The quantum orbifold cohomology of toric stack bundles

We study Givental’s Lagrangian cone for the quantum orbifold cohomology of toric stack bundles. Using Gromov–Witten invariants of the base and combinatorics of the toric stack fibers, we construct an explicit slice of the Lagrangian cone defined by the genus 0 Gromov–Witten theory of a toric stack bundle.     

Topological quantization and cohomology

The relationships between topological charge quantization, Lagrangians and various cohomology theories are studied. A very general criterion for charge quantization is developed and applied to various physical models. The relationship between cohomology and homotopy is discussed.This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Contracts PHY 81-18547; and by the Director, Office of High Energy and Nuclear Physics of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contracts DE-AC03-76SF00098Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow     

Symmetry breaking in orbifold models

Gauge symmetry breaking to some physically interesting gauge groups is studied in the context of symmetric orbifolds.     

Topological gauge theories and group cohomology

We show that three dimensional Chern-Simons gauge theories with a compact gauge groupG (not necessarily connected or simply connected) can be classified by the integer cohomology groupH ⁴(BG,Z). In a similar way, possible Wess-Zumino interactions of such a groupG are classified byH ³(G,Z). The relation between three dimensional Chern-Simons gauge theory and two dimensional sigma models involves a certain natural map fromH ⁴(BG,Z) toH ³(G,Z). We generalize this correspondence to topological spin theories, which are defined on three manifolds with spin structure, and are related to what might be calledZ ₂ graded chiral algebras (or chiral superalgebras) in two dimensions. Finally we discuss in some detail the formulation of these topological gauge theories for the special case of a finite group, establishing links with two dimensional (holomorphic) orbifold models.     

The operator algebra of orbifold models

We analyze the chiral properties of (orbifold) conformal field theories which are obtained from a given conformal field theory by modding out by a finite symmetry group. For a class of orbifolds, we derive the fusion rules by studying the modular transformation properties of the one-loop characters. The results are illustrated with explicit calculations of toroidal andc=1 models.     

Topological quantum distillation

We construct a class of topological quantum codes to perform quantum entanglement distillation. These codes implement the whole Clifford group of unitary operations in a fully topological manner and without selective addressing of qubits. This allows us to extend their application also to quantum teleportation, dense coding, and computation with magic states.     

parafermionic current algebras of torus/orbifold models

We study the quantum field theory of bosons on the torus and the orbifold. When the torus is in special moduli, the representations of the theory are equivalent to those of some rational conformal field theories. We show that there are parafermonic current algebras in Z_N orbifold models.     

On equivalence of Floer's and quantum cohomology

We show that the Floer cohomology and quantum cohomology rings of the almost Kähler manifoldM, both defined over the Novikov ring of the loop space M, are isomorphic. We do it using a BRST trivial deformation of the topological A-model. The relevant aspect of noncompactness of the moduli of pseudoholomorphic instantons is discussed. It is shown nonperturbatively that any BRST trivial deformation of A model which does not change the dimensions of BRST cohomology does not change the topological correlation functions either.     

State sum models and simplicial cohomology

We study a class of subdivision invariant lattice models based on the gauge groupZ _p , with particular emphasis on the four dimensional example. This model is based upon the assignment of field variables to both the 1- and 2-dimensional simplices of the simplicial complex. The property of subdivision invariance is achieved when the coupling parameter is quantized and the field configurations are restricted to satisfy a type of mod-p flatness condition. By explicit computation of the partition function for the manifoldRP ³×S ¹, we establish that the theory has a quantum Hilbert space which differs from the classical one.Supported by Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie (FOM)     

Topological quantum field theory

A twisted version of four dimensional supersymmetric gauge theory is formulated. The model, which refines a nonrelativistic treatment by Atiyah, appears to underlie many recent developments in topology of low dimensional manifolds; the Donaldson polynomial invariants of four manifolds and the Floer groups of three manifolds appear naturally. The model may also be interesting from a physical viewpoint; it is in a sense a generally covariant quantum field theory, albeit one in which general covariance is unbroken, there are no gravitons, and the only excitations are topological.On leave from Department of Physics, Princeton University. Research supported in part by NSF Grants No. 80-19754, 86-16129, 86-20266     

Phenomenological aspects of heterotic orbifold models at one loop

We provide a detailed study of the phenomenology of orbifold compactifications of the heterotic string within the context of supergravity effective theories. Our investigation focuses on those models where the soft Lagrangian is dominated by loop contributions to the various soft supersymmetry breaking parameters. Such models typically predict non-universal soft masses and are thus significantly different from minimal supergravity and other universal models. We consider the pattern of masses that are governed by these soft terms and investigate the implications of certain indirect constraints on supersymmetric models, such as flavor-changing neutral currents, the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon and the density of thermal relic neutralinos. We also comment on the possible discovery of these models at the LHC. These string-motivated models show a novel behavior that interpolates between the phenomenology of unified supergravity models and models dominated by the superconformal anomaly. PACS 11.25.Wx, 12.60.Jv, 04.65.+e     

Topological sigma models

A variant of the usual supersymmetric nonlinear sigma model is described, governing maps from a Riemann surface to an arbitrary almost complex manifoldM. It possesses a fermionic BRST-like symmetry, conserved for arbitrary, and obeyingQ ²=0. In a suitable version, the quantum ground states are the 1+1 dimensional Floer groups. The correlation functions of the BRST-invariant operators are invariants (depending only on the homotopy type of the almost complex structure ofM) similar to those that have entered in recent work of Gromov on symplectic geometry. The model can be coupled to dynamical gravitational or gauge fields while preserving the fermionic symmetry; some observations by Atiyah suggest that the latter coupling may be related to the Jones polynomial of knot theory. From the point of view of string theory, the main novelty of this type of sigma model is that the graviton vertex operator is a BRST commutator. Thus, models of this type may correspond to a realization at the level of string theory of an unbroken phase of quantum gravity.On leave from Department of Physics, Princeton University. Supported in part by NSF Grants No. 80-19754, 86-16129, 86-20266     

Topological protection and quantum noiseless subsystems

Encoding and manipulation of quantum information by means of topological degrees of freedom provides a promising way to achieve natural fault tolerance that is built in at the physical level. We show that this topological approach to quantum information processing is a particular instance of the notion of computation in a noiseless quantum subsystem. The latter then provides the most general conceptual framework for stabilizing quantum information and for preserving quantum coherence in topological and geometric systems.