Quantum Field Theories on Null Surfaces

We study the behaviour of quantum field theories defined on a surface $S$ as it tends to a null surface $S_n$. In the case of a real, free scalar field theory the above limiting procedure reduces the system to one with a finite number of degrees of freedom. This system is shown to admit a one parameter family of inequivalent quantizations. A duality symmetry present in the model can be used to remove the quantum ambiguity at the self-dual point . In the case of the non-linear $\sigma$-model with the Wess-Zumino-Witten term a similar limiting behaviour is obtained. The quantization ambiguity in this case however cannot be removed by any means.Comment: 25 pages LaTex, no figures, new comments added to the conclusion,corrected e-mail addres

Asymptotic Quasinormal Modes of d-Dimensional Schwarzschild Black Hole with Gauss-Bonnet Correction

We obtain an analytic expression for the highly damped asymptotic quasinormal mode frequencies of the $d\geq 5$-dimensional Schwarzschild black hole modified by the Gauss-Bonnet term, which appears in string derived models of gravity. The analytic expression is obtained under the string inspired assumption that there exists a minimum length scale in the system and in the limit when the coupling in front of the Gauss-Bonnet term in the action is small. Although there are several similarities of this geometry with that of the Schwarzschild black hole, the asymptotic quasinormal mode frequencies are quite different. In particular, the real part of the asymptotic quasinormal frequencies for this class of single horizon black holes in not proportional to log(3).Comment: 10 pages, latex file, changes in several equations, changes in the abstract qualitative nature of conclusions unaffecte

Waves on Noncommutative Spacetimes

Waves on ``commutative'' spacetimes like R^d are elements of the commutative algebra C^0(R^d) of functions on R^d. When C^0(R^d) is deformed to a noncommutative algebra {\cal A}_\theta (R^d) with deformation parameter \theta ({\cal A}_0 (R^d) = C^0(R^d)), waves being its elements, are no longer complex-valued functions on R^d. Rules for their interpretation, such as measurement of their intensity, and energy, thus need to be stated. We address this task here. We then apply the rules to interference and diffraction for d \leq 4 and with time-space noncommutativity. Novel phenomena are encountered. Thus when the time of observation T is so brief that T \leq 2 \theta w, where w is the frequency of incident waves, no interference can be observed. For larger times, the interference pattern is deformed and depends on \frac{\theta w}{T}. It approaches the commutative pattern only when \frac{\theta w}{T} goes to 0. As an application, we discuss interference of star light due to cosmic strings.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, LaTeX, added references, corrected typo

Coulomb screening in graphene with topological defects

We analyze the screening of an external Coulomb charge in gapless graphene cone, which is taken as a prototype of a topological defect. In the subcritical regime, the induced charge is calculated using both the Green's function and the Friedel sum rule. The dependence of the polarization charge on the Coulomb strength obtained from the Green's function clearly shows the effect of the conical defect and indicates that the critical charge itself depends on the sample topology. Similar analysis using the Friedel sum rule indicates that the two results agree for low values of the Coulomb charge but differ for the higher strengths, especially in the presence of the conical defect. For a given subcritical charge, the transport cross-section has a higher value in the presence of the conical defect. In the supercritical regime we show that the coefficient of the power law tail of polarization charge density can be expressed as a summation of functions which vary log periodically with the distance from the Coulomb impurity. The period of variation depends on the conical defect. In the presence of the conical defect, the Fano resonances begin to appear in the transport cross-section for a lower value of the Coulomb charge. For both sub and supercritical regime we derive the dependence of LDOS on the conical defect. The effects of generalized boundary condition on the physical observables are also discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure