String Geometry and the Noncommutative Torus

We construct a new gauge theory on a pair of d-dimensional noncommutative tori. The latter comes from an intimate relationship between the noncommutative geometry associated with a lattice vertex operator algebra A and the noncommutative torus. We show that the (truncated) tachyon subalgebra of A is naturally isomorphic to a class of twisted modules representing quantum deformations of the algebra of functions on the torus. We construct the corresponding even real spectral triples and determine their Morita equivalence classes using string duality arguments. These constructions yield simple proofs of the O(d,d;Z) Morita equivalences between $d$-dimensional noncommutative tori and give a natural physical interpretation of them in terms of the target space duality group of toroidally compactified string theory. We classify the automorphisms of the twisted modules and construct the most general gauge theory which is invariant under the automorphism group. We compute bosonic and fermionic actions associated with these gauge theories and show that they are explicitly duality-symmetric. The duality-invariant gauge theory is manifestly covariant but contains highly non-local interactions. We show that it also admits a new sort of particle-antiparticle duality which enables the construction of instanton field configurations in any dimension. The duality non-symmetric on-shell projection of the field theory is shown to coincide with the standard non-abelian Yang-Mills gauge theory minimally coupled to massive Dirac fermion fields.Comment: 37 pages, LaTeX. Major revisions in section 3. Other minor revisions in the rest of the paper, references adde

Algebraic deformations of toric varieties I. General constructions

We construct and study noncommutative deformations of toric varieties by combining techniques from toric geometry, isospectral deformations, and noncommutative geometry in braided monoidal categories. Our approach utilizes the same fan structure of the variety but deforms the underlying embedded algebraic torus. We develop a sheaf theory using techniques from noncommutative algebraic geometry. The cases of projective varieties are studied in detail, and several explicit examples are worked out, including new noncommutative deformations of Grassmann and flag varieties. Our constructions set up the basic ingredients for thorough study of instantons on noncommutative toric varieties, which will be the subject of the sequel to this paper.Comment: 54 pages; v2: Presentation of Grassmann and flag varieties improved, minor corrections; v3: Presentation of some parts streamlined, minor corrections, references added; final version to appear in Advances in Mathematic

Algebraic deformations of toric varieties II. Noncommutative instantons

We continue our study of the noncommutative algebraic and differential geometry of a particular class of deformations of toric varieties, focusing on aspects pertinent to the construction and enumeration of noncommutative instantons on these varieties. We develop a noncommutative version of twistor theory, which introduces a new example of a noncommutative four-sphere. We develop a braided version of the ADHM construction and show that it parametrizes a certain moduli space of framed torsion free sheaves on a noncommutative projective plane. We use these constructions to explicitly build instanton gauge bundles with canonical connections on the noncommutative four-sphere that satisfy appropriate anti-selfduality equations. We construct projective moduli spaces for the torsion free sheaves and demonstrate that they are smooth. We define equivariant partition functions of these moduli spaces, finding that they coincide with the usual instanton partition functions for supersymmetric gauge theories on C^2.Comment: 62 pages; v2: typos corrected, references updated; Final version to be published in Advances in Theoretical and Mathematical Physic

Matrix Quantum Mechanics and Soliton Regularization of Noncommutative Field Theory

We construct an approximation to field theories on the noncommutative torus based on soliton projections and partial isometries which together form a matrix algebra of functions on the sum of two circles. The matrix quantum mechanics is applied to the perturbative dynamics of scalar field theory, to tachyon dynamics in string field theory, and to the Hamiltonian dynamics of noncommutative gauge theory in two dimensions. We also describe the adiabatic dynamics of solitons on the noncommutative torus and compare various classes of noncommutative solitons on the torus and the plane.Comment: 70 pages, 4 figures; v2: References added and update

Signatures of Incomplete Paschen-Back Splitting in the Polarization Profiles of the He I 10830 multiplet

We investigate the formation of polarization profiles induced by a magnetic field in the He I multiplet at 1083,0 nm . Our analysis considers the Zeeman splitting in the incomplete Paschen-Back regime. The effects turn out to be important and produce measurable signatures on the profiles, even for fields significantly weaker than the level-crossing field ($\sim$400 G). When compared to profiles calculated with the usual linear Zeeman effect, the incomplete Paschen-Back profiles exhibit the following conspicuous differences: a) a non-Doppler blueshift of the Stokes V zero-crossing wavelength of the blue component; b) area and peak asymmetries, even in the absence of velocity and magnetic gradients; c) a $\sim$25% reduction in the amplitude of the red component. These features do not vanish in the weak field limit. The spectral signatures that we analyze in this paper may be found in previous observations published in the literature.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Polynomial Approximants for the Calculation of Polarization Profiles in the \ion{He}{1} 10830 \AA Multiplet

The \ion{He}{1} multiplet at 10830 \AA is formed in the incomplete Paschen-Back regime for typical conditions found in solar and stellar atmospheres. The positions and strengths of the various components that form the Zeeman structure of this multiplet in the Paschen-Back regime are approximated here by polynomials. The fitting errors are smaller than $\sim10^{-2}$ m\AA in the component positions and $\sim10^{-3}$ in the relative strengths. The approximant polynomials allow for a very fast implementation of the incomplete Paschen-Back regime in numerical codes for the synthesis and inversion of polarization profiles in this important multiplet.Comment: ApJ Supplements (in press

Isotropic inelastic and superelastic collisional rates in a multiterm atom

The spectral line polarization of the radiation emerging from a magnetized astrophysical plasma depends on the state of the atoms within the medium, whose determination requires considering the interactions between the atoms and the magnetic field, between the atoms and photons (radiative transitions), and between the atoms and other material particles (collisional transitions). In applications within the framework of the multiterm model atom (which accounts for quantum interference between magnetic sublevels pertaining either to the same J-level or to different J-levels within the same term) collisional processes are generally neglected when solving the master equation for the atomic density matrix. This is partly due to the lack of experimental data and/or of approximate theoretical expressions for calculating the collisional transfer and relaxation rates (in particular the rates for interference between sublevels pertaining to different J-levels, and the depolarizing rates due to elastic collisions). In this paper we formally define and investigate the transfer and relaxation rates due to isotropic inelastic and superelastic collisions that enter the statistical equilibrium equations of a multiterm atom. Under the hypothesis that the atom-collider interaction can be described by a dipolar operator, we provide expressions that relate the collisional rates for interference between different J-levels to the usual collisional rates for J-level populations. Finally, we apply the general equations to the case of a two-term atom with unpolarized lower term, illustrating the impact of inelastic and superelastic collisions on scattering polarization through radiative transfer calculations in a slab of stellar atmospheric plasma anisotropically illuminated by the photospheric radiation field.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic