World-Line Path Integral Study of Supersymmetry Breaking in the Wess-Zumino Model

We study supersymmetry breaking in the lattice N=1 Wess-Zumino model by the world-line path integral algorithm. The ground state energy and supersymmetric Ward identities are exploited to support the expected symmetry breaking in finite volume. Non-Gaussian fluctuations of the topological charge are discussed and related to the infinite volume transition.Comment: 4 pages (RevTeX), 5 figures (EPS

Edge states control droplet break-up in sub-critical extensional flows

A fluid droplet suspended in an extensional flow of moderate intensity may break into pieces, depending on the amplitude of the initial droplet deformation. In subcritical uniaxial extensional flow the non-breaking base state is linearly stable, implying that only a finite amplitude perturbation can trigger break-up. Consequently, the stable base solution is surrounded by its finite basin of attraction. The basin boundary, which separates initial droplet shapes returning to the non-breaking base state from those becoming unstable and breaking up, is characterized using edge tracking techniques. We numerically construct the edge state, a dynamically unstable equilibrium whose stable manifold forms the basin boundary. The edge state equilibrium controls if the droplet breaks and selects a unique path towards break-up. This path physically corresponds to the well-known end-pinching mechanism. Our results thereby rationalize the dynamics observed experimentally [Stone & Leal, J. Fluid Mech. 206, 223 (1989)

Path integrals and symmetry breaking for optimal control theory

This paper considers linear-quadratic control of a non-linear dynamical system subject to arbitrary cost. I show that for this class of stochastic control problems the non-linear Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation can be transformed into a linear equation. The transformation is similar to the transformation used to relate the classical Hamilton-Jacobi equation to the Schr\"odinger equation. As a result of the linearity, the usual backward computation can be replaced by a forward diffusion process, that can be computed by stochastic integration or by the evaluation of a path integral. It is shown, how in the deterministic limit the PMP formalism is recovered. The significance of the path integral approach is that it forms the basis for a number of efficient computational methods, such as MC sampling, the Laplace approximation and the variational approximation. We show the effectiveness of the first two methods in number of examples. Examples are given that show the qualitative difference between stochastic and deterministic control and the occurrence of symmetry breaking as a function of the noise.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, submitted to JSTA

Soft breaking of BRST invariance for introducing non-perturbative infrared effects in a local and renormalizable way

The possibility of introducing non-perturbative infrared effects leading to a modification of the long distance behavior of gauge theories through a soft breaking of the BRST invariance is investigated. The method reproduces the Gribov-Zwanziger action describing the restriction of the domain of integration in the Feynman path integral to the Gribov region and a model for the dynamical quark mass generation is presented. The soft symmetry breaking relies on the introduction of BRST doublets and massive physical parameters, which allow one to distinguish the infrared region from the ultraviolet one, within the same theory.Comment: 11 page

Parity Conservation in Supersymmetric Vector-Like Theories

We show that parity is conserved in vector-like supersymmetric theories, such as supersymmetric QCD with massive quarks with no cubic couplings among chiral multiplets, based on fermionic path-integrals, originally developed by Vafa and Witten. We also look into the effect of supersymmetric breaking through gluino masses, and see that the parity-conservation is intact also in this case. Our conclusion is valid, when only bosonic parity-breaking observable terms are considered in path-integrals like the original Vafa-Witten formulation.Comment: 14 pages, latex, no figures; replaced with corrections of exponent in old eq.(2.8), misleading expressions in (3.19), comments on fermionic parity-breaking terms, and some references adde