Unique factorization in perturbative QFT

We discuss factorization of the Dyson--Schwinger equations using the Lie- and Hopf algebra of graphs. The structure of those equations allows to introduce a commutative associative product on 1PI graphs. In scalar field theories, this product vanishes if and only if one of the factors vanishes. Gauge theories are more subtle: integrality relates to gauge symmetries.Comment: 5pages, Talk given at "RadCor 2002 - Loops and Legs 2002", Kloster Banz, Germany, Sep 8-13, 200

Gravity coupled with matter and foundation of non-commutative geometry

We first exhibit in the commutative case the simple algebraic relations between the algebra of functions on a manifold and its infinitesimal length element $ds$. Its unitary representations correspond to Riemannian metrics and Spin structure while $ds$ is the Dirac propagator ds = \ts \!\!---\!\! \ts = D^{-1} where $D$ is the Dirac operator. We extend these simple relations to the non commutative case using Tomita's involution $J$. We then write a spectral action, the trace of a function of the length element in Planck units, which when applied to the non commutative geometry of the Standard Model will be shown (in a joint work with Ali Chamseddine) to give the SM Lagrangian coupled to gravity. The internal fluctuations of the non commutative geometry are trivial in the commutative case but yield the full bosonic sector of SM with all correct quantum numbers in the slightly non commutative case. The group of local gauge transformations appears spontaneously as a normal subgroup of the diffeomorphism group.Comment: 30 pages, Plain Te

Lessons from Quantum Field Theory - Hopf Algebras and Spacetime Geometries

We discuss the prominence of Hopf algebras in recent progress in Quantum Field Theory. In particular, we will consider the Hopf algebra of renormalization, whose antipode turned out to be the key to a conceptual understanding of the subtraction procedure. We shall then describe several occurences of this or closely related Hopf algebras in other mathematical domains, such as foliations, Runge Kutta methods, iterated integrals and multiple zeta values. We emphasize the unifying role which the Butcher group, discovered in the study of numerical integration of ordinary differential equations, plays in QFT.Comment: Survey paper, 12 pages, epsf for figures, dedicated to Mosh\'e Flato, minor corrections, to appear in Lett.Math.Phys.4

Remarks on Alain Connes' approach to the standard model

Our 1992 remarks about Alain Connes' interpretation of the standard model within his theory of non-commutative riemannian spin manifolds.Comment: 9 pages TeX, dedicated to the memory of E. M. Polivano

A Short Survey of Noncommutative Geometry

We give a survey of selected topics in noncommutative geometry, with some emphasis on those directly related to physics, including our recent work with Dirk Kreimer on renormalization and the Riemann-Hilbert problem. We discuss at length two issues. The first is the relevance of the paradigm of geometric space, based on spectral considerations, which is central in the theory. As a simple illustration of the spectral formulation of geometry in the ordinary commutative case, we give a polynomial equation for geometries on the four dimensional sphere with fixed volume. The equation involves an idempotent e, playing the role of the instanton, and the Dirac operator D. It expresses the gamma five matrix as the pairing between the operator theoretic chern characters of e and D. It is of degree five in the idempotent and four in the Dirac operator which only appears through its commutant with the idempotent. It determines both the sphere and all its metrics with fixed volume form. We also show using the noncommutative analogue of the Polyakov action, how to obtain the noncommutative metric (in spectral form) on the noncommutative tori from the formal naive metric. We conclude on some questions related to string theory.Comment: Invited lecture for JMP 2000, 45

The Hopf algebra of Feynman graphs in QED

We report on the Hopf algebraic description of renormalization theory of quantum electrodynamics. The Ward-Takahashi identities are implemented as linear relations on the (commutative) Hopf algebra of Feynman graphs of QED. Compatibility of these relations with the Hopf algebra structure is the mathematical formulation of the physical fact that WT-identities are compatible with renormalization. As a result, the counterterms and the renormalized Feynman amplitudes automatically satisfy the WT-identities, which leads in particular to the well-known identity $Z_1=Z_2$.Comment: 13 pages. Latex, uses feynmp. Minor corrections; to appear in LM

Discretized Yang-Mills and Born-Infeld actions on finite group geometries

Discretized nonabelian gauge theories living on finite group spaces G are defined by means of a geometric action \int Tr F \wedge *F. This technique is extended to obtain discrete versions of the Born-Infeld action. The discretizations are in 1-1 correspondence with differential calculi on finite groups. A consistency condition for duality invariance of the discretized field equations is derived for discretized U(1) actions S[F] living on a 4-dimensional abelian G. Discretized electromagnetism satisfies this condition and therefore admits duality rotations. Yang-Mills and Born-Infeld theories are also considered on product spaces M^D x G, and we find the corresponding field theories on M^D after Kaluza-Klein reduction on the G discrete internal spaces. We examine in some detail the case G=Z_N, and discuss the limit N -> \infty. A self-contained review on the noncommutative differential geometry of finite groups is included.Comment: 31 pages, LaTeX. Improved definition of pairing between tensor products of left-invariant one-form

The noncommutative Lorentzian cylinder as an isospectral deformation

We present a new example of a finite-dimensional noncommutative manifold, namely the noncommutative cylinder. It is obtained by isospectral deformation of the canonical triple associated to the Euclidean cylinder. We discuss Connes' character formula for the cylinder. In the second part, we discuss noncommutative Lorentzian manifolds. Here, the definition of spectral triples involves Krein spaces and operators on Krein spaces. A central role is played by the admissible fundamental symmetries on the Krein space of square integrable sections of a spin bundle over a Lorentzian manifold. Finally, we discuss isospectral deformation of the Lorentzian cylinder and determine all admissible fundamental symmetries of the noncommutative cylinder.Comment: 30 page

Quantum Field Theory on Quantum Spacetime

Condensed account of the Lectures delivered at the Meeting on {\it Noncommutative Geometry in Field and String Theory}, Corfu, September 18 - 20, 2005.Comment: 10 page

Carnot-Caratheodory metric and gauge fluctuation in Noncommutative Geometry

Gauge fields have a natural metric interpretation in terms of horizontal distance. The latest, also called Carnot-Caratheodory or subriemannian distance, is by definition the length of the shortest horizontal path between points, that is to say the shortest path whose tangent vector is everywhere horizontal with respect to the gauge connection. In noncommutative geometry all the metric information is encoded within the Dirac operator D. In the classical case, i.e. commutative, Connes's distance formula allows to extract from D the geodesic distance on a riemannian spin manifold. In the case of a gauge theory with a gauge field A, the geometry of the associated U(n)-vector bundle is described by the covariant Dirac operator D+A. What is the distance encoded within this operator ? It was expected that the noncommutative geometry distance d defined by a covariant Dirac operator was intimately linked to the Carnot-Caratheodory distance dh defined by A. In this paper we precise this link, showing that the equality of d and dh strongly depends on the holonomy of the connection. Quite interestingly we exhibit an elementary example, based on a 2 torus, in which the noncommutative distance has a very simple expression and simultaneously avoids the main drawbacks of the riemannian metric (no discontinuity of the derivative of the distance function at the cut-locus) and of the subriemannian one (memory of the structure of the fiber).Comment: published version with additional figures to make the proof more readable. Typos corrected in this ultimate versio