Anomalous couplings for D-branes and O-planes

We study anomalous Wess-Zumino couplings of D-branes and O-planes in a general background and derive them from a direct string computation by factorizing in the RR channel various one-loop amplitudes. In particular, we find that Op-planes present gravitational anomalous couplings involving the Hirzebruch polynomial L, similarly to the roof genus A encoding Dp-brane anomalous couplings. We determine, in each case, the precise dependence of these couplings on the curvature of the tangent and normal bundles.Comment: 24 pages, LaTex, 5 figure

The generalized chiral Schwinger model on the two-sphere

A family of theories which interpolate between vector and chiral Schwinger models is studied on the two--sphere $S^{2}$. The conflict between the loss of gauge invariance and global geometrical properties is solved by introducing a fixed background connection. In this way the generalized Dirac--Weyl operator can be globally defined on $S^{2}$. The generating functional of the Green functions is obtained by taking carefully into account the contribution of gauge fields with non--trivial topological charge and of the related zero--modes of the Dirac determinant. In the decompactification limit, the Green functions of the flat case are recovered; in particular the fermionic condensate in the vacuum vanishes, at variance with its behaviour in the vector Schwinger model.Comment: 39 pages, latex, no figure

Worldvolume and target space anomalies in the D=10 super--fivebrane sigma--model

The fields of the conjectured ``heterotic" super--fivebrane sigma--model in ten dimensions are made out of a well known gravitational sector, the $X$ and the $\vartheta$, and of a still unknown heterotic sector which should be coupled to the Yang--Mills fields. We compute the one--loop $d=6$ worldvolume and $D=10$ target space Lorentz--anomalies which arise from the gravitational sector of the heterotic super--fivebrane sigma--model, using a method which we developed previously for the Green--Schwarz heterotic superstring. These anomalies turn out to carry an overall coefficient which is $1/2$ of that required by the string/fivebrane duality conjecture. As a consequence the worldvolume anomaly vanishes if the heterotic fields consist of 16 (rather than 32) complex Weyl fermions on the worldvolume. This implies that the string/fivebrane duality conjecture can not be based on a ``heterotic" super--fivebrane sigma--model with only fermions in the heterotic sector. Possible implications of this result are discussed.Comment: 20 pages, Plain TeX, no figure

Quantum gravity corrections to the Schwarzschild mass

Vacuum spherically symmetric Einstein gravity in $N\ge 4$ dimensions can be cast in a two-dimensional conformal nonlinear sigma model form by first integrating on the $(N-2)$-dimensional (hyper)sphere and then performing a canonical transformation. The conformal sigma model is described by two fields which are related to the Arnowitt-Deser-Misner mass and to the radius of the $(N-2)$-dimensional (hyper)sphere, respectively. By quantizing perturbatively the theory we estimate the quantum corrections to the ADM mass of a black hole.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, LaTeX2e, uses epsfig package, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Born-Infeld-Goldstone superfield actions for gauge-fixed D-5- and D-3-branes in 6d

The supersymmetric Born-Infeld actions describing gauge-fixed D-5- and D-3-branes in ambient six-dimensional (6d) spacetime are constructed in superspace. A new 6d action is the (1,0) supersymmetric extension of the 6d Born-Infeld action. It is related via dimensional reduction to another remarkable 4d action describing the N=2 supersymmetric extension of the Born-Infeld-Nambu-Goto action with two real scalars. Both actions are the Goldstone actions associated with partial (1/2) spontaneous breaking of extended supersymmetry having 16 supercharges down to 8 supercharges. Both actions can be put into the `non-linear sigma-model' form by using certain non-linear superfield constraints. The unbroken supersymmetry is always linearly realised in our construction.Comment: 39 pages, LaTeX; a few style and sign corrections, a reference adde

Topological Sigma-Models in Four Dimensions and Triholomorphic Maps

It is well-known that topological sigma-models in 2 dimensions constitute a path-integral approach to the study of holomorphic maps from a Riemann surface S to an almost complex manifold K, the most interesting case being that where K is a Kahler manifold. We show that, in the same way, topological sigma-models in 4 dimensions introduce a path integral approach to the study of triholomorphic maps q:M-->N from a 4dimensional Riemannian manifold M to an almost quaternionic manifold N. The most interesting cases are those where M, N are hyperKahler or quaternionic Kahler. BRST-cohomology translates into intersection theory in the moduli-space of this new class of instantonic maps, named by us hyperinstantons. The definition of triholomorphicity that we propose is expressed by the equation q_*-J_u q_* j_u = 0, u=1,2,3, where {j_u} is an almost quaternionic structure on M and {J_u} is an almost quaternionic structure on N. This is a generalization of the Cauchy-Fueter equations. For M, N hyperKahler, this generalization naturally arises by obtaining the topological sigma-model as a twisted version of the N=2 globally supersymmetric sigma-model. We discuss various examples of hyperinstantons, in particular on the torus and the K3 surface. We also analyse the coupling of the topological sigma-model to topological gravity. The study ofComment: 43 pages, LaTeX file, SISSA/ISAS 73/93/EP. (reference [32] corrected

Renormalization Group Study of Chern-Simons Field Coupled to Scalar Matter in a Modified BPHZ Subtraction Scheme

We apply a soft version of the BPHZ subtraction scheme to the computation of two-loop corrections from an Abelian Chern-Simons field coupled to (massive) scalar matter with a $\lambda(\Phi^\dag\Phi)^2$ and $\nu(\Phi^\dag\Phi)^3$ self-interactions. The two-loop renormalization group functions are calculated. We compare our results with those in the literature.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, revtex. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Non-equilibrium Condensation Process in a Holographic Superconductor

We study the non-equilibrium condensation process in a holographic superconductor. When the temperature T is smaller than a critical temperature T_c, there are two black hole solutions, the Reissner-Nordstrom-AdS black hole and a black hole with a scalar hair. In the boundary theory, they can be regarded as the supercooled normal phase and the superconducting phase, respectively. We consider perturbations on supercooled Reissner-Nordstrom-AdS black holes and study their non-linear time evolution to know about physical phenomena associated with rapidly-cooled superconductors. We find that, for T<T_c, the initial perturbations grow exponentially and, eventually, spacetimes approach the hairy black holes. We also clarify how the relaxation process from a far-from-equilibrium state proceeds in the boundary theory by observing the time dependence of the superconducting order parameter. Finally, we study the time evolution of event and apparent horizons and discuss their correspondence with the entropy of the boundary theory. Our result gives a first step toward the holographic understanding of the non-equilibrium process in superconductors.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figure

Covariant Anomalies and Functional Determinants

We analize the algebraic structure of consistent and covariant anomalies in gauge and gravitational theories: using a complex extension of the Lie algebra it is possible to describe them in a unified way. Then we study their representations by means of functional determinants, showing how the algebraic solution determines the relevant operators for the definition of the effective action. Particular attention is devoted to the Lorentz anomaly: we obtain by functional methods the covariant anomaly for the spin-current and for the energy-momentum tensor in presence of a curved background. With regard to the consistent sector we are able to give a general functional solution only for $d=2$: using the characterization derived from the extended algebra, we find a continuous family of operators whose determinant describes the effective action of chiral spinors in curved space. We compute this action and we generalize the result in presence of a $U(1)$ gauge connection. Accepted for publication in Fortschritte der Physik.Comment: 55 page