479 research outputs found
Exotic Smoothness and Physics
The essential role played by differentiable structures in physics is reviewed
in light of recent mathematical discoveries that topologically trivial
space-time models, especially the simplest one, , possess a rich
multiplicity of such structures, no two of which are diffeomorphic to each
other and thus to the standard one. This means that physics has available to it
a new panoply of structures available for space-time models. These can be
thought of as source of new global, but not properly topological, features.
This paper reviews some background differential topology together with a
discussion of the role which a differentiable structure necessarily plays in
the statement of any physical theory, recalling that diffeomorphisms are at the
heart of the principle of general relativity. Some of the history of the
discovery of exotic, i.e., non-standard, differentiable structures is reviewed.
Some new results suggesting the spatial localization of such exotic structures
are described and speculations are made on the possible opportunities that such
structures present for the further development of physical theories.Comment: 13 pages, LaTe
Generalized constructive tree weights
The Loop Vertex Expansion (LVE) is a quantum field theory (QFT) method which
explicitly computes the Borel sum of Feynman perturbation series. This LVE
relies in a crucial way on symmetric tree weights which define a measure on the
set of spanning trees of any connected graph. In this paper we generalize this
method by defining new tree weights. They depend on the choice of a partition
of a set of vertices of the graph, and when the partition is non-trivial, they
are no longer symmetric under permutation of vertices. Nevertheless we prove
they have the required positivity property to lead to a convergent LVE; in
fact, we formulate this positivity property precisely for the first time. Our
generalized tree weights are inspired by the Brydges-Battle-Federbush work on
cluster expansions and could be particularly suited to the computation of
connected functions in QFT. Several concrete examples are explicitly given.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figure
Constructive Tensor Field Theory
We provide an up-to-date review of the recent constructive program for field
theories of the vector, matrix and tensor type, focusing not on the models
themselves but on the mathematical tools used.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1401.500
Perturbative Quantum Field Theory on Random Trees
In this paper we start a systematic study of quantum field theory on random
trees. Using precise probability estimates on their Galton-Watson branches and
a multiscale analysis, we establish the general power counting of averaged
Feynman amplitudes and check that they behave indeed as living on an effective
space of dimension 4/3, the spectral dimension of random trees. In the `just
renormalizable' case we prove convergence of the averaged amplitude of any
completely convergent graph, and establish the basic localization and
subtraction estimates required for perturbative renormalization. Possible
consequences for an SYK-like model on random trees are briefly discussed.Comment: 44 page
Exotic Differentiable Structures and General Relativity
We review recent developments in differential topology with special concern
for their possible significance to physical theories, especially general
relativity. In particular we are concerned here with the discovery of the
existence of non-standard (``fake'' or ``exotic'') differentiable structures on
topologically simple manifolds such as , \R and
Because of the technical difficulties involved in the smooth case, we begin
with an easily understood toy example looking at the role which the choice of
complex structures plays in the formulation of two-dimensional vacuum
electrostatics. We then briefly review the mathematical formalisms involved
with differentiable structures on topological manifolds, diffeomorphisms and
their significance for physics. We summarize the important work of Milnor,
Freedman, Donaldson, and others in developing exotic differentiable structures
on well known topological manifolds. Finally, we discuss some of the geometric
implications of these results and propose some conjectures on possible physical
implications of these new manifolds which have never before been considered as
physical models.Comment: 11 pages, LaTe
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