776 research outputs found
An Invitation to Higher Gauge Theory
In this easy introduction to higher gauge theory, we describe parallel
transport for particles and strings in terms of 2-connections on 2-bundles.
Just as ordinary gauge theory involves a gauge group, this generalization
involves a gauge '2-group'. We focus on 6 examples. First, every abelian Lie
group gives a Lie 2-group; the case of U(1) yields the theory of U(1) gerbes,
which play an important role in string theory and multisymplectic geometry.
Second, every group representation gives a Lie 2-group; the representation of
the Lorentz group on 4d Minkowski spacetime gives the Poincar\'e 2-group, which
leads to a spin foam model for Minkowski spacetime. Third, taking the adjoint
representation of any Lie group on its own Lie algebra gives a 'tangent
2-group', which serves as a gauge 2-group in 4d BF theory, which has
topological gravity as a special case. Fourth, every Lie group has an 'inner
automorphism 2-group', which serves as the gauge group in 4d BF theory with
cosmological constant term. Fifth, every Lie group has an 'automorphism
2-group', which plays an important role in the theory of nonabelian gerbes. And
sixth, every compact simple Lie group gives a 'string 2-group'. We also touch
upon higher structures such as the 'gravity 3-group' and the Lie 3-superalgebra
that governs 11-dimensional supergravity.Comment: 60 pages, based on lectures at the 2nd School and Workshop on Quantum
Gravity and Quantum Geometry at the 2009 Corfu Summer Institut
Algebraic Structures and Stochastic Differential Equations driven by Levy processes
We construct an efficient integrator for stochastic differential systems
driven by Levy processes. An efficient integrator is a strong approximation
that is more accurate than the corresponding stochastic Taylor approximation,
to all orders and independent of the governing vector fields. This holds
provided the driving processes possess moments of all orders and the vector
fields are sufficiently smooth. Moreover the efficient integrator in question
is optimal within a broad class of perturbations for half-integer global root
mean-square orders of convergence. We obtain these results using the
quasi-shuffle algebra of multiple iterated integrals of independent Levy
processes.Comment: 41 pages, 11 figure
An infinite supermultiplet of massive higher-spin fields
The representation theory underlying the infinite-component relativistic wave
equation written by Majorana is revisited from a modern perspective. On the one
hand, the massless solutions of this equation are shown to form a
supermultiplet of the superPoincare algebra with tensorial central charges; it
can also be obtained as the infinite spin limit of massive solutions. On the
other hand, the Majorana equation is generalized for any space-time dimension
and for arbitrary Regge trajectories. Inspired from these results, an infinite
supermultiplet of massive fields of all spins and of equal mass is constructed
in four dimensions and proved to carry an irreducible representation of the
orthosymplectic group OSp(1|4) and of the superPoincare group with tensorial
charges.Comment: 29 pages, references [30] added. To appear in JHE
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