Quantum Group of Isometries in Classical and Noncommutative Geometry

We formulate a quantum generalization of the notion of the group of Riemannian isometries for a compact Riemannian manifold, by introducing a natural notion of smooth and isometric action by a compact quantum group on a classical or noncommutative manifold described by spectral triples, and then proving the existence of a universal object (called the quantum isometry group) in the category of compact quantum groups acting smoothly and isometrically on a given (possibly noncommutative) manifold satisfying certain regularity assumptions. The idea of ‘quantum families’ (due to Woronowicz and Soltan) are relevant to our construction. A number of explicit examples are given and possible applications of our results to the problem of constructing quantum group equivariant spectral triples are discussed. Supported in part by the Indian National Academy of Sciences.     

Quantum Isometries and Noncommutative Spheres

We introduce and study two new examples of noncommutative spheres: the half-liberated sphere, and the free sphere. Together with the usual sphere, these two spheres have the property that the corresponding quantum isometry group is “easy”, in the representation theory sense. We present as well some general comments on the axiomatization problem, and on the “untwisted” and “non-easy” case.     

Noncommutative Unification of General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. A Finite Model

We construct a model unifying general relativity and quantum mechanics in a broader structure of noncommutative geometry. The geometry in question is that of a transformation groupoid given by the action of a finite group on a space E. We define the algebra of smooth complex valued functions on , with convolution as multiplication, in terms of which the groupoid geometry is developed. Owing to the fact that the group G is finite the model can be computed in full details. We show that by suitable averaging of noncommutative geometric quantities one recovers the standard space-time geometry. The quantum sector of the model is explored in terms of the regular representation of the algebra , and its correspondence with the standard quantum mechanics is established.     

On Semi-Classical States of Quantum Gravity and Noncommutative Geometry

We construct normalizable, semi-classical states for the previously proposed model of quantum gravity which is formulated as a spectral triple over holonomy loops. The semi-classical limit of the spectral triple gives the Dirac Hamiltonian in 3+1 dimensions. Also, time-independent lapse and shift fields emerge from the semi-classical states. Our analysis shows that the model might contain fermionic matter degrees of freedom.     

Quantum Measurements and Finite Geometry

A complete set of mutually unbiased bases for a Hilbert space of dimension N is analogous in some respects to a certain finite geometric structure, namely, an affine plane. Another kind of quantum measurement, known as a symmetric informationally complete positive-operator-valued measure, is, remarkably, also analogous to an affine plane, but with the roles of points and lines interchanged. In this paper I present these analogies and ask whether they shed any light on the existence or non-existence of such symmetric quantum measurements for a general quantum system with a finite-dimensional state space.     

Quantum Field Theory on a Discrete Space and Noncommutative Geometry

We analyze in detail the quantization of a simple noncommutative model of spontaneous symmetry breaking in zero dimensions taking into account the noncommutative setting seriously. The connection to the counting argument of Feynman diagrams of the corresponding theory in four dimensions is worked out explicitly. Special emphasis is put on the motivation as well as the presentation of some well-known basic notions of quantum field theory which in the zero-dimensional theory can be studied without being spoiled by technical complications due to the absence of divergencies.     

Noncommutative Geometry and the Regularization Problem of 4D Quantum Field Theory

We give a noncommutative version of the complex projective space ² and show that scalar QFT on this space is free of UV divergencies. The tools necessary to investigate quantum fields on this fuzzy ² are developed and several possibilities to introduce spinors and Dirac operators are discussed.     

String Geometry and the Noncommutative Torus

We construct a new gauge theory on a pair of d-dimensional noncommutative tori. The latter comes from an intimate relationship between the noncommutative geometry associated with a lattice vertex operator algebra ? and the noncommutative torus. We show that the tachyon algebra of ? is naturally isomorphic to a class of twisted modules representing quantum deformations of the algebra of functions on the torus. We construct the corresponding real spectral triples and determine their Morita equivalence classes using string duality arguments. These constructions yield simple proofs of the O(d,d;ℤ) Morita equivalences between d-dimensional noncommutative tori and give a natural physical interpretation of them in terms of the target space duality group of toroidally compactified string theory. We classify the automorphisms of the twisted modules and construct the most general gauge theory which is invariant under the automorphism group. We compute bosonic and fermionic actions associated with these gauge theories and show that they are explicitly duality-symmetric. The duality-invariant gauge theory is manifestly covariant but contains highly non-local interactions. We show that it also admits a new sort of particle-antiparticle duality which enables the construction of instanton field configurations in any dimension. The duality non-symmetric on-shell projection of the field theory is shown to coincide with the standard non-abelian Yang–Mills gauge theory minimally coupled to massive Dirac fermion fields. Received: 26 October 1998/ Accepted: 9 April 1999     

The Geometry of Noncommutative Space-Time

Stabilization, by deformation, of the Poincaré-Heisenberg algebra requires both the introduction of a fundamental lentgh and the noncommutativity of translations which is associated to the gravitational field. The noncommutative geometry structure that follows from the deformed algebra is studied both for the non-commutative tangent space and the full space with gravity. The contact points of this approach with the work of David Finkelstein are emphasized.     

On the Noncommutative Geometry of Twisted Spheres

We describe noncommutative geometric aspects of twisted deformations, in particular of the spheres of Connes and Landi and of Connes and Dubois Violette, by using the differential and integral calculus on these spaces that is covariant under the action of their corresponding quantum symmetry groups. We start from multiparametric deformations of the orthogonal groups and related planes and spheres. We show that only in the twisted limit of these multiparametric deformations the covariant calculus on the plane gives, by a quotient procedure, a meaningful calculus on the sphere. In this calculus, the external algebra has the same dimension as the classical one. We develop the Haar functional on spheres and use it to define an integral of forms. In the twisted limit (differently from the general multiparametric case), the Haar functional is a trace and we thus obtain a cycle on the algebra. Moreover, we explicitly construct the *-Hodge operator on the space of forms on the plane and then by quotient on the sphere. We apply our results to even spheres and compute the Chern–Connes pairing between the character of this cycle, i.e. a cyclic 2n-cocycle, and the instanton projector defined in math.QA/0107070.     

Hamiltonian Gravity and Noncommutative Geometry

A version of foliated spacetime is constructed in which the spatial geometry is described as a time-dependent noncommutative geometry. The ADM version of the gravitational action is expressed in terms of these variables. It is shown that the vector constraint is obtained without the need for an extraneous shift vector in the action. Received: 24 June 1996 / Accepted: 30 January 1997     

Noncommutative Geometry and Integrable Models

A construction of conservation laws for -models in two dimensions is generalized in the framework of noncommutative geometry of commutative algebras. This is done by replacing theordinary calculus of differential forms with other differentialcalculi and introducing an analogue of the Hodge operator on thelatter. The general method is illustrated with several examples.     

Supersymmetric QCD and Noncommutative Geometry

We derive supersymmetric quantum chromodynamics from a noncommutative manifold, using the spectral action principle of Chamseddine and Connes. After a review of the Einstein?CYang?CMills system in noncommutative geometry, we establish in full detail that it possesses supersymmetry. This noncommutative model is then extended to give a theory of quarks, squarks, gluons and gluinos by constructing a suitable noncommutative spin manifold (i.e. a spectral triple). The particles are found at their natural place in a spectral triple: the quarks and gluinos as fermions in the Hilbert space, the gluons and squarks as the (bosonic) inner fluctuations of a (generalized) Dirac operator by the algebra of matrix-valued functions on a manifold. The spectral action principle applied to this spectral triple gives the Lagrangian of supersymmetric QCD, including supersymmetry breaking (negative) mass terms for the squarks. We find that these results are in good agreement with the physics literature.     

Stochastic Isometries in Quantum Mechanics

The class of stochastic maps, that is, linear, trace-preserving, positive maps between the self-adjoint trace class operators of complex separable Hilbert spaces plays an important role in the representation of reversible dynamics and symmetry transformations. Here a characterization of the isometric stochastic maps is given and possible physical applications are indicated.     

Hopf Modules and Noncommutative Differential Geometry

We define a new algebra of noncommutative differential forms for any Hopf algebra with an invertible antipode. We prove that there is a one-to-one correspondence between anti-Yetter–Drinfeld modules, which serve as coefficients for the Hopf cyclic (co)homology, and modules which admit a flat connection with respect to our differential calculus. Thus, we show that these coefficient modules can be regarded as “flat bundles” in the sense of Connes’ noncommutative differential geometry.     

Topics in Noncommutative Geometry Inspired Physics

In this review article we discuss some of the applications of noncommutative geometry in physics that are of recent interest, such as noncommutative many-body systems, noncommutative extension of Special Theory of Relativity kinematics, twisted gauge theories and noncommutative gravity.     

Neutrino Oscillations in Caianiello's Quantum Geometry Model

Neutrino flavor oscillations are analyzed in the framework of Quantum Geometry model proposed by Caianiello. In particular, we analyze the consequences of the model for accelerated neutrino particles that experience an effective Schwarzschild geometry modified by the existence of an upper limit on the acceleration, which implies a violation of the equivalence principle. We find a shift of quantum-mechanical phase of neutrino oscillations, which depends on the energy of neutrinos as E³. Implications on atmospheric and solar neutrinos are discussed.     

Quantization of Semi-Classical Twists and Noncommutative Geometry

A problem of defining the quantum analogues for semi-classical twists in U()[[t]] is considered. First, we study specialization at q = 1 of singular coboundary twists defined in Uq ())[[t]] for g being a nonexceptional Lie algebra, then we consider specialization of noncoboundary twists when = and obtain q-deformation of the semiclassical twist introduced by Connes and Moscovici in noncommutative geometry. Mathematics Subject Classification: 16W30, 17B37, 81R50