On some peculiar aspects of the constructive theory of point-free spaces

This paper presents several independence results concerning the topos-valid and the intuitionistic (generalized) predicative theories of locales. In particular, certain consequences of the consistency of a general form of Troelstra's uniformity principle with constructive set theory and type theory are examined

Euclidean Field Theory

A coincise review about Euclidean (Quantum) Field Theory is presented. It deals with the general structural properties, the connections with Quantum Field Theory, the exploitation in Constructive Quantum Field Theory, and the physical interpretation.Comment: 19 page

The Physical Role of Gravitational and Gauge Degrees of Freedom in General Relativity - II: Dirac versus Bergmann observables and the Objectivity of Space-Time

(abridged)The achievements of the present work include: a) A clarification of the multiple definition given by Bergmann of the concept of {\it (Bergmann) observable. This clarification leads to the proposal of a {\it main conjecture} asserting the existence of i) special Dirac's observables which are also Bergmann's observables, ii) gauge variables that are coordinate independent (namely they behave like the tetradic scalar fields of the Newman-Penrose formalism). b) The analysis of the so-called {\it Hole} phenomenology in strict connection with the Hamiltonian treatment of the initial value problem in metric gravity for the class of Christoudoulou -Klainermann space-times, in which the temporal evolution is ruled by the {\it weak} ADM energy. It is crucial the re-interpretation of {\it active} diffeomorphisms as {\it passive and metric-dependent} dynamical symmetries of Einstein's equations, a re-interpretation which enables to disclose their (nearly unknown) connection to gauge transformations on-shell; this is expounded in the first paper (gr-qc/0403081). The use of the Bergmann-Komar {\it intrinsic pseudo-coordinates} allows to construct a {\it physical atlas} of 4-coordinate systems for the 4-dimensional {\it mathematical} manifold, in terms of the highly non-local degrees of freedom of the gravitational field (its four independent {\it Dirac observables}), and to realize the {\it physical individuation} of the points of space-time as {\it point-events} as a gauge-fixing problem, also associating a non-commutative structure to each 4-coordinate system.Comment: 41 pages, Revtex

Pascual Jordan, his contributions to quantum mechanics and his legacy in contemporary local quantum physics

After recalling episodes from Pascual Jordan's biography including his pivotal role in the shaping of quantum field theory and his much criticized conduct during the NS regime, I draw attention to his presentation of the first phase of development of quantum field theory in a talk presented at the 1929 Kharkov conference. He starts by giving a comprehensive account of the beginnings of quantum theory, emphasising that particle-like properties arise as a consequence of treating wave-motions quantum-mechanically. He then goes on to his recent discovery of quantization of ``wave fields'' and problems of gauge invariance. The most surprising aspect of Jordan's presentation is however his strong belief that his field quantization is a transitory not yet optimal formulation of the principles underlying causal, local quantum physics. The expectation of a future more radical change coming from the main architect of field quantization already shortly after his discovery is certainly quite startling. I try to answer the question to what extent Jordan's 1929 expectations have been vindicated. The larger part of the present essay consists in arguing that Jordan's plea for a formulation without ``classical correspondence crutches'', i.e. for an intrinsic approach (which avoids classical fields altogether), is successfully addressed in past and recent publications on local quantum physics.Comment: More biographical detail, expansion of the part referring to Jordan's legacy in quantum field theory, 37 pages late

Wigner Representation Theory of the Poincare Group, Localization, Statistics and the S-Matrix

It has been known that the Wigner representation theory for positive energy orbits permits a useful localization concept in terms of certain lattices of real subspaces of the complex Hilbert -space. This ''modular localization'' is not only useful in order to construct interaction-free nets of local algebras without using non-unique ''free field coordinates'', but also permits the study of properties of localization and braid-group statistics in low-dimensional QFT. It also sheds some light on the string-like localization properties of the 1939 Wigner's ''continuous spin'' representations.We formulate a constructive nonperturbative program to introduce interactions into such an approach based on the Tomita-Takesaki modular theory. The new aspect is the deep relation of the latter with the scattering operator.Comment: 28 pages of LateX, removal of misprints and extension of the last section. more misprints correcte

Perturbative dynamics of fuzzy spheres at large N

We clarify some peculiar aspects of the perturbative expansion around a classical fuzzy-sphere solution in matrix models with a cubic term. While the effective action in the large-N limit is saturated at the one-loop level, we find that the ``one-loop dominance'' does not hold for generic observables due to one-particle reducible diagrams. However, we may exploit the one-loop dominance for the effective action and obtain various observables to all orders from one-loop calculation by simply shifting the center of expansion to the ``quantum solution'', which extremizes the effective action. We confirm the validity of this method by comparison with the direct two-loop calculation and with Monte Carlo results in the 3d Yang-Mills-Chern-Simons matrix model. From the all order result we find that the perturbative expansion has a finite radius of convergence.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, (v2) all order analyses added, (v3) some typos correcte

Overlap Algebras as Almost Discrete Locales

Boolean locales are almost discrete. In fact, spatial Boolean locales are the same thing as discrete spaces. This does not make sense intuitionistically, since (non-trivial) discrete locales fail to be Boolean. We show that Sambin's "overlap algebras" have good enough features to be called "almost discrete locales". Keywords. Strongly dense sublocales, almost discrete spaces, overlap algebras, constructive topology

Two-dimensional models as testing ground for principles and concepts of local quantum physics

In the past two-dimensional models of QFT have served as theoretical laboratories for testing new concepts under mathematically controllable condition. In more recent times low-dimensional models (e.g. chiral models, factorizing models) often have been treated by special recipes in a way which sometimes led to a loss of unity of QFT. In the present work I try to counteract this apartheid tendency by reviewing past results within the setting of the general principles of QFT. To this I add two new ideas: (1) a modular interpretation of the chiral model Diff(S)-covariance with a close connection to the recently formulated local covariance principle for QFT in curved spacetime and (2) a derivation of the chiral model temperature duality from a suitable operator formulation of the angular Wick rotation (in analogy to the Nelson-Symanzik duality in the Ostertwalder-Schrader setting) for rational chiral theories. The SL(2,Z) modular Verlinde relation is a special case of this thermal duality and (within the family of rational models) the matrix S appearing in the thermal duality relation becomes identified with the statistics character matrix S. The relevant angular Euclideanization'' is done in the setting of the Tomita-Takesaki modular formalism of operator algebras. I find it appropriate to dedicate this work to the memory of J. A. Swieca with whom I shared the interest in two-dimensional models as a testing ground for QFT for more than one decade. This is a significantly extended version of an ``Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics'' contribution hep-th/0502125.Comment: 55 pages, removal of some typos in section