Where Fail-Safe Default Logics Fail

Reiter's original definition of default logic allows for the application of a default that contradicts a previously applied one. We call failure this condition. The possibility of generating failures has been in the past considered as a semantical problem, and variants have been proposed to solve it. We show that it is instead a computational feature that is needed to encode some domains into default logic

Can Hamiltonians be boundary observables in Parametrized Field Theories?

It has been argued that holography in gravitational theories is related to the existence of a particularly useful Gauss Law that allows energy to be measured at the boundary. The present work investigates the extent to which such Gauss Laws follow from diffeomorphism invariance. We study parametrized field theories, which are a class of diffeomorphism-invariant theories without gravity. We find that the Hamiltonian for parametrized field theories vanishes on shell even in the presence of a boundary and under a variety of boundary conditions. We conclude that parametrized theories have no useful Gauss Law, consistent with the absence of holography in these theories.Comment: 28 pages, LaTeX, references added, citations clarified, typos correcte

Let's Twist Again: N=2 Super Yang Mills Theory Coupled To Matter

We give the twisted version of N=2 Super Yang Mills theory coupled to matter, including quantum fields, supersymmetry transformations, action and algebraic structure. We show that the whole action, coupled to matter, can be written as the variation of a nilpotent operator, modulo field equations. An extended Slavnov-Taylor identity, collecting gauge symmetry and supersymmetry, is written, which allows to define the web of algebraic constraints, in view of the algebraic renormalization and of the extension of the non-renormalization theorems holding for N=2 SYM theory without matter.Comment: 28 pages, final version to be published on CQ

Translations and dynamics

We analyze the role played by local translational symmetry in the context of gauge theories of fundamental interactions. Translational connections and fields are introduced, with special attention being paid to their universal coupling to other variables, as well as to their contributions to field equations and to conserved quantities.Comment: 22 Revtex pages, no figures. Published version with minor correction

Towards MKM in the Large: Modular Representation and Scalable Software Architecture

MKM has been defined as the quest for technologies to manage mathematical knowledge. MKM "in the small" is well-studied, so the real problem is to scale up to large, highly interconnected corpora: "MKM in the large". We contend that advances in two areas are needed to reach this goal. We need representation languages that support incremental processing of all primitive MKM operations, and we need software architectures and implementations that implement these operations scalably on large knowledge bases. We present instances of both in this paper: the MMT framework for modular theory-graphs that integrates meta-logical foundations, which forms the base of the next OMDoc version; and TNTBase, a versioned storage system for XML-based document formats. TNTBase becomes an MMT database by instantiating it with special MKM operations for MMT.Comment: To appear in The 9th International Conference on Mathematical Knowledge Management: MKM 201

A Field Range Bound for General Single-Field Inflation

We explore the consequences of a detection of primordial tensor fluctuations for general single-field models of inflation. Using the effective theory of inflation, we propose a generalization of the Lyth bound. Our bound applies to all single-field models with two-derivative kinetic terms for the scalar fluctuations and is always stronger than the corresponding bound for slow-roll models. This shows that non-trivial dynamics can't evade the Lyth bound. We also present a weaker, but completely universal bound that holds whenever the Null Energy Condition (NEC) is satisfied at horizon crossing.Comment: 16 page