Global Gauge Anomalies in Two-Dimensional Bosonic Sigma Models

We revisit the gauging of rigid symmetries in two-dimensional bosonic sigma models with a Wess-Zumino term in the action. Such a term is related to a background closed 3-form H on the target space. More exactly, the sigma-model Feynman amplitudes of classical fields are associated to a bundle gerbe with connection of curvature H over the target space. Under conditions that were unraveled more than twenty years ago, the classical amplitudes may be coupled to the topologically trivial gauge fields of the symmetry group in a way which assures infinitesimal gauge invariance. We show that the resulting gauged Wess-Zumino amplitudes may, nevertheless, exhibit global gauge anomalies that we fully classify. The general results are illustrated on the example of the WZW and the coset models of conformal field theory. The latter are shown to be inconsistent in the presence of global anomalies. We introduce a notion of equivariant gerbes that allow an anomaly-free coupling of the Wess-Zumino amplitudes to all gauge fields, including the ones in non-trivial principal bundles. Obstructions to the existence of equivariant gerbes and their classification are discussed. The choice of different equivariant structures on the same bundle gerbe gives rise to a new type of discrete-torsion ambiguities in the gauged amplitudes. An explicit construction of gerbes equivariant with respect to the adjoint symmetries over compact simply connected simple Lie groups is given.     

Classifying A-field and B-field configurations in the presence of D-branes. Part II: Stacks of D-branes

In the paper of Bonora et al. (2008) [3] we have shown, in the context of type II superstring theory, the classification of the allowed B-field and A-field configurations in the presence of anomaly-free D-branes, the mathematical framework being provided by the geometry of gerbes. Here we complete the discussion considering in detail the case of a stack of D-branes, carrying a non-abelian gauge theory, which was just sketched in Bonora et al. (2008) [3]. In this case we have to mix the geometry of abelian gerbes, describing the B-field, with the one of higher-rank bundles, ordinary or twisted. We describe in detail the various cases that arise according to such a classification, as we did for a single D-brane, showing under which hypotheses the A-field turns out to be a connection on a canonical gauge bundle. We also generalize to the non-abelian setting the discussion about “gauge bundles with non-integral Chern classes”, relating them to twisted bundles with connection. Finally, we analyze the geometrical nature of the Wilson loop for each kind of gauge theory on a D-brane or stack of D-branes.     

An invitation to higher gauge theory

In this easy introduction to higher gauge theory, we describe parallel transport for particles and strings in terms of 2-connections on 2-bundles. Just as ordinary gauge theory involves a gauge group, this generalization involves a gauge ‘2-group’. We focus on 6 examples. First, every abelian Lie group gives a Lie 2-group; the case of U(1) yields the theory of U(1) gerbes, which play an important role in string theory and multisymplectic geometry. Second, every group representation gives a Lie 2-group; the representation of the Lorentz group on 4d Minkowski spacetime gives the Poincaré 2-group, which leads to a spin foam model for Minkowski spacetime. Third, taking the adjoint representation of any Lie group on its own Lie algebra gives a ‘tangent 2-group’, which serves as a gauge 2-group in 4d BF theory, which has topological gravity as a special case. Fourth, every Lie group has an ‘inner automorphism 2-group’, which serves as the gauge group in 4d BF theory with cosmological constant term. Fifth, every Lie group has an ‘automorphism 2-group’, which plays an important role in the theory of nonabelian gerbes. And sixth, every compact simple Lie group gives a ‘string 2-group’. We also touch upon higher structures such as the ‘gravity 3-group’, and the Lie 3-superalgebra that governs 11-dimensional supergravity.     

Covariant derivative on non-linear fiber bundles

A gauge field is usually described as a connection on a principal bundle. It induces a covariant derivative on associated vector bundles, sections of which represent matter fields. In general, however, it is not possible to define a covariant derivative on non-linear fiber bundles, i.e. on those which are not vector bundles. We definelogarithmic covariant derivatives acting on two special non-linear fiber bundles — on the principal bundle and on the local gauge group bundle. The logarithmic derivatives map from sections of these bundles to the sections of the local gauge algebra bundle. Some properties of the logarithmic derivatives are formulated.     

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.     

The growth of Al x Ga1−x As-GaAs heterostructure lasers by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Al _x Ga_1–x As-GaAs double-heterostructure lasers have been grown by the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition process. Conventional DH lasers have exhibited excellent performance characteristics that are equal to or better than comparable devices grown by liquid-phase epitaxy. Other unique laser structures have been grown that demonstrate the flexibility of the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition materials technology. This paper will describe the preparation and properties of Ga_1–x Al_xAs-GaAs lasers grown by this process.The author thanks J. J. Coleman, J. E. Cooper, L. L. Gray, R. G. Imerson, R. E., Johnson, F. F. Kinoshita, N. L. Lind, D. Medellin, L. A. Moudy, C. D. Sallee, and R. D. Yingling for assistance in the work described here. Helpful discussions with H. M. Manasevit and W. I. Simpson are greatly appreciated. The Auger profilling studies performed by C. M. Garner and T. J. Raab are gratefully acknowledged. The collaboration on quantum-well lasers with the research group of Prof. N. Holonyak, Jr. (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) has been extremely beneficial. Discussions with and the support of P. D. Dapkus was essential to the achievement of the results described here. In addition, the support of J. E. Mee is greatly appreciated. This work has been partially supported by the Office of Naval Research under Contract N 00014-78-C-0711.     

Hitchin–Kobayashi Correspondence, Quivers, and Vortices

 A twisted quiver bundle is a set of holomorphic vector bundles over a complex manifold, labelled by the vertices of a quiver, linked by a set of morphisms twisted by a fixed collection of holomorphic vector bundles, labelled by the arrows. When the manifold is K?hler, quiver bundles admit natural gauge-theoretic equations, which unify many known equations for bundles with extra structure. In this paper we prove a Hitchin–Kobayashi correspondence for twisted quiver bundles over a compact K?hler manifold, relating the existence of solutions to the gauge equations to a stability criterion, and consider its application to a number of situations related to Higgs bundles and dimensional reductions of the Hermitian–Einstein equations. Received: 10 December 2001 / Accepted: 10 November 2002 Published online: 28 May 2003 RID="⋆" ID="⋆" Current address: Mathematical Sciences, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK. E-mail:L.Alvarez-Consul@maths.bath.ac.uk RID="⋆⋆" ID="⋆⋆" Current address: Instituto de Matemáticas y Física Fundamental, CSIC, Serrano 113 bis, 28006 Madrid, Spain. E-mail:oscar.garcia-prada@uam.es Communicated by R.H. Dijkgraaf     

Higher gauge theory and a non-Abelian generalization of 2-form electrodynamics

In conventional gauge theory, a charged point particle is described by a representation of the gauge group. If we propagate the particle along some path, the parallel transport of the gauge connection acts on this representation. The Lagrangian density of the gauge field depends on the curvature of the connection which can be calculated from the holonomy around (infinitesimal) loops. For Abelian symmetry groups, say G=U(1), there exists a generalization, known as p-form electrodynamics, in which (p−1)-dimensional charged objects can be propagated along p-surfaces and in which the Lagrangian depends on a generalized curvature associated with (infinitesimal) closed p-surfaces. In this article, we use Lie 2-groups and ideas from higher category theory in order to formulate a discrete gauge theory which generalizes these models at the level p=2 to possibly non-Abelian symmetry groups. An important feature of our model is that it involves both parallel transports along paths and generalized transports along surfaces with a non-trivial interplay of these two types of variables. Our main result is the geometric picture, namely the assignment of non-Abelian quantities to geometrical objects in a coordinate free way. We construct the precise assignment of variables to the curves and surfaces, the generalized local symmetries and gauge invariant actions and we clarify which structures can be non-Abelian and which others are always Abelian. A discrete version of connections on non-Abelian gerbes is a special case of our construction. Even though the motivation sketched so far suggests applications mainly in string theory, the model presented here is also related to spin foam models of quantum gravity and may in addition provide some insight into the role of centre monopoles and vortices in lattice QCD.     

Geometrical approach to the reduction of gauge theories with spontaneously broken symmetry

The reduction of a theory with gauge group G to a theory which is gauge invariant with respect to a subgroup H of G is formulated in a geometrical language. It is assumed that among the physical fields considered as cross-sections of fibre bundles with structure group G there exists a section of the fibre bundle with fibre isomorphic to G/H — a Higgs field. The investigation of the broken gauge symmetry is based on the reduction theorem for structure groups of principal fibre bundles. The reduction of fields and their covariant derivatives is studied.     

Lie algebroid morphisms, Poisson sigma models, and off-shell closed gauge symmetries

Chern–Simons (CS) gauge theories in three dimensions and the Poisson sigma model (PSM) in two dimensions are examples of the same theory, if their field equations are interpreted as morphisms of Lie algebroids and their symmetries (on-shell) as homotopies of such morphisms. We point out that the (off-shell) gauge symmetries of the PSM in the literature are not globally well defined for non-parallelizable Poisson manifolds and propose a covariant definition of the off-shell gauge symmetries as left action of some finite-dimensional Lie algebroid.

Our approach allows us to avoid complications arising in the infinite-dimensional super-geometry of the BV- and AKSZ-formalism. This preprint is a starting point in a series of papers meant to introduce Yang–Mills type gauge theories of Lie algebroids, which include the standard YM theory, gerbes, and the PSM.     

Fluxes,bundle gerbes and 2-Hilbert spaces

We elaborate on the construction of a prequantum 2-Hilbert space from a bundle gerbe over a 2-plectic manifold, providing the first steps in a programme of higher geometric quantisation of closed strings in flux compactifications and of M5-branes in C-fields. We review in detail the construction of the 2-category of bundle gerbes and introduce the higher geometrical structures necessary to turn their categories of sections into 2-Hilbert spaces. We work out several explicit examples of 2-Hilbert spaces in the context of closed strings and M5-branes on flat space. We also work out the prequantum 2-Hilbert space associated with an M-theory lift of closed strings described by an asymmetric cyclic orbifold of the \(\mathsf {S}\mathsf {U}(2)\) WZW model, providing an example of sections of a torsion gerbe on a curved background. We describe the dimensional reduction of M-theory to string theory in these settings as a map from 2-isomorphism classes of sections of bundle gerbes to sections of corresponding line bundles, which is compatible with the respective monoidal structures and module actions.     

A Groupoid Approach to Noncommutative T-Duality

Topological T-duality is a transformation taking a gerbe on a principal torus bundle to a gerbe on a principal dual-torus bundle. We give a new geometric construction of T-dualization, which allows the duality to be extended in the following two directions. First, bundles of groups other than tori, even bundles of some nonabelian groups, can be dualized. Second, bundles whose duals are families of noncommutative groups (in the sense of noncommutative geometry) can be treated, though in this case the base space of the bundles is best viewed as a topological stack. Some methods developed for the construction may be of independent interest. These are a Pontryagin type duality that interchanges commutative principal bundles with gerbes, a nonabelian Takai type duality for groupoids, and the computation of certain equivariant Brauer groups. The research reported here was supported in part by National Science Foundation grants DMS-0703718 and DMS-0611653.     

Real forms of extended Kac–Moody symmetries and higher spin gauge theories

We consider the relation between higher spin gauge fields and real Kac–Moody Lie algebras. These algebras are obtained by double and triple extensions of real forms \mathfrakg₀{\mathfrak{g}_0} of the finite-dimensional simple algebras \mathfrakg{\mathfrak{g}} arising in dimensional reductions of gravity and supergravity theories. Besides providing an exhaustive list of all such algebras, together with their associated involutions and restricted root diagrams, we are able to prove general properties of their spectrum of generators with respect to a decomposition of the triple extension of \mathfrakg₀{\mathfrak{g}_0} under its gravity subalgebra \mathfrakgl(D,\mathbb R){\mathfrak{gl}(D,\mathbb {R})} . These results are then combined with known consistent models of higher spin gauge theory to prove that all but finitely many generators correspond to non-propagating fields and there are no higher spin fields contained in the Kac–Moody algebra.     

Equivariant gerbes on complex tori

We explore a new direction in representation theory which comes from holomorphic gerbes on complex tori. The analogue of the theta group of a holomorphic line bundle on a (compact) complex torus is developed for gerbes in place of line bundles. The theta group of symmetries of the gerbe has the structure of a Picard groupoid. We calculate it explicitly as a central extension of the group of symmetries of the gerbe by the Picard groupoid of the underlying complex torus. We discuss obstruction to equivariance and give an example of a group of symmetries of a gerbe with respect to which the gerbe cannot be equivariant. We calculate the obstructions to invariant gerbes for some group of translations of a torus to be equivariant. We survey various types of representations of the group of symmetries of a gerbe on the stack of sheaves of modules on the gerbe and the associated abelian category of sheaves on the gerbe (twisted sheaves).     

Relativistic generalization and extension to the non-Abelian gauge theory of Feynman's proof of the Maxwell equations

R. P. Feynman showed F. J. Dyson a proof of the Lorentz force law and the homogeneous Maxwell equations, which the obtained starting from Newton's law of motion and the commutation relations between position and velocity for a single nonrelativistic particle. We formulate both a special relativistic and a general relativistic versions of Feynman's derivation. Especially in the general relativistic version we prove that the only possible fields that can consistently act on a quantum mechanical particle are scalar, gauge, and gravitational fields. We also extend Feynman's scheme to the case of non-Abelian gauge theory in the special relativistic context.     

On the geometry of Dirac determinant bundles in two dimensions

The gauge and diffeomorphism anomalies are used to define the determinant bundles for the left-handed Dirac operator on a two-dimensional Riemann surface. Three different moduli spaces are studied: (1) the space of vector potentials modulo gauge transformations; (2) the space of vector potentials modulo bundle automorphisms; and, (3) the space of Riemannian metrics modulo diffeomorphisms. Using the methods earlier developed for the studies of affine Kac-Moody groups, natural geometries are constructed for each of the three bundles.This work was supported in part by funds provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (D.O.E.) under contract #DE-AC02-76ER03069