Integrable probability: From representation theory to Macdonald processes

These are lecture notes for a mini-course given at the Cornell Probability Summer School in July 2013. Topics include lozenge tilings of polygons and their representation theoretic interpretation, the (q,t)-deformation of those leading to the Macdonald processes, nearest neighbor dynamics on Macdonald processes, their limit to semi-discrete Brownian polymers, and large time asymptotic analysis of polymer's partition function.Comment: 49 pages; 22 figures; v3, v4: minor typos fixe

Symmetries in quantum field theory and quantum gravity

In this paper we use the AdS/CFT correspondence to refine and then establish a set of old conjectures about symmetries in quantum gravity. We first show that any global symmetry, discrete or continuous, in a bulk quantum gravity theory with a CFT dual would lead to an inconsistency in that CFT, and thus that there are no bulk global symmetries in AdS/CFT. We then argue that any "long-range" bulk gauge symmetry leads to a global symmetry in the boundary CFT, whose consistency requires the existence of bulk dynamical objects which transform in all finite-dimensional irreducible representations of the bulk gauge group. We mostly assume that all internal symmetry groups are compact, but we also give a general condition on CFTs, which we expect to be true quite broadly, which implies this. We extend all of these results to the case of higher-form symmetries. Finally we extend a recently proposed new motivation for the weak gravity conjecture to more general gauge groups, reproducing the "convex hull condition" of Cheung and Remmen. An essential point, which we dwell on at length, is precisely defining what we mean by gauge and global symmetries in the bulk and boundary. Quantum field theory results we meet while assembling the necessary tools include continuous global symmetries without Noether currents, new perspectives on spontaneous symmetry-breaking and 't Hooft anomalies, a new order parameter for confinement which works in the presence of fundamental quarks, a Hamiltonian lattice formulation of gauge theories with arbitrary discrete gauge groups, an extension of the Coleman-Mandula theorem to discrete symmetries, and an improved explanation of the decay $\pi^0\to\gamma \gamma$ in the standard model of particle physics. We also describe new black hole solutions of the Einstein equation in $d+1$ dimensions with horizon topology $\mathbb{T}^p\times \mathbb{S}^{d-p-1}$.Comment: You probably don't want to print this single-sided. v2: minor corrections and clarifications throughout, references adde

Isospectral deformations of the Dirac operator

We give more details about an integrable system in which the Dirac operator D=d+d^* on a finite simple graph G or Riemannian manifold M is deformed using a Hamiltonian system D'=[B,h(D)] with B=d-d^* + i b. The deformed operator D(t) = d(t) + b(t) + d(t)^* defines a new exterior derivative d(t) and a new Dirac operator C(t) = d(t) + d(t)^* and Laplacian M(t) = d(t) d(t)^* + d(t)* d(t) and so a new distance on G or a new metric on M.Comment: 32 pages, 8 figure

On Exact Solutions and Perturbative Schemes in Higher Spin Theory

We review various methods for finding exact solutions of higher spin theory in four dimensions, and survey the known exact solutions of (non)minimal Vasiliev's equations. These include instanton-like and black hole-like solutions in (A)dS and Kleinian spacetimes. A perturbative construction of solutions with the symmetries of a domain wall is described as well. Furthermore, we review two proposed perturbative schemes: one based on perturbative treatment of the twistor space field equations followed by inverting Fronsdal kinetic terms using standard Green's functions; and an alternative scheme based on solving the twistor space field equations exactly followed by introducing the spacetime dependence using perturbatively defined gauge functions. Motivated by the need to provide a higher spin invariant characterization of the exact solutions, aspects of a proposal for a geometric description of Vasiliev's equation involving an infinite dimensional generalization of anti de Sitter space is revisited and improved.Comment: 45 pages. Clarifying remarks and references are added. Version published in Universe, Special Issue on Higher Spin Gauge Theorie

Morse theory applied to semilinear problems

We use Morse theoretic arguments to obtain nontrivial solutions of semilinear elliptic boundary value problems where the nonlinearity interacts with the spectrum, without assuming that the asymptotic limits at zero and infinity exist

Chern-Simons-Ghost Theories and de Sitter Space

We explore Chern-Simons theories coupled to fundamental ghost-like matter in the large $N$ limit at 't Hooft coupling $\lambda$. These theories have been conjectured to be holographically dual to parity-violating, asymptotically dS$_4$ universes with a tower of light higher-spin fields. On $\mathbb{R}^3$, to all orders in large-$N$ perturbation theory, we show that Chern-Simons-ghost theories are related to ordinary Chern-Simons-matter theories by mapping $N \rightarrow - N$ and keeping $\lambda$ fixed. Consequently, the bosonization duality of ordinary Chern-Simons-matter theories extends to a bosonization duality of Chern-Simons-ghost theories on $\mathbb R^3$. On $S^1 \times S^2$, in the small-$S^1$ limit, neither $N \rightarrow -N$ nor bosonization hold, as we show by extensively studying large-$N$ saddles of the theories with both ghost and ordinary matter. The partition functions we compute along the way can be viewed as pieces of the late-time Hartle-Hawking wavefunction for the bulk dS$_4$ gravity theories.Comment: 27 pages + appendices, 6 figure

Localized States and Dynamics in the Nonlinear Schroedinger / Gross-Pitaevskii Equation

This article is a review of results on the nonlinear Schroedinger / Gross-Pitaevskii equation (NLS / GP). Nonlinear bound states and aspects of their stability theory are discussed from variational and bifurcation perspectives. Nonlinear bound states, in the particular cases where the potential is a single-well, double-well potential and periodic potential, are discussed in detail. We then discuss particle-like dynamics of solitary wave solutions interacting with a potential over a large, but finite, time interval. Finally we turn to the very long time behavior of solutions. We focus on the important resonant radiation damping mechanism that drives the relaxation of the system to a nonlinear ground state and underlies the phenomena of {\it Ground State Selection} and {\it Energy Equipartition}. We also analyze linear and nonlinear "toy minimal models", which illustrate these mechanisms. Regarding the overall style of this article, we seek to emphasize the key ideas and therefore do not present all technical details, leaving that to the references.Comment: To appear in Frontiers in Applied Dynamics: Reviews and Tutorials, Volume 3 (Springer, 2015) 40 pages, 9 figure

Automated Bifurcation Analysis for Nonlinear Elliptic Partial Difference Equations on Graphs

We seek solutions $u\in\R^n$ to the semilinear elliptic partial difference equation $-Lu + f_s(u) = 0$, where $L$ is the matrix corresponding to the Laplacian operator on a graph $G$ and $f_s$ is a one-parameter family of nonlinear functions. This article combines the ideas introduced by the authors in two papers: a) {\it Nonlinear Elliptic Partial Difference Equations on Graphs} (J. Experimental Mathematics, 2006), which introduces analytical and numerical techniques for solving such equations, and b) {\it Symmetry and Automated Branch Following for a Semilinear Elliptic PDE on a Fractal Region} wherein we present some of our recent advances concerning symmetry, bifurcation, and automation fo We apply the symmetry analysis found in the SIAM paper to arbitrary graphs in order to obtain better initial guesses for Newton's method, create informative graphics, and be in the underlying variational structure. We use two modified implementations of the gradient Newton-Galerkin algorithm (GNGA, Neuberger and Swift) to follow bifurcation branches in a robust way. By handling difficulties that arise when encountering accidental degeneracies and higher-dimension we can find many solutions of many symmetry types to the discrete nonlinear system. We present a selection of experimental results which demonstrate our algorithm's capability to automatically generate bifurcation diagrams and solution graphics starting with only an edgelis of a graph. We highlight interesting symmetry and variational phenomena

Moduli Spaces of Singular Yamabe Metrics

Complete, conformally flat metrics of constant positive scalar curvature on the complement of $k$ points in the $n$-sphere, $k \ge 2$, $n \ge 3$, were constructed by R\. Schoen [S2]. We consider the problem of determining the moduli space of all such metrics. All such metrics are asymptotically periodic, and we develop the linear analysis necessary to understand the nonlinear problem. This includes a Fredholm theory and asymptotic regularity theory for the Laplacian on asymptotically periodic manifolds, which is of independent interest. The main result is that the moduli space is a locally real analytic variety of dimension $k$. For a generic set of nearby conformal classes the moduli space is shown to be a $k-$dimensional real analytic manifold. The structure as a real analytic variety is obtained by writing the space as an intersection of a Fredholm pair of infinite dimensional real analytic manifolds.Comment: 45 pages, AMS-TeX. MSRI Preprint No. 019-94 (Dec. 1993

Variational and linearly-implicit integrators, with applications

We show that symplectic and linearly-implicit integrators proposed by [Zhang and Skeel, 1997] are variational linearizations of Newmark methods. When used in conjunction with penalty methods (i.e., methods that replace constraints by stiff potentials), these integrators permit coarse time-stepping of holonomically constrained mechanical systems and bypass the resolution of nonlinear systems. Although penalty methods are widely employed, an explicit link to Lagrange multiplier approaches appears to be lacking; such a link is now provided (in the context of two-scale flow convergence [Tao, Owhadi and Marsden, 2010]). The variational formulation also allows efficient simulations of mechanical systems on Lie groups