^{\alpha }=-A^{\alpha }$ and ${{\varvec{A}}}^{(\mathrm g)\alpha }=-\phi ^{(\mathrm g)}g^{0\alpha }$ . The quantum-cosmological Schrödinger  (Wheeler–DeWitt) equation is also discussed in the $\mathcal{D}$ -dimensional  mini-superspace idealization, with particular regard to the vacuum potential $\mathcal V$ and the characteristics of the ground state, assuming a gravitational  Lagrangian   $L_\mathcal{D}$ which contains higher-derivative  terms up to order $\mathcal{R}^4$ . For the heterotic superstring theory  , $L_\mathcal{D}$ consists of an infinite series in $\alpha '\mathcal{R}$ , where $\alpha '$ is the Regge slope parameter, and in the perturbative approximation $\alpha '|\mathcal{R}| \ll 1$ , $\mathcal V$ is positive semi-definite for $\mathcal{D} \ge 4$ . The maximally symmetric ground state satisfying the field equations is Minkowski  space for $3\le {\mathcal {D}}\le 7$ and anti-de Sitter  space for $8 \le \mathcal {D} \le 10$ .     

Equivariant GW Theory of Stacky Curves

We extend Okounkov and Pandharipande’s work on the equivariant Gromov–Witten theory of ${\mathbb{P}^1}$ to a class of stacky curves ${\mathcal{X}}$ . Our main result uses virtual localization and the orbifold ELSV formula to express the tau function ${\tau_\mathcal{X}}$ as a vacuum expectation on a Fock space. As corollaries, we prove the decomposition conjecture for these ${\mathcal{X}}$ , and prove that ${\tau_\mathcal{X}}$ satisfies a version of the 2-Toda hierarchy. Coupled with degeneration techniques, the result should lead to treatment of general orbifold curves.     

Optimal Paths for Symmetric Actions in the Unitary Group

Given a positive and unitarily invariant Lagrangian ${\mathcal{L}}$ defined in the algebra of matrices, and a fixed time interval ${[0,t_0]\subset\mathbb R}$ , we study the action defined in the Lie group of ${n\times n}$ unitary matrices ${\mathcal{U}(n)}$ by $$\mathcal{S}(\alpha)=\int_0^{t_0} \mathcal{L}(\dot\alpha(t))\,dt, $$ where ${\alpha:[0,t_0]\to\mathcal{U}(n)}$ is a rectifiable curve. We prove that the one-parameter subgroups of ${\mathcal{U}(n)}$ are the optimal paths, provided the spectrum of the exponent is bounded by π. Moreover, if ${\mathcal{L}}$ is strictly convex, we prove that one-parameter subgroups are the unique optimal curves joining given endpoints. Finally, we also study the connection of these results with unitarily invariant metrics in ${\mathcal{U}(n)}$ as well as angular metrics in the Grassmann manifold.     

Gauge Theories Labelled by Three-Manifolds

We propose a dictionary between geometry of triangulated 3-manifolds and physics of three-dimensional ${\mathcal{N} = 2}$ gauge theories. Under this duality, standard operations on triangulated 3-manifolds and various invariants thereof (classical as well as quantum) find a natural interpretation in field theory. For example, independence of the SL(2) Chern-Simons partition function on the choice of triangulation translates to a statement that ${S^{3}_{b}}$ partition functions of two mirror 3d ${\mathcal{N} = 2}$ gauge theories are equal. Three-dimensional ${\mathcal{N} = 2}$ field theories associated to 3-manifolds can be thought of as theories that describe boundary conditions and duality walls in four-dimensional ${\mathcal{N} = 2}$ SCFTs, thus making the whole construction functorial with respect to cobordisms and gluing.     

Gauge Theories on ALE Space and Super Liouville Correlation Functions

We present a relation between ${\mathcal{N}=2}$ quiver gauge theories on the ALE space ${\mathcal{O}_{\mathbb{P}^1}(-2)}$ and correlators of ${\mathcal{N}=1}$ super Liouville conformal field theory, providing checks in the case of punctured spheres and tori. We derive a blow-up formula for the full Nekrasov partition function and show that, up to a U(1) factor, the ${\mathcal{N}=2^*}$ instanton partition function is given by the product of the character of ${\widehat{SU}(2)_2}$ times the super Virasoro conformal block on the torus with one puncture. Moreover, we match the perturbative gauge theory contribution with super Liouville three-point functions.     

Elliptic Genera of Two-Dimensional {\mathcal{N} = 2} Gauge Theories with Rank-One Gauge Groups

We compute the elliptic genera of two-dimensional ${\mathcal{N} = (2, 2)}$ and ${\mathcal{N} = (0, 2)}$ -gauged linear sigma models via supersymmetric localization, for rank-one gauge groups. The elliptic genus is expressed as a sum over residues of a meromorphic function whose argument is the holonomy of the gauge field along both the spatial and the temporal directions of the torus. We illustrate our formulas by a few examples including the quintic Calabi–Yau, ${\mathcal{N} = (2, 2)}$ SU(2) and O(2) gauge theories coupled to N fundamental chiral multiplets, and a geometric ${\mathcal{N} = (0, 2)}$ model.