Spectral transfer morphisms for unipotent affine Hecke algebras

In this paper we will give a complete classification of the spectral transfer morphisms between the unipotent affine Hecke algebras of the various inner forms of a given quasi-split absolutely simple algebraic group, defined over a non-archimidean local field $\textbf{k}$ and split over an unramified extension of $\textbf{k}$. As an application of these results, the results of [O4] on the spectral correspondences associated with such morphisms and some results of Ciubotaru, Kato and Kato [CKK] we prove a conjecture of Hiraga, Ichino and Ikeda [HII] on the formal degrees and adjoint gamma factors for all unipotent discrete series characters of unramified simple groups of adjoint type defined over $\bf{k}$.Comment: 61 pages; We explained the comparison with Lusztig's parameterization of unipotent representations in more detai

To be or not to be? Magnetic monopoles in non-abelian gauge theories

Magnetic monopoles form an inspiring chapter of theoretical physics, covering a variety of surprising subjects. We review their role in non-abelian gauge theories. An expose of quite exquisite physics derived from a hypothetical particle species, because the fact remains that in spite of ever more tempting arguments from theory, monopoles have never reared their head in experiment. For many relevant particulars, references to the original literature are provided.Comment: 34 pages, 7 figures, Contribution to "Fifty Years of Yang- Mills Theory", edited by G. 't Hooft. Some extra references have been added in the revised versio

Topological dualities in the Ising model

We relate two classical dualities in low-dimensional quantum field theory: Kramers-Wannier duality of the Ising and related lattice models in $2$ dimensions, with electromagnetic duality for finite gauge theories in $3$ dimensions. The relation is mediated by the notion of boundary field theory: Ising models are boundary theories for pure gauge theory in one dimension higher. Thus the Ising order/disorder operators are endpoints of Wilson/'t Hooft defects of gauge theory. Symmetry breaking on low-energy states reflects the multiplicity of topological boundary states. In the process we describe lattice theories as (extended) topological field theories with boundaries and domain walls. This allows us to generalize the duality to non-abelian groups; finite, semi-simple Hopf algebras; and, in a different direction, to finite homotopy theories in arbitrary dimension

Four dimensional Abelian duality and SL(2,Z) action in three dimensional conformal field theory

Recently, Witten showed that there is a natural action of the group SL(2,Z) on the space of 3 dimensional conformal field theories with U(1) global symmetry and a chosen coupling of the symmetry current to a background gauge field on a 3-fold N. He further argued that, for a class of conformal field theories, in the nearly Gaussian limit, this SL(2,Z) action may be viewed as a holographic image of the well-known SL(2,Z) Abelian duality of a pure U(1) gauge theory on AdS-like 4-folds M bounded by N, as dictated by the AdS/CFT correspondence. However, he showed that explicitly only for the generator T; for the generator S, instead, his analysis remained conjectural. In this paper, we propose a solution of this problem. We derive a general holographic formula for the nearly Gaussian generating functional of the correlators of the symmetry current and, using this, we show that Witten's conjecture is indeed correct when N=S^3. We further identify a class of homology 3-spheres N for which Witten's conjecture takes a particular simple form.Comment: analysis of sect. 5 generalized; 43 pages, Plain TeX, no figures, requires AMS font files amssym.def and amssym.te

The Langlands-Kottwitz approach for some simple Shimura Varieties

We show how the Langlands-Kottwitz method can be used to determine the semisimple local factors of the Hasse-Weil zeta-function of certain Shimura varieties. On the way, we prove a conjecture of Haines and Kottwitz in this special case.Comment: 23 page