A Short Note on the Scaling Function Constant Problem in the Two-Dimensional Ising Model

We provide a simple derivation of the constant factor in the short-distance asymptotics of the tau-function associated with the 2-point function of the two-dimensional Ising model. This factor was first computed by Tracy (Commun Math Phys 142:297–311, 1991) via an exponential series expansion of the correlation function. Further simplifications in the analysis are due to Tracy and Widom (Commun Math Phys 190:697–721, 1998) using Fredholm determinant representations of the correlation function and Wiener–Hopf approximation results for the underlying resolvent operator. Our method relies on an action integral representation of the tau-function and asymptotic results for the underlying Painlevé-III transcendent from McCoy et al. (J Math Phys 18:1058–1092, 1977).     

Persistence Probabilities of Two-Sided (Integrated) Sums of Correlated Stationary Gaussian Sequences

We study the persistence probability for some two-sided, discrete-time Gaussian sequences that are discrete-time analogues of fractional Brownian motion and integrated fractional Brownian motion, respectively. Our results extend the corresponding ones in continuous time in Molchan (Commun Math Phys 205(1):97–111, 1999) and Molchan (J Stat Phys 167(6):1546–1554, 2017) to a wide class of discrete-time processes.     

A Pfaffian formula for the monomer–dimer model on surface graphs

We consider the monomer–dimer model on weighted graphs embedded in surfaces with boundary, with the restriction that only monomers located on the boundary are allowed. We give a Pfaffian formula for the corresponding partition function, which generalises the one obtained by Giuliani et al. (J Stat Phys 163(2):211–238, 2016) for graphs embedded in the disc. Our proof is based on an extension of a bijective method mentioned in Giuliani et al. (2016), together with the Pfaffian formula for the dimer partition function of Cimasoni–Reshetikhin (Commun Math Phys 275(1):187–208, 2007).     

Quantitative Pointwise Estimate of the Solution of the Linearized Boltzmann Equation

We study the quantitative pointwise behavior of the solutions of the linearized Boltzmann equation for hard potentials, Maxwellian molecules and soft potentials, with Grad’s angular cutoff assumption. More precisely, for solutions inside the finite Mach number region (time like region), we obtain the pointwise fluid structure for hard potentials and Maxwellian molecules, and optimal time decay in the fluid part and sub-exponential time decay in the non-fluid part for soft potentials. For solutions outside the finite Mach number region (space like region), we obtain sub-exponential decay in the space variable. The singular wave estimate, regularization estimate and refined weighted energy estimate play important roles in this paper. Our results extend the classical results of Liu and Yu (Commun Pure Appl Math 57:1543–1608, 2004), (Bull Inst Math Acad Sin 1:1–78, 2006), (Bull Inst Math Acad Sin 6:151–243, 2011) and Lee et al. (Commun Math Phys 269:17–37, 2007) to hard and soft potentials by imposing suitable exponential velocity weight on the initial condition.     

Deformation Theory of Periodic Monopoles (With Singularities)

Cherkis and Kapustin (Commun Math Phys 218(2): 333–371, 2001 and Commun Math Phys 234(1):1–35, 2003) introduced periodic monopoles (with singularities), i.e. monopoles on \({\mathbb{R}^{2} \times \mathbb{S}^{1}}\) possibly singular at a finite collection of points. In this paper we show that for generic choices of parameters the moduli spaces of periodic monopoles (with singularities) with structure group \({SO(3)}\) are either empty or smooth hyperkähler manifolds. Furthermore, we prove an index theorem and therefore compute the dimension of the moduli spaces.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">C</Emphasis><Superscript>1</Superscript>-Classification of Gapped Parent Hamiltonians of Quantum Spin Chains

We consider the C ¹-classification of gapped Hamiltonians introduced in Fannes et al. (Commun Math Phys 144:443–490, 1992) and Nachtergaele (Commun Math Phys 175:565–606, 1996) as parent Hamiltonians of translation invariant finitely correlated states. Within this family, we show that the number of edge modes, which is equal at the left and right edge, is the complete invariant. The construction proves that translation invariance of the ‘bulk’ ground state does not need to be broken to establish C ¹-equivalence, namely that the spin chain does not need to be blocked.     

Totally Asymmetric Limit for Models of Heat Conduction

We consider one dimensional weakly asymmetric boundary driven models of heat conduction. In the cases of a constant diffusion coefficient and of a quadratic mobility we compute the quasi-potential that is a non local functional obtained by the solution of a variational problem. This is done using the dynamic variational approach of the macroscopic fluctuation theory (Bertini et al. in Rev Mod Phys 87:593, 2015). The case of a concave mobility corresponds essentially to the exclusion model that has been discussed in Bertini et al. (J Stat Mech L11001, 2010; Pure Appl Math 64(5):649–696, 2011; Commun Math Phys 289(1):311–334, 2009) and Enaud and Derrida (J Stat Phys 114:537–562, 2004). We consider here the convex case that includes for example the Kipnis-Marchioro-Presutti (KMP) model and its dual (KMPd) (Kipnis et al. in J Stat Phys 27:6574, 1982). This extends to the weakly asymmetric regime the computations in Bertini et al. (J Stat Phys 121(5/6):843–885, 2005). We consider then, both microscopically and macroscopically, the limit of large externalfields. Microscopically we discuss some possible totally asymmetric limits of the KMP model. In one case the totally asymmetric dynamics has a product invariant measure. Another possible limit dynamics has instead a non trivial invariant measure for which we give a duality representation. Macroscopically we show that the quasi-potentials of KMP and KMPd, which are non local for any value of the external field, become local in the limit. Moreover the dependence on one of the external reservoirs disappears. For models having strictly positive quadratic mobilities we obtain instead in the limit a non local functional having a structure similar to the one of the boundary driven asymmetric exclusion process.     

Convergence of Mayer and Virial expansions and the Penrose tree-graph identity

We establish new lower bounds for the convergence radius of the Mayer series and the Virial series of a continuous particle system interacting via a stable and tempered pair potential. Our bounds considerably improve those given by Penrose (J Math Phys 4:1312, 1963) and Ruelle (Ann Phys 5:109–120, 1963) for the Mayer series and by Lebowitz and Penrose (J Math Phys 7:841–847, 1964) for the Virial series. To get our results, we exploit the tree-graph identity given by Penrose (Statistical mechanics: foundations and applications. Benjamin, New York, 1967) using a new partition scheme based on minimum spanning trees.     

A Generalization of Powers–Størmer Inequality

In this note, we prove the following inequality: \({2\Vert\Delta_{\eta\varphi}^{\frac s2}\xi_{\varphi}\Vert ^2 \ge \varphi(1)+\eta(1)- \vert\varphi-\eta\vert(1)}\) , where \({\varphi}\) and η are positive normal linear functionals over a von Neumann algebra. This is a generalization of the famous Powers–Størmer inequality (Powers and Størmer proved the inequality for \({L({\mathcal H})}\) in Commun Math Phys 16:1–33, 1970; Takesaki in Theory of Operator Algebras II, 2001). For matrices, this inequality was proven by Audenaert et al. (Phys Rev Lett 98:160501, 2007). We extend their result to general von Neumann algebras.     

Yes,More Decoherence: A Reply to Critics

Recently I published an article in this journal entitled “Less interpretation and more decoherence in quantum gravity and inflationary cosmology” (Crull in Found Phys 45(9):1019–1045, 2015). This article generated responses from three pairs of authors: Vassallo and Esfeld (Found Phys 45(12):1533–1536, 2015), Okon and Sudarsky (Found Phys 46(7):852–879, 2016) and Fortin and Lombardi (Found Phys, 2017). In what follows, I reply to the criticisms raised by these authors.     

Estimates for Eigenvalues of Schrödinger Operators with Complex-Valued Potentials

New estimates for eigenvalues of non-self-adjoint multi-dimensional Schrödinger operators are obtained in terms of L_p-norms of the potentials. The results cover and improve those known previously, in particular, due to Frank (Bull Lond Math Soc 43(4):745–750, 2011), Safronov (Proc Am Math Soc 138(6):2107–2112, 2010), Laptev and Safronov (Commun Math Phys 292(1):29–54, 2009). We mention the estimations of the eigenvalues situated in the strip around the real axis (in particular, the essential spectrum). The method applied for this case involves the unitary group generated by the Laplacian. The results are extended to the more general case of polyharmonic operators. Schrödinger operators with slowly decaying potentials and belonging to weak Lebesgue’s classes are also considered.     

Rigidity of outermost MOTS: the initial data version

In the paper Commun Anal Geom 16(1):217–229, 2008, a rigidity result was obtained for outermost marginally outer trapped surfaces (MOTSs) that do not admit metrics of positive scalar curvature. This allowed one to treat the “borderline case” in the author’s work with R. Schoen concerning the topology of higher dimensional black holes (Commun Math Phys 266(2):571–576, 2006). The proof of this rigidity result involved bending the initial data manifold in the vicinity of the MOTS within the ambient spacetime. In this note we show how to circumvent this step, and thereby obtain a pure initial data version of this rigidity result and its consequence concerning the topology of black holes.     

Gravitational Rutherford scattering and Keplerian orbits for electrically charged bodies in heterotic string theory

Properties of the motion of electrically charged particles in the background of the Gibbons–Maeda–Garfinkle–Horowitz–Strominger black hole is presented in this paper. Radial and angular motions are studied analytically for different values of the fundamental parameter. Therefore, gravitational Rutherford scattering and Keplerian orbits are analyzed in detail. Finally, this paper complements previous work by Fernando for null geodesics (Phys Rev D 85:024033, 2012), Olivares and Villanueva (Eur Phys J C 73:2659, 2013) and Blaga (Automat Comp Appl Math 22:41–48, 2013; Serb Astron 190:41, 2015) for time-like geodesics.     

Faithful actions of locally compact quantum groups on classical spaces

We construct examples of locally compact quantum groups coming from bicrossed product construction, including non-Kac ones, which can faithfully and ergodically act on connected classical (noncompact) smooth manifolds. However, none of these actions can be isometric in the sense of Goswami (Commun Math Phys 285(1):141–160, 2009), leading to the conjecture that the result obtained by Goswami and Joardar (Rigidity of action of compact quantum groups on compact, connected manifolds, 2013. arXiv:1309.1294) about nonexistence of genuine quantum isometry of classical compact connected Riemannian manifolds may hold in the noncompact case as well.     

Double Ramification Cycles and Quantum Integrable Systems

In this paper, we define a quantization of the Double Ramification Hierarchies of Buryak (Commun Math Phys 336:1085–1107, 2015) and Buryak and Rossi (Commun Math Phys, 2014), using intersection numbers of the double ramification cycle, the full Chern class of the Hodge bundle and psi-classes with a given cohomological field theory. We provide effective recursion formulae which determine the full quantum hierarchy starting from just one Hamiltonian, the one associated with the first descendant of the unit of the cohomological field theory only. We study various examples which provide, in very explicit form, new (1+1)-dimensional integrable quantum field theories whose classical limits are well-known integrable hierarchies such as KdV, Intermediate Long Wave, extended Toda, etc. Finally, we prove polynomiality in the ramification multiplicities of the integral of any tautological class over the double ramification cycle.     

Superdiffusion in the Periodic Lorentz Gas

We introduce the dynamical sine-Gordon equation in two space dimensions with parameter \({\beta}\), which is the natural dynamic associated to the usual quantum sine-Gordon model. It is shown that when \({\beta^{2} \in (0, \frac{16\pi}{3})}\) the Wick renormalised equation is well-posed. In the regime \({\beta^{2} \in (0, 4\pi)}\), the Da Prato–Debussche method [J Funct Anal 196(1):180–210, 2002; Ann Probab 31(4):1900–1916, 2003] applies, while for \({\beta^{2} \in [4\pi, \frac{16\pi}{3})}\), the solution theory is provided via the theory of regularity structures [Hairer, Invent Math 198(2):269–504, 2014]. We also show that this model arises naturally from a class of \({2 + 1}\) -dimensional equilibrium interface fluctuation models with periodic nonlinearities. The main mathematical difficulty arises in the construction of the model for the associated regularity structure where the role of the noise is played by a non-Gaussian random distribution similar to the complex multiplicative Gaussian chaos recently analysed in Lacoin et al. [Commun Math Phys 337(2):569–632, 2015].     

Tightness of the Ising–Kac Model on the Two-Dimensional Torus

We consider the sequence of Gibbs measures of Ising models with Kac interaction defined on a periodic two-dimensional discrete torus near criticality. Using the convergence of the Glauber dynamic proven by Mourrat and Weber (Commun Pure Appl Math 70:717–812, 2017) and a method by Tsatsoulis and Weber employed in (arXiv:1609.08447 2016), we show tightness for the sequence of Gibbs measures of the Ising–Kac model near criticality and characterise the law of the limit as the \(\Phi ^4_2\) measure on the torus. Our result is very similar to the one obtained by Cassandro et al. (J Stat Phys 78(3):1131–1138, 1995) on \(\mathbb {Z}^2\), but our strategy takes advantage of the dynamic, instead of correlation inequalities. In particular, our result covers the whole critical regime and does not require the large temperature/large mass/small coupling assumption present in earlier results.     

Replica Bounds by Combinatorial Interpolation for Diluted Spin Systems

In two papers Franz et al. proved bounds for the free energy of diluted random constraints satisfaction problems, for a Poisson degree distribution (Franz and Leone in J Stat Phys 111(3–4):535–564, 2003) and a general distribution (Franz et al. in J Phys A 36(43), 10967, 2003). Panchenko and Talagrand (Probab Theo Relat Fields 130(3):319–336, 2004) simplified the proof and generalized the result of Franz and Leone (J Stat Phys 111(3–4):535–564, 2003) for the Poisson case. We provide a new proof for the general degree distribution case and as a corollary, we obtain new bounds for the size of the largest independent set (also known as hard core model) in a large random regular graph. Our proof uses a combinatorial interpolation based on biased random walks (Salez in Combin Probab Comput 25(03):436–447, 2016) and allows to bypass the arguments in Franz et al. (J Phys A 36(43):10967, 2003) based on the study of the Sherrington–Kirkpatrick (SK) model.     

Reduction of quantum systems and the local Gauss law

We give an operator-algebraic interpretation of the notion of an ideal generated by the unbounded operators associated with the elements of the Lie algebra of a Lie group that implements the symmetries of a quantum system. We use this interpretation to establish a link between Rieffel induction and the implementation of a local Gauss law in lattice gauge theories similar to the method discussed by Kijowski and Rudolph (J Math Phys 43:1796–1808, 2002; J Math Phys 46:032303, 2004).     

Two-Dimensional Anisotropic Random Walks: Fixed Versus Random Column Configurations for Transport Phenomena

We consider random walks on the square lattice of the plane along the lines of Heyde (J Stat Phys 27:721–730, 1982, Stochastic processes, Springer, New York, 1993) and den Hollander (J Stat Phys 75:891–918, 1994), whose studies have in part been inspired by the so-called transport phenomena of statistical physics. Two-dimensional anisotropic random walks with anisotropic density conditions á  la Heyde (J Stat Phys 27:721–730, 1982, Stochastic processes, Springer, New York, 1993) yield fixed column configurations and nearest-neighbour random walks in a random environment on the square lattice of the plane as in den Hollander (J Stat Phys 75:891–918, 1994) result in random column configurations. In both cases we conclude simultaneous weak Donsker and strong Strassen type invariance principles in terms of appropriately constructed anisotropic Brownian motions on the plane, with self-contained proofs in both cases. The style of presentation throughout will be that of a semi-expository survey of related results in a historical context.