Gravity and axions from a random UV QFT

It is postulated that the UV QFT is enormous and random. The coupling of the Standard Model to such QFT is analyzed. It is argued that massless 4d gravity and axions are general avatars of the postulate. The equivalence principle emerges naturally as well as a concrete set of sources for its breaking. The axion scale is related to the 4d Planck scale as $f=M_P/N$, where $N$ is the "number of colors" of the (almost) hidden UV CFT.Comment: Latex, 39 page

Gravitational and axial anomalies for generalized Euclidean Taub-NUT metrics

The gravitational anomalies are investigated for generalized Euclidean Taub-NUT metrics which admit hidden symmetries analogous to the Runge-Lenz vector of the Kepler-type problem. In order to evaluate the axial anomalies, the index of the Dirac operator for these metrics with the APS boundary condition is computed. The role of the Killing-Yano tensors is discussed for these two types of quantum anomalies.Comment: 23 page

Generalized hidden symmetries and the Kerr-Sen black hole

We elaborate on basic properties of generalized Killing-Yano tensors which naturally extend Killing-Yano symmetry in the presence of skew-symmetric torsion. In particular, we discuss their relationship to Killing tensors and the separability of various field equations. We further demonstrate that the Kerr-Sen black hole spacetime of heterotic string theory, as well as its generalization to all dimensions, possesses a generalized closed conformal Killing-Yano 2-form with respect to a torsion identified with the 3-form occuring naturally in the theory. Such a 2-form is responsible for complete integrability of geodesic motion as well as for separability of the scalar and Dirac equations in these spacetimes.Comment: 33 pages, no figure

Conjecture on Hidden Superconformal Symmetry of N=4 Supergravity

We argue that the observed UV finiteness of the 3-loop extended supergravities may be a manifestation of a hidden local superconformal symmetry of supergravity. We focus on the SU(2,2|4) dimensionless superconformal model. In Poincare gauge where the compensators are fixed to phi^2= 6 M_P^2 this model becomes a pure classical N=4 Einstein supergravity. We argue that in N=4 the higher-derivative superconformal invariants like phi^{-4}W^2 \bar W^2 and the consistent local anomaly delta (ln phi W^2) are not available. This conjecture on hidden local N=4 superconformal symmetry of Poincare supergravity may be supported by subsequent loop computations.Comment: 14 p A discussion of half-maximal D=6 superconformal models is adde

Survey of Two-Time Physics

Two-time physics (2T) is a general reformulation of one-time physics (1T) that displays previously unnoticed hidden symmetries in 1T dynamical systems and establishes previously unknown duality type relations among them. This may play a role in displaying the symmetries and constructing the dynamics of little understood systems, such as M-theory. 2T physics describes various 1T dynamical systems as different d-dimensional ``holographic'' views of the same 2T system in $d+2$ dimensions. The ``holography'' is due to gauge symmetries that tend to reduce the number of effective dimensions. Different 1T evolutions (i.e. different Hamiltonians) emerge from the same 2T theory when gauge fixing is done with different embeddings of d dimensions inside d+2 dimensions. Thus, in the 2T setting, the distinguished 1T which we call ``time'' is a gauge dependent concept. The 2T action has also a global SO(d,2) symmetry in flat spacetime, or a more general d+2 symmetry in curved spacetime, under which all dimensions are on an equal footing. This symmetry is observable in many 1T systems, but it remained unknown until discovered in the 2T formalism. 2T physics has mainly been developed in the context of particles, including spin and supersymmetry, but some advances have also been made with strings and p-branes, and insights for M-theory have already emerged. In the case of particles, there exists a general worldline formulation with background fields, as well as a field theory formulation, both described in terms of fields that depend on d+2 coordinates. The Standard Model of particle physics can be regarded as a gauge fixed form of a 2T theory in 4+2 dimensions. These facts already provide evidence for a new type of higher dimensional unification.Comment: Latex, 22 pages, 1 figur