Geodesic Flow on the Diffeomorphism Group of the circle

We show that certain right-invariant metrics endow the infinite-dimensional Lie group of all smooth orientation-preserving diffeomorphisms of the circle with a Riemannian structure. The study of the Riemannian exponential map allows us to prove infinite-dimensional counterparts of results from classical Riemannian geometry: the Riemannian exponential map is a smooth local diffeomorphism and the length-minimizing property of the geodesics holds.Comment: 15 page

Relative quantum field theory

We highlight the general notion of a relative quantum field theory, which occurs in several contexts. One is in gauge theory based on a compact Lie algebra, rather than a compact Lie group. This is relevant to the maximal superconformal theory in six dimensions.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures; v2 small changes for publication; v3 small final changes for publicatio

Topological dualities in the Ising model

We relate two classical dualities in low-dimensional quantum field theory: Kramers-Wannier duality of the Ising and related lattice models in $2$ dimensions, with electromagnetic duality for finite gauge theories in $3$ dimensions. The relation is mediated by the notion of boundary field theory: Ising models are boundary theories for pure gauge theory in one dimension higher. Thus the Ising order/disorder operators are endpoints of Wilson/'t Hooft defects of gauge theory. Symmetry breaking on low-energy states reflects the multiplicity of topological boundary states. In the process we describe lattice theories as (extended) topological field theories with boundaries and domain walls. This allows us to generalize the duality to non-abelian groups; finite, semi-simple Hopf algebras; and, in a different direction, to finite homotopy theories in arbitrary dimension

Topological dualities in the Ising model

We relate two classical dualities in low-dimensional quantum field theory: Kramers-Wannier duality of the Ising and related lattice models in $2$ dimensions, with electromagnetic duality for finite gauge theories in $3$ dimensions. The relation is mediated by the notion of boundary field theory: Ising models are boundary theories for pure gauge theory in one dimension higher. Thus the Ising order/disorder operators are endpoints of Wilson/'t Hooft defects of gauge theory. Symmetry breaking on low-energy states reflects the multiplicity of topological boundary states. In the process we describe lattice theories as (extended) topological field theories with boundaries and domain walls. This allows us to generalize the duality to non-abelian groups; finite, semi-simple Hopf algebras; and, in a different direction, to finite homotopy theories in arbitrary dimension.Comment: 62 pages, 22 figures; v2 adds important reference [S]; v2 has reworked introduction, additional reference [KS], and minor changes; v4 for publication in Geometry and Topology has all new figures and a few minor changes and additional reference

Dirac Families for Loop Groups as Matrix Factorizations

We identify the category of integrable lowest-weight representations of the loop group LG of a compact Lie group G with the linear category of twisted, conjugation-equivariant curved Fredholm complexes on the group G: namely, the twisted, equivariant matrix factorizations of a super-potential built from the loop rotation action on LG. This lifts the isomorphism of K-groups of [FHT1,2, 3] to an equivalence of categories. The construction uses families of Dirac operators.Comment: 6 pages, research announcement. The complete details and background will appear in a future pape

Equations of the Camassa-Holm Hierarchy

The squared eigenfunctions of the spectral problem associated with the Camassa-Holm (CH) equation represent a complete basis of functions, which helps to describe the inverse scattering transform for the CH hierarchy as a generalized Fourier transform (GFT). All the fundamental properties of the CH equation, such as the integrals of motion, the description of the equations of the whole hierarchy, and their Hamiltonian structures, can be naturally expressed using the completeness relation and the recursion operator, whose eigenfunctions are the squared solutions. Using the GFT, we explicitly describe some members of the CH hierarchy, including integrable deformations for the CH equation. We also show that solutions of some $(1+2)$ - dimensional members of the CH hierarchy can be constructed using results for the inverse scattering transform for the CH equation. We give an example of the peakon solution of one such equation.Comment: 10 page

Spatial persistence and survival probabilities for fluctuating interfaces

We report the results of numerical investigations of the steady-state (SS) and finite-initial-conditions (FIC) spatial persistence and survival probabilities for (1+1)--dimensional interfaces with dynamics governed by the nonlinear Kardar--Parisi--Zhang (KPZ) equation and the linear Edwards--Wilkinson (EW) equation with both white (uncorrelated) and colored (spatially correlated) noise. We study the effects of a finite sampling distance on the measured spatial persistence probability and show that both SS and FIC persistence probabilities exhibit simple scaling behavior as a function of the system size and the sampling distance. Analytical expressions for the exponents associated with the power-law decay of SS and FIC spatial persistence probabilities of the EW equation with power-law correlated noise are established and numerically verified.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure