Gauge anomaly cancellation in chiral gauge theories

We consider chiral fermions interacting minimally with abelian and non-abelian gauge fields. Using a path integral approach and exploring the consequences of a mechanism of symmetry restoration, we show that the gauge anomaly has null expectation value in the vacuum for both cases (abelian and non-abelian). We argue that the same mechanism has no possibility to cancel the chiral anomaly, what eliminates competition between chiral and gauge symmetry at full quantum level. We also show that the insertion of the gauge anomaly in arbitrary gauge invariant correlators gives a null result, which points towards anomaly cancellation in the subspace of physical state vectors.     

Finite-Dimensional AKSZ–BV Theories

We describe a canonical reduction of AKSZ–BV theories to the cohomology of the source manifold. We get a finite-dimensional BV theory that describes the contribution of the zero modes to the full QFT. Integration can be defined and correlators can be computed. As an illustration of the general construction, we consider two-dimensional Poisson sigma model and three-dimensional Courant sigma model. When the source manifold is compact, the reduced theory is a generalization of the AKSZ construction where we take as source the cohomology ring. We present the possible generalizations of the AKSZ theory.     

Haldane limits via Lagrangian embeddings

In the present paper we revisit the so-called Haldane limit, i.e. a particular continuum limit, which leads from a spin chain to a sigma model. We use the coherent state formulation of the path integral to reduce the problem to a semiclassical one, which leads us to the observation that the Haldane limit is closely related to a Lagrangian embedding into the classical phase space of the spin chain. Using this property, we find a spin chain whose limit produces a relativistic sigma model with target space the manifold of complete flags U(3)/U³(1). We discuss possible other future applications of Lagrangian/isotropic embeddings in this context.     

Semiclassical matrix model for quantum chaotic transport with time-reversal symmetry

We show that the semiclassical approach to chaotic quantum transport in the presence of time-reversal symmetry can be described by a matrix model. In other words, we construct a matrix integral whose perturbative expansion satisfies the semiclassical diagrammatic rules for the calculation of transport statistics. One of the virtues of this approach is that it leads very naturally to the semiclassical derivation of universal predictions from random matrix theory.     

Semiclassical theory of spin-orbit interactions using spin coherent states

We formulate a semiclassical theory for systems with spin-orbit interactions. Using spin coherent states, we start from the path integral in an extended phase space, formulate the classical dynamics of the coupled orbital and spin degrees of freedom, and calculate the ingredients of Gutzwiller's trace formula for the density of states. For a two-dimensional quantum dot with a spin-orbit interaction of Rashba type, we obtain satisfactory agreement with fully quantum-mechanical calculations. The mode-conversion problem, which arose in an earlier semiclassical approach, has hereby been overcome.     

Invariant spin coherent states and the theory of the quantum antiferromagnet in a paramagnetic phase

A consistent theory of the Heisenberg quantum antiferromagnet in the disordered phase with short-range antiferromagnetic order was developed on the basis of the path integral for the spin coherent states. We presented the Lagrangian of the theory in the form that is explicitly invariant under rotations and found natural variables in terms of which one can construct a perturbation theory. The short-wavelength spin fluctuations are similar to the ones in spin-wave theory, and the long-wavelength spin fluctuations are governed by the nonlinear sigma model. We also demonstrated that the short-wavelength spin fluctuations should be considered accurately in the framework of the discrete version in time of the path integral. In the framework of our approach, we obtained the response function for the spin fluctuations for the whole region of the frequency ω and the wave vector k and calculated the free energy of the system.     

Semiclassical quantization with a quantum adiabatic phase

By applying the path integral method to two interacting systems, we derive a novel form of the semiclassical quantization rule including the topological phase which was recently found in certain quantum adiabatic processes.     

Path integral quantization of the Poisson‐Sigma model

We apply the antifield quantization method of Batalin and Vilkovisky to the calculation of the path integral for the Poisson‐Sigma model in a general gauge. For a linear Poisson structure the model reduces to a nonabelian gauge theory, and we obtain the formula for the partition function of two‐dimensional Yang‐Mills theory for closed oriented two‐dimensional manifolds.     

Stochastic path integral formulation of full counting statistics

We derive a stochastic path integral representation of counting statistics in semiclassical systems. The formalism is introduced on the simple case of a single chaotic cavity with two quantum point contacts, and then further generalized to find the propagator for charge distributions with an arbitrary number of counting fields and generalized charges. The counting statistics is given by the saddle-point approximation to the path integral, and fluctuations around the saddle point are suppressed in the semiclassical approximation. We use this approach to derive the current cumulants of a chaotic cavity in the hot-electron regime.     

A Path Integral Approach¶to the Kontsevich Quantization Formula

We give a quantum field theory interpretation of Kontsevich's deformation quantization formula for Poisson manifolds. We show that it is given by the perturbative expansion of the path integral of a simple topological bosonic open string theory. Its Batalin–Vilkovisky quantization yields a superconformal field theory. The associativity of the star product, and more generally the formality conjecture can then be understood by field theory methods. As an application, we compute the center of the deformed algebra in terms of the center of the Poisson algebra. Received: 10 March 1999 / Accepted: 30 January 2000     

Hadron correlators and the structure of the quark propagator

The structure of the quark propagator of QCD in a confining background is not known. We make an ansatz for it, as hinted by a particular mechanism for confinement, and analyze its implications in the meson and baryon correlators. We connect the various terms in the Källen-Lehmann representation of the quark propagator with appropriate combinations of hadron correlators, which may ultimately be calculated in lattice QCD. Furthermore, using the positivity of the path integral measure for vector like theories, we reanalyze some mass inequalities in our formalism. A curiosity of the analysis is that, the exotic components of the propagator (axial and tensor), produce terms in the hadron correlators which, if not vanishing in the gauge field integration, lead to violations of fundamental symmetries. The non observation of these violations implies restrictions in the space-time structure of the contributing gauge field configurations. In this way, lattice QCD can help us analyze the microscopic structure of the mechanisms for confinement.Supported in part by CICYT (AEN91-0234) and DGICYT grant (PB91-0119-C02-01)     

Quantum adiabatic approximation to interacting boson-fermion systems

We present an adiabatic approximation method for the path integral of the Fermi field in the presence of a Bose field. The adiabatic phenomenon recently found by Berry and Simon is used for evaluating the Grassman path integral. Then we obtain the path integral of the effective action analogous to a magnetic field, and the quantization rule is derived by applying the semiclassical quantization method.     

Quantenfeldtheorie wechselwirkender Vielteilchensysteme zur semiklassischen Beschreibung von kollektiver Bewegung mit großen Amplituden

By using path integral methods a collective quantum field theory of interacting many-body systems is developed, the classical limit of which is given by the time-dependent mean-field approximation. In this way the mean-field approximation is embedded into the full quantum mechanics and the quantum corrections to the “classical” mean-field approximation can be systematically evaluated. By including the dominant quantum corrections to the mean-field approximation a semiclassical theory of large amplitude collective motions in many-body-systems, which show a highly nonlinear dynamic and are not accessible to perturbation theoretical methods, is derived. The semiclassical theory is developed explicitly for bound states and decay processes like nuclear fission. In the case of bound states this leads to the quantization of the time-dependent Hartree-Fock-Theory, which is demonstrated for a uniform nuclear rotation.     

含Hopf项和Maxwell-Chern-Simons项O(3)非线性σ模型的分数自旋和分数统计性质

研究了（2＋1）维时空中含Hopf项和Maxwell-Chern-Simons(MCS)项的非线性σ模型的分数自旋性质.根据约束Hamilton系统的Faddeev-Senjanovic(FS)路径积分量子化方案,对该系统进行量子化，由量子Noether定理给出了量子守恒角动量，说明了在量子水平上该系统仍具有分数自旋的性质. 关键词： 约束Hamilton系统 分数自旋 O(3)σ模型     

On the evaluation of the quantum corrections to periodic TDHF orbits

The evaluation of the leading order quantum correction to periodic mean-fields within the path integral approach is reinvestigated. The corresponding gaussian functional integral is well defined only after restoring the time-translation invariance broken by the time-dependent meanfield approximation. The particular structure of the action function permits one to restore the invariance in two different ways, that seem to exhibit an ambiguity in the evaluation of the leading order quantum correction. We prove, however, that both ways of restoring the time-translation invariance yield the same result, showing that the leading order quantum correction is uniquely defined within the path integral approach.     

Is Hawking temperature modified by the quantum tunneling beyond semiclassical approximation

Hawking temperature of a static and spherically symmetric black hole beyond semiclassical approximation is studied. The calculations show us that different definition of the particle’s energy gives different Hawking temperature. However, we argue that the result obtained using the standard definition of the particle energy is reasonable because it keeps the validity of the first law of the thermodynamics, i.e., both the Hawking temperature and entropy are not modified by the quantum tunneling beyond semiclassical approximation. The result shows us that any hypothetical (^h/_2p){\hbar} corrections to the tunneling rate are to be interpreted not as quantum corrections to the Hawking temperature but as fluctuations about a thermal background.     

Quantum extremism: effective potential and extremal paths

The reality and convexity of the effective potential in quantum field theories has been studied extensively in the context of Euclidean space-time. It has been shown that canonical and path-integral approaches may yield different results, thus resolving the convexity problem. We discuss the transferal of these treatments to Minkowskian space-time, which also necessitates a careful discussion of precisely which field configurations give the dominant contributions to the path integral. In particular, we study the effective potential for the N=1 linear sigma model.     

Semiclassical quantization of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation

Using the functional integral technique of Dashen, Hasslacher, and Neveu, we perform a semiclassical quantization of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, which reproduces McGuire's exact result for the energy levels of the theory's bound states. We show that the stability angle formalism leads to the one-loop normal ordering and self-energy renormalization expected from perturbation theory and demonstrate that taking into account center-of-mass motion gives the correct nonrelativistic energymomentum relation. We interpret the classical solution in the context of the quantum theory, relating it to the matrix element of the field operator between adjacent bound states in the limit of large quantum numbers. Finally, we quantize the NLSE as a theory of N component fermion fields and show that the semiclassical method yields the exact energy levels and correct degeneracies.