Causal signal transmission by quantum fields. III: Coherent response of fermions

Structural response properties of fermionic fields are investigated. In the presence of fermions the key technical concept becomes response combination, or R-normal product, of field operators. It generalises the notion of time-normal operator product to response problems. Time-normal products are a special case of R-normal products without inputs; this paper thus also generalises the concept of time-normal ordering to fermions. Explicit causality of R-normal products of arbitrary (bosonic and/or fermionic) field operators is proven, and explicit relations expressing them by conventional Green’s functions of quantum field theory are derived.     

Electromagnetic dipole moments and radiative decays of particles from exchange of fermionic unparticles

We construct the propagator for a free fermionic unparticle field from basic considerations of scale and Lorentz invariance. The propagator is fixed up to a normalization factor which is required to recover the result of a free massless fermion field in the canonical limit of the scaling dimension. Two new features appear compared to the bosonic case. The propagator contains both γ and non-γ terms, and there is a relative phase of π/2 between the two in the time-like regime for arbitrary scaling dimension. This should result in additional interference effects on top of the one known in the bosonic case. The non-γ term can mediate chirality flipped transitions that are not suppressed by a light fermion mass but are enhanced by a large bosonic mass in loops, compared to the pure particle case. We employ this last feature to set stringent bounds on the Yukawa couplings between a fermionic unparticle and an ordinary fermion through electromagnetic dipole moments and radiative decays of light fermions.     

Gauge theory of fermions onR × S 3 spacetime

A Lorentz-invariant gauge theory for massive fermions on R × S ³ spacetime is built up. Using the symmetry of S ³,we obtain Dirac-type equation and derive the expression of the fermionic propagator. Finally, starting from the SU(N) gauge-invariant Lagrangian, we obtain the set of Dirac-Yang-Mills equations on R × S ³ spacetime, pointing out major differences from the Minkowskian case.     

Fermionic langevin equations without kernel and Zwanzinger's gauge fixing procedure

We study the compatibility of Zwanzinger's gauge fixing procedure and the Langevin equations without kernel for massive fermions from the renormalization theory point of view. The UV divergent part of the QED fermionic propagator is computed at the one-loop level. The problems encountered in its subtraction are analyzed.     

Wilson fermions in a two-dimensional model

Wilson's action for fermions on a lattice is compared to the continuum action in a model obtained from the chiral Gross-Neveu model by performing a chiral transformation. The local definition of the axial current leads to two anomalies unrelated by the constraint of Lorentz invariance. In the large-N limit, the mass counterterm of the action is determined; this term is unnecessary in the Osterwalder-Seiler regularization. An expansion in the fermion propagator and in the axial current coupling may be formulated and summed to all orders for large N.     

Spectrum of the non-abelian phase in Kitaev’s honeycomb lattice model

The spectral properties of Kitaev’s honeycomb lattice model are investigated both analytically and numerically with the focus on the non-abelian phase of the model. After summarizing the fermionization technique which maps spins into free Majorana fermions, we evaluate the spectrum of sparse vortex configurations and derive the interaction between two vortices as a function of their separation. We consider the effect vortices can have on the fermionic spectrum as well as on the phase transition between the abelian and non-abelian phases. We explicitly demonstrate the 2ⁿ-fold ground state degeneracy in the presence of 2n well separated vortices and the lifting of the degeneracy due to their short-range interactions. The calculations are performed on an infinite lattice. In addition to the analytic treatment, a numerical study of finite size systems is performed which is in exact agreement with the theoretical considerations. The general spectral properties of the non-abelian phase are considered for various finite toroidal systems.     

Spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking for a U(N) gauge theory on a lattice

We study the breakdown of chiral invariance by calculating, in the infinite coupling, large-N limit, the generating functional of a U(N) gauge theory with one fermion, expressed on a lattice with the naive, chiral symmetric action. We compute the link integral over the gauge fields and the expression obtained after the integration over the fermions is recast under the form of a generating functional for bosonic fields. Then, a saddle-point method allows the calculation of the order parameter $\text{〈}\text{ψ}\text{ψ〉}$ for which a non-zero value signals the spontaneous breakdown of chiral symmetry. The analysis of the fluctuations around the saddle point allows one to exhibit the Goldstone modes corresponding to those global symmetries of the fermionic lattice action which are simultaneously broken.     

Consistent quantization of a two-dimensional non-abelian chiral theory

A two-dimensional SU(N) gauge model coupled to Weyl fermions is studied following recent suggestions for the quantization of potentially anomalous chiral theories. The Weyl fermion determinant is evaluated and the fermionic current is shown to be conserved due to the gauge invariance of the resulting quantum theory. As in the abelian case, the vector meson acquires a mass and the model is consistent provided a regularization parameter is conveniently chosen.     

On gauge invariance of Breit-Wigner propagators

We present an approach to bosonic (Z ^o,W ^±) as well as fermionic (top-quark) Breit-Wigner propagators which is consistent with gauge invariance arguments. In particular, for theZ ^o-boson propagator we extend previous analyses and show that the part proportional tok k _v /M ² must be modified near the resonance. We derive a mass shift which agrees with results obtained elsewhere by different methods. The modified form of a resonant heavy fermion propagator is also given.     

Excited fermions ate + e − andeP colliders

We analyse the discovery potentials of future colliders with respect to excited fermions which are expected in models of fermionic substructure. After discussing the possibilities offered by LEP, we will consider in detail the Next Linear Collider in itse ⁺ e ^?,eγ and γγ modes [where the high-energy photon beams are obtained through back-scattering of laser light]. In addition, sinceeP colliders are well adapted to the search of the first generation of excited leptons, we include a study of their possible manifestation at HERA and LEP/LHC. We give complete and compact formulae for decay widths, production cross sections and angular distributions. Furthermore, we analyse in some detail the polarisation of the produced excited fermions which allows for an easy reconstruction of the correlations between the initial state and the decay products of the heavy fermions.     

Fermionic Quantum Computation

We define a model of quantum computation with local fermionic modes (LFMs)—sites which can be either empty or occupied by a fermion. With the standard correspondence between the Foch space of m LFMs and the Hilbert space of m qubits, simulation of one fermionic gate takes O(m) qubit gates and vice versa. We show that using different encodings, the simulation cost can be reduced to O(log m) and a constant, respectively. Nearest neighbors fermionic gates on a graph of bounded degree can be simulated at a constant cost. A universal set of fermionic gates is found. We also study computation with Majorana fermions which are basically halves of LFMs. Some connection to qubit quantum codes is made.     

Controlling phase space caustics in the semiclassical coherent state propagator

The semiclassical formula for the quantum propagator in the coherent state representation is not free from the problem of caustics. These are singular points along the complex classical trajectories specified by z′, z″ and T where the usual quadratic approximation fails, leading to divergences in the semiclassical formula. In this paper, we derive third order approximations for this propagator that remain finite in the vicinity of caustics. We use Maslov’s method and the dual representation proposed in Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 050405 (2005) to derive uniform, regular and transitional semiclassical approximations for coherent state propagator in systems with two degrees of freedom.     

The Epstein–Glaser causal approach to the light-front QED4. II: Vacuum polarization tensor

In this work we show how to construct the one-loop vacuum polarization for light-front QED₄ in the framework of the perturbative causal theory. Usually, in the canonical approach, it is considered for the fermionic propagator the so-called instantaneous term, but it is known in the literature that this term is controversial because it can be omitted by computational reasons; for instance, by compensation or vanishing by dimensional regularization. In this work we propose a solution to this paradox. First, in the Epstein–Glaser causal theory, it is shown that the fermionic propagator does not have instantaneous term, and with this propagator we calculate the one-loop vacuum polarization, from this calculation it follows the same result as those obtained by the standard approach, but without reclaiming any extra assumptions. Moreover, since the perturbative causal theory is defined in the distributional framework, we can also show the reason behind our obtaining the same result whether we consider or not the instantaneous fermionic propagator term.     

Fermions from classical statistics

We describe fermions in terms of a classical statistical ensemble. The states τ of this ensemble are characterized by a sequence of values one or zero or a corresponding set of two-level observables. Every classical probability distribution can be associated to a quantum state for fermions. If the time evolution of the classical probabilities p_τ amounts to a rotation of the wave function , we infer the unitary time evolution of a quantum system of fermions according to a Schrödinger equation. We establish how such classical statistical ensembles can be mapped to Grassmann functional integrals. Quantum field theories for fermions arise for a suitable time evolution of classical probabilities for generalized Ising models.     

ABCD rule for Gaussian beam propagation in the context of quantum optics derived by the IWOP technique

The development of technique of integration within an ordered product (IWOP) of operators extends the Newton-Leibniz integration rule, originally applying to permutable functions, to the non-commutative quantum mechanical operators composed of Dirac’s ket-bra, which enables us to obtain the images of directly mapping symplectic transformation in classical phase space parameterized by [A, B; C, D] into quantum mechanical operator through the coherent state representation, we call them the generalized Fresnel operators (GFO) since they correspond to Fresnel transforms in Fourier optics. Based on GFO we find the ABCD rule for Gaussian beam propagation in the context of quantum optics (both in one-mode and two-mode cases) whose classical correspondence is just the ABCD rule in matrix optics. The entangled state representation is used in discussing the two-mode case.     

Phenomenology and conformal field theory or can string theory predict the weak mixing angle?

We show that the weak mixing angle θ_w is the same for continuously connected classical vacua of the heterotic string which have chiral fermions in their massless spectra. We also show that the world-sheet quantum field theory for any classical vacuum with spacetime supersymmetry possesses an N = 2 superconformal invariance.     

Supersymmetry and bosonization in three dimensions

We discuss on the possible existence of a supersymmetric invariance in purely fermionic planar systems and its relation to the fermion-boson mapping in three-dimensional quantum field theory. We consider, as a very simple example, the bosonization of free massive fermions and show that, under certain conditions on the masses, this model displays a supersymmetric-like invariance in the low energy regime. We construct the purely fermionic expression for the supercurrent and the non-linear supersymmetry transformation laws. We argue that the supersymmetry is absent in the limit of massless fermions where the bosonized theory is non-local.     

Orthogonality between scales in a renormalization group for fermions

Having in mind the development of a technical tool to treat fermionic systems, we propose a Kadanoff-Wilson block renormalization transformation employing unusual averages (an inevitable artifact due to the specificity of lattice fermions and to the desired transformation properties). The free propagator is decomposed into operators associated to different momentum scales and with orthogonal relations, and the effective actions generated from the Dirac operator by the transformations present uniform exponential decay. We argue to show the usefulness of the formalism to study correlation functions of interacting fermions.     

Supersymmetry in complex space-time

An interconnection between superluminal transformation and supersymmetric transformations has been investigated in complex C³-space and the evolution of bosonic and fermionic subspaces in such space has been undertaken. Introducing the suitable anticommuting operators to induce grading in Poincare group in C³-space in terms of components of complex angular momentum operator, the supersymmetric algebra connecting bradyonic and tachyonic bosons and fermions has been constructed and it has been demonstrated that the difference between scales of bosonic and fermionic subspaces in C³-space increases quickly in spite of their closeness initially.