O(d,d) symmetry in quantum cosmology

We analyze the quantum cosmology of one-loop string effective models which exhibit an O(d, d) symmetry. It is shown that due to the large symmetry of these models the Wheeler-de Witt equation can completely be solved. As a result, we find a basis of solutions with well-defined transformation properties under O(d, d) and under scale factor duality in particular. The general results are explicitly applied to 2-dimensional target spaces while some aspects of higher dimensional cases are also discussed. Moreover, a semiclassical wave function for the 2-dimensional black hole is constructed as a superposition of our basis.     

Flux compactifications of string theory on twisted tori

Global aspects of Scherk‐Schwarz dimensional reduction are discussed and it is shown that it can usually be viewed as arising from a compactification on the compact space obtained by identifying a (possibly non‐compact) group manifold 𝒢 under a discrete subgroup Γ, followed by a truncation. This allows a generalisation of Scherk‐Schwarz reductions to string theory or M‐theory as compactifications on 𝒢/Γ, but only in those cases in which there is a suitable discrete subgroup of 𝒢. We analyse such compactifications with flux and investigate the gauge symmetry and its spontaneous breaking. We discuss the covariance under O(d,d), where d is the dimension of the group 𝒢, and the relation to reductions with duality twists. The compactified theories promote a subgroup of the O(d,d) that would arise from a toroidal reduction to a gauge symmetry, and we discuss the interplay between the gauge symmetry and the O(d,d,ℤ T‐duality group, suggesting the role that T‐duality should play in such compactifications.     

Gauge symmetry and supersymmetry in the Higgsless standard model

The group SO(6) ⊗ SO(5) is shown to be the gauge group as well as supersymmetry group of a four dimensional superstring model. Here, we discuss how supersymmetry is realised in 4-dimensions and further, we successfully reproduce the gauge symmetry results. Using the SO(6) ⊗ SO(5) group, all the known aspects of the string theory are obtained. The model reduces to the Standard Model which has the capability of containing the ingredients of a successful theory of the present day physics. However, there are no Higgs in the model.     

Large <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis> Expansion of <Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>-Deformed Two-Dimensional Yang-Mills Theory and Hecke Algebras

We derive the q-deformation of the chiral Gross-Taylor holomorphic string large N expansion of two dimensional SU(N) Yang-Mills theory. Delta functions on symmetric group algebras are replaced by the corresponding objects (canonical trace functions) for Hecke algebras. The role of the Schur-Weyl duality between unitary groups and symmetric groups is now played by q-deformed Schur-Weyl duality of quantum groups. The appearance of Euler characters of configuration spaces of Riemann surfaces in the expansion persists. We discuss the geometrical meaning of these formulae.     

Computing parallel/coincident phase D-brane superpotentials and Type-Ⅱ/F-theory duality

In this paper we study the parallel phase and the coincident phase of D-brane systems with the compactification of one closed modulus. D-brane systems with two phases are described by different 4-folds in terms of Type-Ⅱ/F-theory duality, and the phase transitions are related by the blow-up from a 4-fold with singularities to a 4-fold without. In terms of gauge theory, the phase transition corresponds to the enhancement of gauge group U(1)×U(1)→U(2) connecting the Coulomb branch and the Higgs branch. For the sextic and octic with two D-branes,using mirror symmetry and Type-Ⅱ/F theory duality, A-model superpotentials are obtained from the B-model side for the two phases, and the U(1) Ooguri-Vafa invariants for the parallel phase and U(2) Ooguri-Vafa invariants for the coincident phase are extracted from the A-model superpotential. The difference between the invariants of the two phases is evidence of the phase transition between the Coulomb branch and the Higgs branch.     

Electric-magnetic duality in non-abelian gauge theories

The duality transformation of the vacuum expectation value of the operator which creates magnetic vortices (the 't Hooft loop operator in the Higgs phase), is performed in the radial gauge (x_uA_u^a(x) = 0). It is found that in the weak coupling region (small g) of a pure Yang-Mills theory the dual operator creates electric vortices whose strength is $\text{1}\text{g}$. The theory is self-dual in this region, and the effective coupling of the dual Lagrangian is $\text{1}\text{g}$. (It is self-dual also in the extreme strong coupling region.) Thus the above duality transformation reduces to electric-magnetic duality where the electric field in the 't Hooft loop operators transforms into a magnetic field in the dual operator. In a spontaneously broken gauge theory these results are valid only within the region where the vortices (or the monopoles) are concentrated, or in directions of the algebra space of unbroken symmetry, as self-duality holds only for this subset of fields. Noting that the 't Hooft loop operator project into the subspace of these field configurations we find that it is an electric-magnetic duality for the spontaneously broken theory as well. In the strong coupling region a strong coupling expansion in powers $\text{1}\text{g}$ is suggested.     

Dual Superconductivity in Restricted Chromo-Dynamics (RCD)

Characterizing the dyonically condensed vacuum by the presence of two massive modes (one determining how fast the perturbative vacuum around a colour source reaches the condensation and the other giving the penetration length of colored flux), it has been shown that due to the dynamical breaking of magnetic symmetry the vacuum of RCD acquires the properties similar to those of relativistic superconductor. Originally present global SU(2) symmetry in RCD has been broken to U(1) reducing the four dimensional action to two dimensional one by using an Ansatz which incorporates a non-trivial coordinate dependent phase between the components of SU(2) doublet. Analyzing the behaviour of dyons around RCD string, the solutions of classical field equations have been obtained and it has been shown that magnetic constituent of dyonic current is zero at centre of the string and also at the points far away from the string. The conditions for this current to be maximum at a transverse distance from the string have also been obtained.     

New approach to nonlinear electrodynamics: Dualities as symmetries of interaction

The duality-symmetric nonlinear electrodynamics in a new formulation with auxiliary tensor fields is considered. The Maxwell field strength appears only in bilinear terms of the corresponding generic Lagrangian, while the self-interaction is represented by a function E depending on the auxiliary fields. Two types of dualities inherent in the nonlinear electrodynamics admit a simple off-shell characterization as symmetry properties of this function. In the standard formulation, the continuous U(1) duality symmetry is nonlinearly realized on the Maxwell field strength. In the new setting, the same symmetry acts as linear U(1) transformations of the auxiliary field variables. The nonlinear U(1) duality condition proves to be equivalent to the U(1) invariance of the self-interaction E. The discrete self-duality (or self-duality by Legendre transformation) amounts to a weaker reflection symmetry of E. For a class of duality-symmetric Lagrangians, an alternative representation with the auxiliary scalar field is introduced and new explicit examples of such systems are found.     

Exploiting the 1, 440-fold symmetry of the master two-loop diagram

The 1, 440-element symmetry group of the generic two-loop diagram of massless scalar field theory in 4-2ω dimensions is computed, using tetrahedral symmetry and star-triangle duality. Constructing all quadratic and quartic polynomial invariants, we expand the diagram throughO(ω ⁵), where one first encounters a coefficient that does not appear to be expressible in terms of the Riemann zeta function, thereby strengthening previous suspicions that genuinely new calculational comoplexity arises at the level of 6-loop renormalization.     

Quantum vortex strings: A review

The quantum worldsheet dynamics of vortex strings contains information about the 4d non-Abelian gauge theory in which the string lives. Here I tell this story. The string worldsheet theory is typically some variant of the CP^N-1 sigma-model, describing the orientation of the string in a U(N) gauge group. Qualitative parallels between 2d sigma-models and 4d non-Abelian gauge theories have been known since the 1970s. The vortex string provides a quantitative link between the two. In 4d theories with N=2 supersymmetry, the exact BPS spectrum of the worldsheet coincides with the bulk spectrum in 4d. Moreover, by tuning parameters, the CP^N-1 sigma-model can be coaxed to flow to an interacting conformal fixed point which is related to the 4d Argyres-Douglas fixed point. For theories with N=1 supersymmetry, the worldsheet theory suffers dynamical supersymmetry breaking and, more interestingly, supersymmetry restoration, in a way which captures the physics of Seiberg’s quantum deformed moduli space.     

On a2(1) reflection matrices and affine Toda theories

We construct new non-diagonal solutions to the boundary Yang-Baxter equation corresponding to a two-dimensional field theory with U_q(a₂⁽¹⁾) quantum affine symmetry on a half-line. The requirements of boundary unitarity and boundary crossing symmetry are then used to find overall scalar factors which lead to consistent reflection matrices. Using the boundary bootstrap equations we also compute the reflection factors for scalar bound states (breathers). These breathers are expected to be identified with the fundamental quantum particles in a₂⁽¹⁾ affine Toda field theory and we therefore obtain a conjecture for the affine Toda reflection factors. We compare these factors with known classical results and discuss their duality properties and their connections with particular boundary conditions.     

Quantum free Yang-Mills on the plane

We construct a free-probability quantum Yang-Mills theory on the two dimensional plane, determine the Wilson loop expectation values, and show that this theory is the N=∞ limit of U(N) quantum Yang-Mills theory on the plane. Our model provides an example of a stochastic geometry, motivated by quantum field theory, based on free probability theory.     

Restoring reality for the self-dual N = 2 string

It is known that the critical N = (2,2) string describes 2 + 2 dimensional self-dual gravity in a non-covariant form, since it requires the choice of a complex structure in the target, which leaves only U(1,1) Lorentz symmetry. We briefly review picture-changing and spectral flow and show that the world-sheet Maxwell instantons individually break the Lorentz group further to SU(1,1). However, their contributions conspire to restore full SO(2,2) global symmetry if dilaton and axion fields are assembled in a null anti-self-dual two-form, denying them the status of Lorentz scalars. We present the fullySO (2,2) invariant tree-level three-point amplitude and the corresponding extension of the Plebanski action for self-dual gravity.     

A heterotic N=2 string with space–time supersymmetry

We reconsider the issue of embedding space–time fermions into the four-dimensional N=2 worldsheet supersymmetric string. A new heterotic theory is constructed, taking the right-movers from the N=4 topological extension of the conventional N=2 string but a c=0 conformal field theory supporting target-space supersymmetry for the left-moving sector. The global bosonic symmetry of the full formalism proves to be U(1,1), just as in the usual N=2 string. Quantization reveals a spectrum of only two physical states, one boson and one fermion, which fall in a multiplet of (1,0) supersymmetry.     

An explicit construction of the quantum group in chiral WZW-models

It is shown how a chiral Wess-Zumino-Witten theory with globally defined vertex operators and a one-to-one correspondence between fields and states can be constructed. The Hilbert space of this theory is the direct sum of tensor products of representations of the chiral algebra and finite dimensional internal parameter spaces. On this enlarged space there exists a natural action of Drinfeld's quasi-quantum groupA _{g, t} which commutes with the action of the chiral algebra and plays the rôle of an internal symmetry algebra. TheR matrix describes the braiding of the chiral vertex operators and the coassociator gives rise to a modification of the duality property.For genericq the quasi-quantum group is isomorphic to the coassociative quantum groupU _q (g) and thus the duality property of the chiral theory can be restored. This construction has to be modified for the physically relevant case of integer level. The quantum group has to be replaced by the corresponding truncated quasiquantum group, which is not coassociative because of the truncation. This exhibits the truncated quantum group as the internal symmetry algebra of the chiral WZW model, which therefore has only a modified duality property. The case ofg=su(2) is worked out in detail.     

On second-quantized open superstring theory

The SO(32) theory, in the limit where it is an open superstring theory, is completely specified in the light-cone gauge as a second-quantized string theory in terms of a “matrix string” model. The theory is defined by the neighborhood of a 1 + 1-dimensional fixed point theory, characterized by an Abelian gauge theory with type IB Green-Schwarz form. Non-orientability and SO(32) gauge symmetry arise naturally, and the theory effectively constructs an orientifold projection of the (weakly coupled) matrix type IIB theory (also discussed herein). The fixed point theory is a conformal field theory with boundary, defining the free string theory. Interactions involving the interior of open and closed strings are governed by a twist operator in the bulk, while string endpoints are created and destroyed by a boundary twist operator.     

Mean-field theory for quenched reduced large-N gauge model

The reduced model à la Eguchi and Kawai, its quenched version and the Wilson theory in the string variable representation are studied by employing the loop expansion around the mean field. The spontaneous breakdown of the U(1)^d symmetry in the Eguchi-Kawai model is thoroughly investigated. It is shown that the quenched reduced model undergoes the first-order phase transition in excellent agreement with the Monte Carlo data. The quenched reduced model is shown to be equivalent to the standard Wilson theory by comparing with the string variable Wilson theory at any finite order in the loop expansion in the large-N limit.     

N = 1 superstring in 2 + 2 dimensions

In this paper we construct a (2,2) dimensional string theory with manifest N = 1 spacetime supersymmetry. We use Berkovits' approach of augmenting the spacetime supercoordinates by the conjugate momenta for the fermionic variables. The worldsheet symmetry algebra is a twisted and truncated “small” N = 4 superconformal algebra. The realisation of the symmetry algebra is reducible with an infinite order of reducibility. We study the physical states of the theory by two different methods. In one of them, we identify a subset of irreducible constraints, which is by itself critical. We construct the BRST operator for the irreducible constraints, and study the cohomology and interactions. This method breaks the SO(2,2) spacetime symmetry of the original reducible theory. In another approach, we study the theory in a fully covariant manner, which involves the introduction of infinitely many ghosts for ghosts.