172 research outputs found
Loop and surface operators in N=2 gauge theory and Liouville modular geometry
Recently, a duality between Liouville theory and four dimensional N=2 gauge
theory has been uncovered by some of the authors. We consider the role of
extended objects in gauge theory, surface operators and line operators, under
this correspondence. We map such objects to specific operators in Liouville
theory. We employ this connection to compute the expectation value of general
supersymmetric 't Hooft-Wilson line operators in a variety of N=2 gauge
theories.Comment: 60 pages, 11 figures; v3: further minor corrections, published
versio
A Variational Method in Out of Equilibrium Physical Systems
A variational principle is further developed for out of equilibrium dynamical
systems by using the concept of maximum entropy. With this new formulation it
is obtained a set of two first-order differential equations, revealing the same
formal symplectic structure shared by classical mechanics, fluid mechanics and
thermodynamics. In particular, it is obtained an extended equation of motion
for a rotating dynamical system, from where it emerges a kind of topological
torsion current of the form , with and
denoting components of the vector potential (gravitational or/and
electromagnetic) and is the angular velocity of the accelerated frame.
In addition, it is derived a special form of Umov-Poynting's theorem for
rotating gravito-electromagnetic systems, and obtained a general condition of
equilibrium for a rotating plasma. The variational method is then applied to
clarify the working mechanism of some particular devices, such as the Bennett
pinch and vacuum arcs, to calculate the power extraction from an hurricane, and
to discuss the effect of transport angular momentum on the radiactive heating
of planetary atmospheres. This development is seen to be advantageous and opens
options for systematic improvements.Comment: 22 pages, 1 figure, submitted to review, added one referenc
Modular differential equations for characters of RCFT
We discuss methods, based on the theory of vector-valued modular forms, to
determine all modular differential equations satisfied by the conformal
characters of RCFT; these modular equations are related to the null vector
relations of the operator algebra. Besides describing effective algorithmic
procedures, we illustrate our methods on an explicit example.Comment: 13 page
Classical theta constants vs. lattice theta series, and super string partition functions
Recently, various possible expressions for the vacuum-to-vacuum superstring
amplitudes has been proposed at genus . To compare the different
proposals, here we will present a careful analysis of the comparison between
the two main technical tools adopted to realize the proposals: the classical
theta constants and the lattice theta series. We compute the relevant Fourier
coefficients in order to relate the two spaces. We will prove the equivalence
up to genus 4. In genus five we will show that the solutions are equivalent
modulo the Schottky form and coincide if we impose the vanishing of the
cosmological constant.Comment: 21 page
Connecting the Holographic and Wilsonian Renormalization Groups
Inspired by the AdS/CFT correspondence, we develop an explicit formal duality
between the planar limit of a d-dimensional gauge theory and a classical field
theory in a (d+1)-dimensional anti-de Sitter space. The key ingredient is the
identification of fields in AdS with generalized Hubbard-Stratonovich
transforms of single-trace couplings of the QFT. We show that the Wilsonian
renormalization group flow of these transformed couplings matches the
holographic (Hamilton-Jacobi) flow of bulk fields along the radial direction in
AdS. This result allows one to outline an AdS/CFT dictionary that does not rely
on string theory.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure; metadata modified in v2; added references and
minor changes in v3; v4 as published in JHE
Holographic and Wilsonian Renormalization Groups
We develop parallels between the holographic renormalization group in the
bulk and the Wilsonian renormalization group in the dual field theory. Our
philosophy differs from most previous work on the holographic RG; the most
notable feature is the key role of multi-trace operators. We work out the forms
of various single- and double-trace flows. The key question, `what cutoff on
the field theory corresponds to a radial cutoff in the bulk?' is left
unanswered, but by sharpening the analogy between the two sides we identify
possible directions.Comment: 31 pages, 3 figures. v2: Minor clarifications. Added reference
Fake Superpotential for Large and Small Extremal Black Holes
We consider the fist order, gradient-flow, description of the scalar fields
coupled to spherically symmetric, asymptotically flat black holes in extended
supergravities. Using the identification of the fake superpotential with
Hamilton's characteristic function we clarify some of its general properties,
showing in particular (besides reviewing the issue of its duality invariance)
that W has the properties of a Liapunov's function, which implies that its
extrema (associated with the horizon of extremal black holes) are
asymptotically stable equilibrium points of the corresponding first order
dynamical system (in the sense of Liapunov). Moreover, we show that the fake
superpotential W has, along the entire radial flow, the same flat directions
which exist at the attractor point. This allows to study properties of the ADM
mass also for small black holes where in fact W has no critical points at
finite distance in moduli space. In particular the W function for small non-BPS
black holes can always be computed analytically, unlike for the large
black-hole case.Comment: 30 pages, LaTeX source. Discussion on the radial evolution of the
scalar fields, in relation to the symmetries of the W-function, extended.
Table 1 added. Typos correcte
Higher Loop Spin Field Correlators in D=4 Superstring Theory
We develop calculational tools to determine higher loop superstring
correlators involving massless fermionic and spin fields in four space time
dimensions. These correlation functions are basic ingredients for the
calculation of loop amplitudes involving both bosons and fermions in D=4
heterotic and superstring theories. To obtain the full amplitudes in Lorentz
covariant form the loop correlators of fermionic and spin fields have to be
expressed in terms of SO(1,3) tensors. This is one of the main achievements in
this work.Comment: 59 pages, 1 figure; v2: final version published in JHE
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