Instantons and the chiral phase transition

We examine the role of instantons in the zero-temperature chiral phase transition in an SU(N) gauge theory. For a range of N_f (the number of fermion flavors) depending on N, the theory exhibits an infrared fixed point at coupling _*. As N_f decreases, _* increases, and it eventually exceeds a critical value sufficient to trigger chiral symmetry breaking. For the case N = 2, we estimate the critical values of N_f and _* due to instantons by numerically solving a gap equation with an instanton-generated kernel. We find instanton effects of strength comparable to that of gluon exchange.     

Duality and quantum-algebra symmetry of the AN−1 open spin chain with diagonal boundary fields

We show that the transfer matrix of the A_N−1⁽¹⁾ open spin chair with diagonal boundary fields has the symmetry U_q(SU(l)) × U_q(SU(N−l)) × U(1), as well as a “duality” symmetry which maps l ↔ N − l. We exploit these symmetries to compute exact boundary S-matrices in the regime with q real.     

Spectral density analysis of the chiral transition in nf=4 finite temperature QCD

We apply the spectral density reweighting technique to the analysis of the chiral phase transition in finite-temperature lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) with four flavors of dynamical staggered fermions and m_qa=0.025. Our simulations were performed using the hybrid Monte Carlo method for L_tL³ lattices with L_t=4 and L=6, 8 and 10. We calculate partition function zeros, as well as the maxima of the specific heat and of the susceptibilities for the Polyakov loop and for the chiral condensate. A finite size scaling analysis of these data leads to preliminary results for the critical coupling β_c, for the critical exponent ν, for the latent heat, and for the jumps in the Polyakov loop and in the chiral condensate.     

Hyperon beta-decay and axial charges of the lambda in view of strongly distorted baryon wave-functions

Within the collective coordinate approach to chiral soliton models we suggest that breaking of SU(3) flavor symmetry mainly resides in the baryon wave-functions while the charge operators maintain a symmetric structure. Sizable symmetry breaking in the wave-functions is required to reproduce the observed spacing in the spectrum of the  baryons. The matrix elements of the flavor symmetric charge operators nevertheless yield g_A/g_V ratios for hyperon beta-decay which agree with the empirical data approximately as well as the successful F&D parameterization of the Cabibbo scheme. Demanding the strangeness component in the nucleon to vanish in the two flavor limit of the model, determines the structure of the singlet axial charge operator and yields the various quark flavor components of the axial charge of the Λ-hyperon. The suggested picture gains support from calculations in a realistic model using pion and vector meson degrees of freedom to build up the soliton.     

Fermion mass spectrum in a generalized instanton background

The spectrum of the squared Dirac operator is studied in the background of symmetric instanton-like configurations on symmetric spaces G/H. The eigenvalues are expressed in terms of Casimir invariants of G and H. These eigenvalues determine the masses of fermions in Kaluza-Klein theories with compactification induced by the generalized instantons. The G-representations of the zero modes are determined for fermions in arbitrary representations of H on S_n and CP_n. For spheres in even dimensions a comparison with the index theorem reveals a remarkable relation between the Nth index (or anomaly) of SO(2N) and dimensions of SO(2N + 1) representations. Using the fundamental indices, we find the topologically stable symmetric solutions on S_2n for any gauge group, and compare with recent results on local stability.     

Does the quenched reduced U(∞) chiral model break spontaneously in weak coupling?

The U(N) chiral model, when quenched using Parisi's rule, has a [U(1) × U(1)]^N/U(1) global invariance. To determine whether this symmetry breaks spontaneously in weak coupling for N=∞, a one-loop calculation of the distribution of eigenvalues of the single U(N) matrix of the model is performed. This distribution is shown to be uniform on the unit circle and hence, no symmetry breaking occurs. Further, the order parameter | tr U|²/N², which should be zero at N=∞ in the absence of spontaneous symmetry breaking, is evaluated in the weak coupling phase for one, two and three dimensions for N varying from 2 to 50 by Monte Carlo simulation of the quenched model. The data indicate that this parameter indeed goes to zero as N→∞ implying that the symmetry does not break.     

Running flavor number and asymptotic freedom in the normal phase of QED

In the normal phase (where no dynamical fermion mass generation occurs) of the D-dimensional quantum electrodynamics with N_f flavors of fermions, we derive an integral equation which should be satisfied by (the inverse of) the wave function renormalization of the fermion in the Landau gauge. For this we use the inverse Landau-Khalatnikov transformation connecting the nonlocal gauge with the Landau gauge. This leads to a similar equation for the running flavor number in the framework of the 1/N_f resumed Schwinger-Dyson equation. Solving the equation analytically and numerically, we study the infrared behavior and the critical exponent of the 3-dimensional QED (QED₃). This confirms that the flavor number in QED₃ runs according to the β function which is consistent with the asymptotic freedom as that in 4-dimensional QCD.     

Matter–antimatter asymmetry and neutrino properties

The cosmological baryon asymmetry can be explained as remnant of heavy Majorana neutrino decays in the early universe. We study this mechanism for two models of neutrino masses with a large ν_μ−ν_τ mixing angle which are based on the symmetries SU(5)×U(1)_F and SU(3)_c×SU(3)_L×SU(3)_R×U(1)_F, respectively. In both cases B−L is broken at the unification scale Λ_GUT. The models make different predictions for the baryogenesis temperature and the gravitino abundance.     

Dynamics of O(N) chiral supersymmetry at finite energy density

We consider an O(N) version of a massive, interacting, chiral supersymmetry model solved exactly in the large N limit. We demonstrate that the system approaches a stable attractor at high energy densities, corresponding to a non-perturbative state for which the relevant field quanta are massless. The state is one of spontaneously broken O(N), which, due to the influence of supersymmetry, does not become restored at high energies. Introducing soft supersymmetry breaking to the Lagrangian results in scalar masses at the soft breaking scale m_s independent of the mass scale of supersymmetry μ, with even smaller masses for the fermions.     

Spontaneous breaking of scale invariance in a supersymmetric model

The phase structure of a large N, O(N) supersymmetric model in three dimensions is studied. Of special interest is the spontaneous breaking of scale invariance which occurs at a fixed value of the coupling constant, λ₀=λ_c=4π. In this phase the bosons and fermions acquire a mass while a Goldstone boson (dilaton) and Goldstone fermion (“dilatino”) are dynamically generated as massless bound states. The absence of renormalization of the dimensionless coupling constant λ₀ leaves these Goldstone particles massless.     

Nonperturbative dynamics of noncommutative gauge theory

We present a nonperturbative lattice formulation of noncommutative Yang–Mills theories in arbitrary even dimension. We show that lattice regularization of a noncommutative field theory requires finite lattice volume which automatically provides both an ultraviolet and an infrared cutoff. We demonstrate explicitly Morita equivalence of commutative U(p) gauge theory with p·n_f flavours of fundamental matter fields on a lattice of size L with twisted boundary conditions and noncommutative U(1) gauge theory with n_f species of matter on a lattice of size p·L with single-valued fields. We discuss the relation with twisted large N reduced models and construct observables in noncommutative gauge theory with matter.     

Effect of bare mass on the Hosotani mechanism

It is pointed out that the existence of bare mass terms for matter fields changes gauge symmetry patterns through the Hosotani mechanism. As a demonstration, we study an SU(2) gauge model with massive adjoint fermions defined on M⁴S¹. It turns out that the vacuum structure changes at certain critical values of mL, where m (L) stands for the bare mass (the circumference of S¹). The gauge symmetry breaking patterns are different from models with massless adjoint fermions. We also consider a supersymmmetric SU(2) gauge model with adjoint hypermultiplets, in which the supersymmetry is broken by bare mass terms for the gaugino and squark fields instead of the Scherk–Schwarz mechanism.     

Gauge-Higgs unification in the left–right model

We construct a supersymmetric left–right model in four dimension with gauge-Higgs unification starting from a SU(3)_c×SU(4)_w×U(1)_B−L gauge symmetry in five dimension. The model has several interesting features, such as, the CKM mixings in the quark sector are naturally small while for the neutrino sector it is not, light neutrino masses can be generated via the seesaw mechanism in the usual way, and the model has a U(1)_R symmetry which naturally forbid dimension five proton decay operators. We also discuss the grand unification of our model in SO(12) in five dimensions.     

Dirac operator spectrum in the linear σ model

The spectrum of the Dirac operator for the linear σ Model with quarks in the large N_c approximation is presented. The spectral density can be related to the chiral condensate which is obtained using renormalization group flow equations. For small eigenvalues, the Banks-Casher relation and the vanishing linear correaction are recovered. The spectrum beyond the low energy regime is discussed.     

The O(N) vector model in the large-N limit revisited: multicritical points and double scaling limit

The multicritical points of the O(N)-invariant N vector model in the large-N limit are re-examined. Of particular interest are the subtleties involved in the stability of the phase structure at critical dimensions. In the limit N → ∞ while the coupling g → g_c in a correlated manner (the double scaling limit) a massless bound state O(N) singlet is formed and powers of 1/N are compensated by IR singularities. The persistence of the N → ∞ results beyond the leading order is then studied with particular interest in the possible existence of a phase with propagating small mass vector fields and a massless singlet bound state. We point out that under certain conditions the double scaled theory of the singlet field is non-interacting in critical dimensions.     

Commutator representations of differential calculi on the quantum group SUq(2)

Let (Γ, d) be the 3D-calculus or the 4D_±-calculus on the quantum group SU_q (2). We describe all pairs (π, F) of a ^*-representation π of (SU_q(2)) and of a symmetric operator F on the representation space satisfying a technical condition concerning its domain such that there exist a homomorphism of first order differential calculi which maps dx into the commutator [iF, π(x)] for x ε (SU_q (2)). As an application commutator representations of the two-dimensional left-covariant calculus on Podles quantum 2-sphere S_qc² with c = 0 are given.     

Energy-resolved spin filtering effect and thermoelectric effect in topological-insulator junctions with anisotropic chiral edge states

Topological edge states have crucial applications in the future nano spintronics devices. In this work, circularly polarized light is applied on the zigzag silicene-like nanoribbons resulting in the anisotropic chiral edge modes. An energy-dependent spin filter is designed based on the topological-insulator (TI) junctions with anisotropic chiral edge states. The resonance transmission has been observed in the TI junctions by calculating the local current distributions. And some strong Fabry−Perot resonances are found leading to the sharp transmission peaks. Whereas, the weak and asymmetric resonance corresponds to the broad transmission peaks. In addition, a qualitative relation between the resonant energy separation T_R and group velocity v_f is derived: T_R=πhv_fn/L, that indicated T_R is proportional to v_f and inversely proportional to the length L of the conductor. The different T_R between the spin-up and spin-down cases results in the energy-resolved spin filtering effect. Moreover, the intensity of the circularly polarized light can modulate the group velocity v_f. Thus, the intensity of circularly polarized light, as well as the conductor-length, play very vital roles in designing the energy-dependent spin filter. Since the transmission gap root in the Fabry−Perot resonances, the thermoelectric (TE) property can be enhanced by adjusting the gap. A schedule to enhance the TE performance in the TI-junction is proposed by modulating the electric field (E_z). The TE dependence on E_z in the nanojunction is investigated, where the appropriate E_z leads to a very high spin thermopower and spin figure of merit. These TI junctions have potential usages in the nano spintronics and thermoelectric devices.     

N=2 6-dimensional supersymmetric E6 breaking

We study the N=2 supersymmetric E₆ models on the 6-dimensional space–time where the supersymmetry and gauge symmetry can be broken by the discrete symmetry. On the space–time M⁴×S¹/(Z₂×Z₂′)×S¹/(Z₂×Z₂′), for the zero modes, we obtain the 4-dimensional N=1 supersymmetric models with gauge groups SU(3)×SU(2)×SU(2)×U(1)², SU(4)×SU(2)×SU(2)×U(1), and SU(3)×SU(2)×U(1)³ with one extra pair of Higgs doublets from the vector multiplet. In addition, considering that the extra space manifold is the annulus A² and disc D², we list all the constraints on constructing the 4-dimensional N=1 supersymmetric SU(3)×SU(2)×U(1)³ models for the zero modes, and give the simplest model with Z₉ symmetry. We also comment on the extra gauge symmetry breaking and its generalization.     

The Hadron to quark-gluon transition in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

In this paper we construct a scenario for the QCD transition from the hadron phase to the quark/gluon phase using physical models for these phases. The hadron phase is modeled by a spectrum of hadrons with masses which drop (with a common scaling factor) towards zero at chiral symmetry restoration. The number of hadronic effective degrees of freedom is limited by the number of microscopic degrees of freedom in the quark/gluon phase. This limitation can be imposed either by fiat or through the introduction of a temperature-dependent excluded volume. Given that the number of degrees of freedom in hadrons and in quarks and gluons are roughly equal, the QCD phase transition is inhibited by the bag constant. The only phase transition seen in lattice-gauge calculations, once low-mass quarks are included, is the restoration of chiral symmetry which occurs at the relatively low temperature of ˜ 150 MeV. At present, lattice gauge calculations do not have the resolution to determine the properties of the higher hadronic states accurately. They do, however, demonstrate that chiral restoration takes place in the (ρ. a₁), ( +)), ( −)) and (π, σ) systems by yielding “screening masses” for chiral partners which are distinct for T < T _xSR and identical for T>T _xSR. Further, within numerical accuracy, these “screening masses” are consistent with pure thermal energies and show no evidence of remaining bare masses once chiral symmetry is restored. These, and other lattice-gauge results, will be discussed in the light of our scenario. We shall also consider the consequences of our picture for relativistic heavy-ion experiments.     

The top quark mass and flavour mixing in a seesaw model of quark masses

The top quark mass and the flavour mixing are studied in the context of a seesaw model of quark masses based on the gauge group SU(2)_L × SU(2)_R × U(1). Six isosinglet quarks are introduced to give rise to the mass hierarchy of ordinary quarks. In this scheme, we reexamine a mechanism for the generation of the top quark mass. It is shown that, in order to prevent the seesaw mechanism to act for the top quark, the mass parameter of its isosinglet partner must be much smaller than the breaking scale of SU(2)_R. As a result the fourth lightest up quark must have a mass of the order of the breaking scale of SU(2)_R, and a large mixing between the right-handed top quark and its singlet partner occurs. We also show that this mechanism is compatible with the mass spectrum of light quarks and their flavour mixing.