Reflections on the evolution of physical theories

Conclusion Let me come back to the successes of the Poincaré group in particle physics. This is a group with ten generators. The translation generators are responsible for the energy-momentum conservation laws, the rotation generators of the conservation of angular momentum, and the boost generators of the conservation ofinitial position. If positions are slightly different from the ones described by Minkowski space, it means that we have to change slightly the notion of boosts. If we remember that boosts were questionable in Minkowski space (see Section 9), we are not surprised. We are naturally led to a deformation of the Poincaré group which would preserve translations and rotations [such a deformation has been proposed by Lukierskiet al. (n.d.)]. By duality, small changes at short distances must correspond to small changes in large momenta. The fact that cutoffs for momenta are involved in QED is perhaps related to a noncommutative structure for our space. With such a structure, making the size of an electron go to zero is meaningless and consequently the difficulty of an electron with infinite energy also becomes meaningless. A noncommutative space is probably a way to solve the difficulties mentioned in the epigraphs to this paper.     

The superconformal algebra in higher dimensions

The superconformal algebra for 4/4N-dimensional super-Minkowski space (d=4) can be identified with the simple superalgebra su (2,2/N). For even-dimension d=5,6 the superconformal algebra can be identified with a real form of the simple superalgebras F(4), D(4,1) respectively in Kac's classification. For even-dimension d>-7 it is impossible to define a superconformal algebra satisfying three natural conditions: (1) it acts as infinitesimal automorphisms on super-Minkowski space; (2) this action extends the natural action of the super-Poincaré algebra; (3) when the action of the even part of the superconformal algebra is reduced to an infinitesimal action on ordinary Minkowski space, it extends the natural action of the conformal algebra so (2, d).     

Scasimir Operator,Scentre and Representations of Uq(osp(1|2))

Recently, Borchers has shown that in a theory of local observables, certain unitary and antiunitary operators, which are obtained from an elementary construction suggested by Bisognano and Wichmann, have the same commutation relations with translation operators as Lorentz boosts and P₁CT operators would have, respectively. It is concluded from this that as soon as the operators considered implement any symmetry, this symmetry can be fixed up to at most some translation. As a symmetry, any unitary or antiunitary operator is admitted under whose adjoint action any algebra of local observables is mapped onto an algebra which can be localized somewhere in Minkowski space.     

Born’s Reciprocal Gravity in Curved Phase-Spaces and the Cosmological Constant

The main features of how to build a Born’s Reciprocal Gravitational theory in curved phase-spaces are developed. By recurring to the nonlinear connection formalism of Finsler geometry a generalized gravitational action in the 8D cotangent space (curved phase space) can be constructed involving sums of 5 distinct types of torsion squared terms and 2 distinct curvature scalars which are associated with the curvature in the horizontal and vertical spaces, respectively. A Kaluza-Klein-like approach to the construction of the curvature of the 8D cotangent space and based on the (torsionless) Levi-Civita connection is provided that yields the observed value of the cosmological constant and the Brans-Dicke-Jordan Gravity action in 4D as two special cases. It is found that the geometry of the momentum space can be linked to the observed value of the cosmological constant when the curvature in space is very large, namely the small size of P is of the order of . Finally we develop a Born’s reciprocal complex gravitational theory as a local gauge theory in 8D of the Quaplectic group that is given by the semi-direct product of U(1,3) with the (noncommutative) Weyl-Heisenberg group involving four coordinates and momenta. The metric is complex with symmetric real components and antisymmetric imaginary ones. An action in 8D involving 2 curvature scalars and torsion squared terms is presented.     

Stability of the flat space in quasi-Riemannian theories of gravity

The most general action linear in curvature and quadratic in torsion for a quasi-Riemannian theory with tangent space groupSO(1,N-1)×SO(M) is obtained. Stability of the flat space solution of the field equations is studied, by calculating the massless and massive spectrum of excitations. It is shown that some very stringent conditions must be imposed on the parameters of the action in order to avoid instabilities.     

SO(n,1) Wigner rotation as an SL(2,R) problem

We show that the composition of not only two SO(3,1) boosts, but also that of two SO(n,1) boosts for anyn 2, is basically an SO(2,1) problem and hence can be analysed completely using SL(2,R) matrices. By computing the expression for the Thomas/Wigner angle directly using SL(2,R) matrices we show that this approach results in considerable economy of algebra.     

Superluminal transformations in complex Minkowski spaces

We calculate the mixing of real and imaginary components of space and time under the influence of superluminal boosts in thex direction. A unique mixing is determined for this superluminal Lorentz transformation when we consider the symmetry properties afforded by the inclusion of three temporal directions. Superluminal transformations in complex six-dimensional space exhibit unique tachyonic connections which have both remote and local space-time event connections.Supported in part by the Nuclear Science Division of the U.S. Department of Energy under contract No. W-7405-ENG-48.     

The Spectral Action Principle

We propose a new action principle to be associated with a noncommutative space . The universal formula for the spectral action is where is a spinor on the Hilbert space, is a scale and a positive function. When this principle is applied to the noncommutative space defined by the spectrum of the standard model one obtains the standard model action coupled to Einstein plus Weyl gravity. There are relations between the gauge coupling constants identical to those of SU(5) as well as the Higgs self-coupling, to be taken at a fixed high energy scale. Received: 1 October 1996 / Accepted: 15 November 1996     

Boosts in an Arbitrary Direction and Maximal Causal Velocities in a Deformed Minkowski Space

We discuss boosts in a deformed Minkowski space, i.e., a four-dimensional spacetime with metric coefficients depending on nonmetric coordinates (in particular on the energy). The general form of a boost in an arbitrary direction is derived in the case of space anisotropy. Two maximal trivector velocities are mathematically possible, an isotropic and an anisotropic one. However, only the anisotropic velocity has physical meaning, being invariant indeed under deformed boosts.     

Gravity and gauge: A new perspective

Realization of the Poincaré groupP ₁₀ as a subgroup ofGL(5,R) that maps a 4-dimensional affine set into itself has been shown to lead to a direct Yang-Mills gauging process. This paper discusses the differences between direct gauge theory forP ₁₀ and previously published works. These differences are fundamental, both physically and mathematically, and lead to marked departures from previous concepts and interpretations. The translation subgroup is correctly gauged; the metric structure and metric compatibility are derived from the gauging process rather than assumed; spin structures are automatically incorporated in a consistent manner; the local holonomy group is shown to be the component of the Lorentz group connected to the identity; the geometric analog of Yang-Mills minimal coupling precludes dependence of the free gauge field Lagranian on torsion; and the theory reduces exactly to general relativity when the momentumenergy complex is symmetric and all matter fields are spin-free. Gravitational effects on neutral test particles are shown to arise from the compensating 1-forms for local action of Lorentz boosts. The compensating 1-forms for local action of the translation subgroup may be interpreted as space-time dislocations, while the compensating 1-forms for the rotation subgroup can be viewed as space-time disclinations. Unfortunately, there are no clear physical meanings that can be ascribed to space-time dislocations or disclinations.     

On quantum iterated function systems

A Quantum Iterated Function System on a complex projective space is defined through a family of linear operators on a complex Hilbert space. The operators define both the maps and their probabilities by one algebraic formula. Examples with conformal maps (relativistic boosts) on the Bloch sphere are discussed.     

Vacuum Radiation and Symmetry Breaking in Conformally Invariant Quantum Field Theory

The underlying reasons for the difficulty of unitarily implementing the whole conformal group SO(4,2) in a massless Quantum Field Theory (QFT) on Minkowski space are investigated in this paper. Firstly, we demonstrate that the singular action of the subgroup of special conformal transformations (SCT), on the standard Minkowski space $M$, cannot be primarily associated with the vacuum radiation problems, the reason being more profound and related to the dynamical breakdown of part of the conformal symmetry (the SCT subgroup, to be more precise) when representations of null mass are selected inside the representations of the whole conformal group. Then we show how the vacuum of the massless QFT radiates under the action of SCT (usually interpreted as transitions to a uniformly accelerated frame) and we calculate exactly the spectrum of the outgoing particles, which proves to be a generalization of the Planckian one, this recovered as a given limit. Received: 17 September 1997 / Accepted: 7 July 1998     

Relativity groups in the presence of matter

We show that the action of the boosts on an infinite system can be described continuously by bundle maps of Hilbert bundles based on the manifoldsG/G ₀, whereG is the full relativity group andG ₀ its closed subgroup which can be unitarily implemented on the fibre, which is a Hilbert space. We then develop a general theory of group representations on product bundlesM × ?, whereM is a manifold and ? a Hilbert space. We construct certain bundle representations of the Galilei and the Poincaré group and find that they correspond to various classes of elementary excitations. In particular, we define nonrelativistic zero-mass systems and obtain an analogue of the Faraday effect for the passage of hot electrons through matter. Our construction remains valid for the case whenG ₀ is the product of a lattice translation group and the time translations. We conclude that many qualitative features of the physics of condensed matter can be directly understood in terms of relativity group action on a bundle space as state space, which also suggests some avenues for further work.     

几种典型背景中Green-Schwarz超弦的κ-对称性

Metsaev和Tseytlin(MT)给出的AdS₅S⁵背景中Green-Schwarz(GS) IIB超弦的Polyakov作用量可以写成等价的Nambu-Goto形式.对于这种形式，给出了新的与靶空间的流有关的投影算子，并用其构造了使作用量不变的局域κ-变换.κ-对称性的这种新方案是由Schwarz对于GS模型提出的.由于MT模型与GS模型有所不同，文中所构造的局域κ-变换有一些新的特点，且适用于其他类似于MT模型的系统.文中分别以AdS₅S¹背景中IIB弦及Polyakov新提出的模型为例，构造了κ-对称性的靶空间形式. 关键词： Green-Schwarz超弦 κ-对称性')" href="#">κ-对称性 AdS₅S⁵')" href="#">AdS₅S⁵ AdS₅S¹')" href="#">AdS₅S¹     

Part 1 : Topological aspects of Yang-Mills fields in curved spaces. (Exact solutions)

To explore in its full richness the topological possibilities of gauge fields one should allow for simultaneous presence of gravitational and Yang-Mills ones. Thus if the integral topological indices of the Yang-Mills field for a flat Euclidean base space is associated with the structure of the vacuum, one may ask among other questions of interest, how this spectrum might be modified when the base space itself has non trivial indices. Exact solutions of SU(2) Yang-Mills fields are presented for metrics corresponding to well-known gravitational instantons. Such selfdual solutions, with vanishing energy monien-tunl tensor T_μv for Euclidean signature of the base space, do not perturb the metric. Thus they provide solutions of the combined gravitational-Y.M. system. New topological possibilities, such as finite action SU(2) fields with fractional indices for many centre inetrics are displayed explicitly. As another type of possibility non selfdual, finite action solutions are constructed explicitly on Schwarzschild and de Sitter metrics, the solution being real in the first and complex in second case respectively. It is also shown how various meron type solutions in flat space can be derived systematically from a very simple static solution in de Sitter.     

Realization of the three-dimensional quantum Euclidean space by differential operators

The three-dimensional quantum Euclidean space is an example of a non-commutative space that is obtained from Euclidean space by q-deformation. Simultaneously, angular momentum is deformed to , it acts on the q-Euclidean space that becomes a -module algebra this way. In this paper it is shown, that this algebra can be realized by differential operators acting on functions on . On a factorspace of a scalar product can be defined that leads to a Hilbert space, such that the action of the differential operators is defined on a dense set in this Hilbert space and algebraically self-adjoint becomes self-adjoint for the linear operator in the Hilbert space. The self-adjoint coordinates have discrete eigenvalues, the spectrum can be considered as a q-lattice. Received: 27 June 2000 / Published online: 9 August 2000     

Symmetries of quantum spaces. Subgroups and quotient spaces of quantumSU(2) andSO(3) groups

We prove that each action of a compact matrix quantum group on a compact quantum space can be decomposed into irreducible representations of the group. We give the formula for the corresponding multiplicities in the case of the quotient quantum spaces. We describe the subgroups and the quotient spaces of quantumSU(2) andSO(3) groups.     

q-deformed Minkowski space based on a q-Lorentz algebra

The Hilbert space representations of a non-commutative -deformed Minkowski space, its momenta and its Lorentz boosts are constructed. The spectrum of the diagonalizable space elements shows a lattice-like structure with accumulation points on the light-cone. Received: 23 January 1997 / Published online: 10 March 1998     

Relativistic rigid particles: Classical tachyons and quantum anomalies

Causal rigid particles whose action includes anarbitrary dependence on the world-line extrinsic curvature are considered. General classes of solutions are constructed, includingcausal tachyonic ones. The Hamiltonian formulation is developed in detail except for one degenerate situation for which only partial results are given and requiring a separate analysis. However, for otherwise generic rigid particles, the precise specification of Hamiltonian gauge symmetries is obtained with in particular the identification of the Teichmüller and modular spaces for these systems. Finally, canonical quantisation of the generic case is performed paying special attention to the phase space restriction due to causal propagation. A mixed Lorenz-gravitational anomaly is found in the commutator of Lorentz boosts with world-line reparametrisations. The subspace of gauge invariant physical states is therefore not invariant under Lorentz transformations. Consequences for rigid strings and membranes are also discussed.     

Common vacuum conservation amplitude in the theory of the radiation of mirrors in two-dimensional space-time and of charges in four-dimensional space-time

The changes in the action (and thus the vacuum conservation amplitudes) in the proper-time representation are found for an accelerated mirror interacting with scalar and spinor vacuum fields in 1+1 space. They are shown to coincide to within a factor of e ² with changes in the action of electric and scalar charges accelerated in 3+1 space. This coincidence is attributed to the fact that the Bose and Fermi pairs emitted by a mirror have the same spins 1 and 0 as do the photons and scalar quanta emitted by charges. It is shown that the propagation of virtual pairs in 1+1 space can be described by the causal Green’s function Δ_f(z,μ) of the wave equation for 3+1 space. This is because the pairs can have any positive mass and their propagation function is represented by an integral of the causal propagation function of a massive particle in 1+1 space over mass which coincides with Δ_f(z,μ). In this integral the lower limit μ is chosen small, but nonzero, to eliminate the infrared divergence. It is shown that the real and imaginary parts of the change in the action are related by dispersion relations, in which a mass parameter serves as the dispersion variable. They are a consequence of the same relations for Δ_f(z, μ). Therefore, the emergence of a real part in the change in the action is a direct consequence of causality, according to which Re Δ_f(z,μ)≠0 only for timelike and lightlike intervals. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 116, 1523–1538 (November 1999)