Normal Bundles, Pfaffians and Anomalies

We deal with the problem of diffeomorphism anomaly in theories with branes. In particular we thoroughly analyze the problem of the residual chiral anomaly of a five-brane immersed in M-theory, paying attention to its global formulation in the five-brane world-volume. We conclude that the anomaly can be canceled by a {\it local} counterterm in the five-brane world-volume.Comment: 17 pages, Latex, sign convention changed, typos correcte

Abelian 3-form gauge theory: superfield approach

We discuss a D-dimensional Abelian 3-form gauge theory within the framework of Bonora-Tonin's superfield formalism and derive the off-shell nilpotent and absolutely anticommuting Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin (BRST) and anti-BRST symmetry transformations for this theory. To pay our homage to Victor I. Ogievetsky (1928-1996), who was one of the inventors of Abelian 2-form (antisymmetric tensor) gauge field, we go a step further and discuss the above D-dimensional Abelian 3-form gauge theory within the framework of BRST formalism and establish that the existence of the (anti-)BRST invariant Curci-Ferrari (CF) type of restrictions is the hallmark of any arbitrary p-form gauge theory (discussed within the framework of BRST formalism).Comment: LaTeX file, 8 pages, Talk delivered at BLTP, JINR, Dubna, Moscow Region, Russi

Generalized q-deformed Correlation Functions as Spectral Functions of Hyperbolic Geometry

We analyse the role of vertex operator algebra and 2d amplitudes from the point of view of the representation theory of infinite dimensional Lie algebras, MacMahon and Ruelle functions. A p-dimensional MacMahon function is the generating function of p-dimensional partitions of integers. These functions can be represented as amplitudes of a two-dimensional c=1 CFT. In this paper we show that p-dimensional MacMahon functions can be rewritten in terms of Ruelle spectral functions, whose spectrum is encoded in the Patterson-Selberg function of three dimensional hyperbolic geometry.Comment: 12 pages, no figure

Supersymmetrization of horizontality condition: nilpotent symmetries for a free spinning relativistic particle

We derive the off-shell nilpotent and absolutely anticommuting Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin (BRST) and anti-BRST symmetry transformations for a supersymmetric system of a free spinning relativistic particle within the framework of superfield approach to BRST formalism. A novel feature of our present investigation is the consistent and clear supersymmetric modification of the celebrated horizontality condition for the precise determination of the proper (anti-)BRST symmetry transformations for all the bosonic and fermionic dynamical variables of our theory which is considered on a (1, 2)-dimensional supermanifold parameterized by an even (bosonic) variable (\tau) and a pair of odd (fermionic) variables \theta and \bar\theta (with \theta^2 = \bar\theta^2 = 0,\; \theta \bar\theta + \bar\theta \theta = 0) of the Grassmann algebra. One of the most important features of our present investigation is the derivation of (anti-)BRST invariant Curci-Ferrari type restriction which turns out to be responsible for the absolute anticommutativity of the (anti-)BRST symmetry transformations and existence of the coupled (but equivalent) Lagrangians for the present theory of a supersymmetric system.Comment: LaTeX file, 24 pages, version to appear in EPJ

Axial gravity: a non-perturbative approach to split anomalies

In a theory of a Dirac fermion field coupled to a metric-axial-tensor (MAT) background, using a Schwinger-DeWitt heat kernel technique, we compute non-perturbatively the two (odd parity) trace anomalies. A suitable collapsing limit of this model corresponds to a theory of chiral fermions coupled to (ordinary) gravity. Taking this limit on the two computed trace anomalies we verify that they tend to the same expression, which coincides with the already found odd parity trace anomaly, with the identical coefficient. This confirms our previous results on this issue.Comment: 43 pages, some additions in section 6.3 and 6.5 plus minor correction

Wilson Renormalization Group for Supersymmetric Gauge Theories and Gauge Anomalies

We extend the Wilson renormalization group (RG) to supersymmetric theories. As this regularization scheme preserves supersymmetry, we exploit the superspace technique. To set up the formalism we first derive the RG flow for the massless Wess-Zumino model and deduce its perturbative expansion. We then consider N=1 supersymmetric Yang-Mills and show that the local gauge symmetry -broken by the regularization- can be recovered by a suitable choice of the RG flow boundary conditions. We restrict our analysis to the first loop, the generalization to higher loops presenting no difficulty due to the iterative nature of the procedure. Furthermore, adding matter fields, we reproduce the one-loop supersymmetric chiral anomaly to the second order in the vector field.Comment: 22 pages, 1 Postscript figure, uses amssym

Recovering pyramid WS gain in non-common path aberration correction mode via deformable lens

It is by now well known that pyramid based wavefront sensors, once in closed loop, have the capability to improve more and more the gain as the reference natural star image size is getting smaller on the pyramid pin. Especially in extreme adaptive optics applications, in order to correct the non-common path aberrations between the scientific and sensing channel, it is common use to inject a certain amount of offset wavefront deformation into the DM(s), departing at the same time the pyramid from the optimal working condition. In this paper we elaborate on the possibility to correct the low order non-common path aberrations at the pyramid wavefront sensor level by means of an adaptive refractive lens placed on the optical path before the pyramid itself, allowing the mitigation of the gain loss

Analyticity Properties of Graham-Witten Anomalies

Analytic properties of Graham-Witten anomalies are considered. Weyl anomalies according to their analytic properties are of type A (coming from $\delta$-singularities in correlators of several energy-momentum tensors) or of type B (originating in counterterms which depend logarithmically on a mass scale). It is argued that all Graham-Witten anomalies can be divided into 2 groups: internal and external, and that all external anomalies are of type B, whereas among internal anomalies there is one term of type A and all the rest are of type B. This argument is checked explicitly for the case of a free scalar field in a 6-dimensional space with a 2-dimensional submanifold.Comment: 2 typos correcte