Division Algebras and Quantum Theory

Quantum theory may be formulated using Hilbert spaces over any of the three associative normed division algebras: the real numbers, the complex numbers and the quaternions. Indeed, these three choices appear naturally in a number of axiomatic approaches. However, there are internal problems with real or quaternionic quantum theory. Here we argue that these problems can be resolved if we treat real, complex and quaternionic quantum theory as part of a unified structure. Dyson called this structure the ‘three-fold way’. It is perhaps easiest to see it in the study of irreducible unitary representations of groups on complex Hilbert spaces. These representations come in three kinds: those that are not isomorphic to their own dual (the truly ‘complex’ representations), those that are self-dual thanks to a symmetric bilinear pairing (which are ‘real’, in that they are the complexifications of representations on real Hilbert spaces), and those that are self-dual thanks to an antisymmetric bilinear pairing (which are ‘quaternionic’, in that they are the underlying complex representations of representations on quaternionic Hilbert spaces). This three-fold classification sheds light on the physics of time reversal symmetry, and it already plays an important role in particle physics. More generally, Hilbert spaces of any one of the three kinds—real, complex and quaternionic—can be seen as Hilbert spaces of the other kinds, equipped with extra structure.     

Real-time propagators at finite temperature and chemical potential

We derive a form of spectral representations for all bosonic and fermionic propagators in the real-time formulation of field theory at finite temperature and chemical potential. Besides being simple and symmetrical between the bosonic and the fermionic types, these representations depend explicitly on analytic functions only. This property allows for a simple evaluation of loop integrals in the energy variables over propagators in this form, even in the presence of chemical potentials, which is not possible for their conventional form.     

Particle Weights and Their Disintegration II

The first article in this series presented a thorough discussion of particle weights and their characteristic properties. In this part a disintegration theory for particle weights is developed which yields pure components linked to irreducible representations and exhibiting features of improper energy-momentum eigenstates. This spatial disintegration relies on the separability of the Hilbert space as well as of the C*-algebra. Neither is present in the GNS-representation of a generic particle weight so that we use a restricted version of this concept on the basis of separable constructs. This procedure does not entail any loss of essential information insofar as under physically reasonable assumptions on the structure of phase space the resulting representations of the separable algebra are locally normal and can thus be continuously extended to the original quasi-local C*-algebra.     

One flavor QCD

One flavor QCD is a rather intriguing variation on the underlying theory of hadrons. In this case quantum anomalies remove all chiral symmetries. This paper discusses the qualitative behavior of this theory as a function of its basic parameters, exploring the non-trivial phase structure expected as these parameters are varied. Comments are made on the expected changes to this structure if the gauge group is made larger and the fermions are put into higher representations.     

Unbounded functionals on a group algebra and applications to quantum theory

A certain class of positive functionals on a group algebra is examined that is pertinent to the induced representations of Frobenius and Mackey. Though these functionals are not bounded in theL ¹ norm, continuity still persists to an extent that secures the existence of a continuous group representation obtained from Gelfand's construction. The theory thus developed provides a new aspect of both the improper states in quantum theory and the induced representations of groups. The method is applied to the Poincaré group and it is shown that the representations, in which particles can be accommodated, are determined up to unitary equivalence by unbounded functionals of a simple structure. It is stressed that representations describing an infinitely degenerate vacuum emerge from mass nonzero representations as the mass tends to zero.     

Superconformal field theory and SUSY N=1 KdV hierarchy II: the Q-operator

The algebraic structures related with integrable structure of superconformal field theory (SCFT) are introduced. The SCFT counterparts of Baxter's Q-operator are constructed. The fusion-like relations for the transfer-matrices in different representations and their truncations are obtained.     

Coxeter groups A4, B4 and D4 for two-qubit systems

The Coxeter–Weyl groups W(A₄), W(B₄), and W(D₄) have proven very useful for two-qubit systems in quantum information theory. A simple technique is employed to construct the unitary matrix representations of the groups, based on quaternionic transformation of the usual reflection matrices. The von Neumann entropy of each reduced density matrix is calculated. It is shown that these unitary matrix representations are naturally related to various universal quantum gates and they lead to entangled states. Canonical decomposition of generators in terms of fundamental gate representations is given to construct the quantum circuits.     

Calcium imaging in the ant <Emphasis Type="Italic">Camponotus fellah</Emphasis> reveals a conserved odour-similarity space in insects and mammals

Background  

Olfactory systems create representations of the chemical world in the animal brain. Recordings of odour-evoked activity in the primary olfactory centres of vertebrates and insects have suggested similar rules for odour processing, in particular through spatial organization of chemical information in their functional units, the glomeruli. Similarity between odour representations can be extracted from across-glomerulus patterns in a wide range of species, from insects to vertebrates, but comparison of odour similarity in such diverse taxa has not been addressed. In the present study, we asked how 11 aliphatic odorants previously tested in honeybees and rats are represented in the antennal lobe of the ant Camponotus fellah, a social insect that relies on olfaction for food search and social communication.     

Octonionic representations of Clifford algebras and triality

The theory of representations of Clifford algebras is extended to employ the division algebra of the octonions or Cayley numbers. In particular, questions that arise from the nonassociativity and noncommutativity of this division algebra are answered. Octonionic representations for Clifford algebras lead to a notion of octonionic spinors and are used to give octoninic representations of the respective orthogonal groups. Finally, the triality automorphisms are shown to exhibit a manifest ₃ ×SO(8) structure in this framework.     

From Euclidean to Minkowski space with the Cauchy–Riemann equations

We present an elementary method to obtain Green’s functions in non-perturbative quantum field theory in Minkowski space from Green’s functions calculated in Euclidean space. Since in non-perturbative field theory the analytical structure of amplitudes often is unknown, especially in the presence of confined fields, dispersive representations suffer from systematic uncertainties. Therefore, we suggest to use the Cauchy–Riemann equations, which perform the analytical continuation without assuming global information on the function in the entire complex plane, but only in the region through which the equations are solved. We use as example the quark propagator in Landau gauge quantum chromodynamics, which is known from lattice and Dyson–Schwinger studies in Euclidean space. The drawback of the method is the instability of the Cauchy–Riemann equations against high-frequency noise,which makes it difficult to achieve good accuracy. We also point out a few curious details related to the Wick rotation.     

The extended loop group: An infinite dimensional manifold associated with the loop space

A set of coordinates in the non-parametric loop-space is introduced. We show that these coordinates transform under infinite dimensional linear representations of the diffeomorphism group. An extension of the group of loops in terms of these objects is proposed. The enlarged group behaves locally as an infinite dimensional Lie group. Ordinary loops form a subgroup of this group. The algebraic properties of this new mathematical structure are analyzed in detail. Applications of the formalism to field theory, quantum gravity and knot theory are considered.     

Analysis of methane–air edge flame structure

We study the structure of a methane–air edge flame stabilized against an incoming mixing layer. The flame is computed using detailed chemical kinetics, and the analysis is based on computational singular perturbation theory. We focus on examination of the dynamical fast/slow structure of the flame, exploring the distribution of time-scales, the composition of the related specific modes and the effective low-dimensional structure. We also study the importance of chemical/transport processes for both major species and radicals in the flame, analyzing the information available from slow/fast importance indices as compared to reaction flux analysis. Results provide enhanced understanding of the flame, outlining the role of different chemical and transport processes in its observed structure.     

Nuclear Algebraic Geometry and SO(10)

In this contribution nuclear representations of the Dirac ring, developed over many years, are shown to be a particular case of a theorem in algebraic geometry which at the same time associates them with a Hodge decomposition of a Kaehler manifold. This yields a shape that in some cases is independent of any appeal to a symmetry group. However, because the nuclear representations are in the infinitesimal ring of SO(4) and the internal space of each representation is in a Kaehler (even Calabi-Yau) manifold K; the group SO(10) = SO(4) × K can give additional information. This paper develops the very fruitful symbiosis between algebra and irreducible representations of SO(10) and covers some aspects of string theory.     

The algebraic structure of the Onsager algebra

We study the Lie algebra structure of the Onsager algebra from the ideal theoretic point of view. A structure theorem of ideals in the Onsager algebra is obtained with the connection to the finite-dimensional representations. We also discuss the solvable algebra aspect of the Onsager algebra through the formal theory.     

Finite- and Infinite-Dimensional Representations of the Lorentz Group

Finite- and infinite-dimensional representations of the Lorentz group are discussed and various topics in which this group is currently in use are mentioned. The infinitesimal approach of finding representations is reviewed and all finite-dimensional spinor representations of the Lorentz group are obtained. Infinite-dimensional representations are then discussed, including the principal, complementary, and complete series of representations. A generalized Fourier transformation is introduced which enables one to use the global approach to representation theory so as to express infinite-dimensional representations in terms of matrices. This method is shown to lead to a generalization of the spinor form of finite-dimensional representation to the infinite-dimensional case. However, whereas the usual spinor representations are nonunitary, the obtained new form describes both unitary and non-unitary representations, depending on the choice of certain parameters appearing in the representation formula.     

The operator quantization of the open bosonic string: Field algebra

Our aim in this paper is to make explicit the operator theory of the heuristic open Bosonic string and to abstract a suitable field algebra for the string. This is done on a Fock-Krein space and we examine integrability and J-unitary implementability of all the defining transformations of the string, i.e. time translations, gauge transformations and Poincaré transformations. The results obtained agree partially with those of Bowick and Rajeev, i.e. the gauge transformations do not leave the Fock-Krein complex structure invariant. Once we obtained integrated transformation groups on a suitable symplectic space for the infinitesimal transformations of the string, and proved implementability of these for the Fock-Krein representation, we are then free to define an abstract C^*-algebra carrying all the algebraic information of the string, and to examine different representations.     

Algebraic Coset Conformal Field Theories

All unitary Rational Conformal Field Theories (RCFT) are conjectured to be related to unitary coset Conformal Field Theories, i.e., gauged Wess–Zumino–Witten (WZW) models with compact gauge groups. In this paper we use subfactor theory and ideas of algebraic quantum field theory to approach coset Conformal Field Theories. Two conjectures are formulated and their consequences are discussed. Some results are presented which prove the conjectures in special cases. In particular, one of the results states that a class of representations of coset W _N (N≥ 3) algebras with critical parameters are irreducible, and under the natural compositions (Connes' fusion), they generate a finite dimensional fusion ring whose structure constants are completely determined, thus proving a long-standing conjecture about the representations of these algebras. Received: 5 November 1998 / Accepted: 18 October 1999     

Empirical State Determination of Entangled Two-Level Systems and Its Relation to Information Theory

Theoretical methods for empirical state determination of entangled two-level systems are analyzed in relation to information theory. We show that hidden variable theories would lead to a Shannon index of correlation between the entangled subsystems which is larger than that predicted by quantum mechanics. Canonical representations which have maximal correlations are treated by the use of Schmidt and Hilbert-Schmidt decomposition of the entangled states, including especially the Bohm singlet state and the GHZ entangled states. We show that quantum mechanics does not violate locality, but does violate realism.     

Relativity from quantum theory

Starting from the fact that the geodesic structure of the projective space of quantum pure states gives a natural explanation for the fundamentality of spin 1/2 systems in relativistic quantum theory, and making use of the inducing construction for infinite-dimensional representations of groups in vector bundles over projective space, a proposal for unifying physical theory in terms of a possible derivation of relativistic physics from pure quantum theory is presented.