Path integration and perturbation theory with complex Euclidean actions

The Euclidean path integral quite often involves an action that is not completely real {\it i.e.} a complex action. This occurs when the Minkowski action contains $t$-odd CP-violating terms. Analytic continuation to Euclidean time yields an imaginary term in the Euclidean action. In the presence of imaginary terms in the Euclidean action, the usual method of perturbative quantization can fail. Here the action is expanded about its critical points, the quadratic part serving to define the Gaussian free theory and the higher order terms defining the perturbative interactions. For a complex action, the critical points are generically obtained at complex field configurations. Hence the contour of path integration does not pass through the critical points and the perturbative paradigm cannot be directly implemented. The contour of path integration has to be deformed to pass through the complex critical point using a generalized method of steepest descent, in order to do so. Typically, what is done is that only the real part of the Euclidean action is considered, and its critical points are used to define the perturbation theory. In this article we present a simple 0+1-dimensional example, of $N$ scalar fields interacting with a U(1) gauge field, in the presence of a Chern-Simons term, where alternatively, the path integral can be done exactly, the procedure of deformation of the contour of path integration can be done explicitly and the standard method of only taking into account the real part of the action can be followed. We show explicitly that the standard method does not give a correct perturbative expansion.Comment: 11 pages, no figures, version to be published in PR

Problems With Complex Actions

We consider Euclidean functional integrals involving actions which are not exclusively real. This situation arises, for example, when there are $t$-odd terms in the the Minkowski action. Writing the action in terms of only real fields (which is always possible), such terms appear as explicitly imaginary terms in the Euclidean action. The usual quanization procedure which involves finding the critical points of the action and then quantizing the spectrum of fluctuations about these critical points fails. In the case of complex actions, there do not exist, in general, any critical points of the action on the space of real fields, the critical points are in general complex. The proper definition of the function integral then requires the analytic continuation of the functional integration into the space of complex fields so as to pass through the complex critical points according to the method of steepest descent. We show a simple example where this procedure can be carried out explicitly. The procedure of finding the critical points of the real part of the action and quantizing the corresponding fluctuations, treating the (exponential of the) complex part of the action as a bounded integrable function is shown to fail in our explicit example, at least perturbatively.Comment: 6+epsilon pages, no figures, presented at Theory CANADA

Conformal Spinning Quantum Particles in Complex Minkowski Space as Constrained Nonlinear Sigma Models in U(2,2) and Born's Reciprocity

We revise the use of 8-dimensional conformal, complex (Cartan) domains as a base for the construction of conformally invariant quantum (field) theory, either as phase or configuration spaces. We follow a gauge-invariant Lagrangian approach (of nonlinear sigma-model type) and use a generalized Dirac method for the quantization of constrained systems, which resembles in some aspects the standard approach to quantizing coadjoint orbits of a group G. Physical wave functions, Haar measures, orthonormal basis and reproducing (Bergman) kernels are explicitly calculated in and holomorphic picture in these Cartan domains for both scalar and spinning quantum particles. Similarities and differences with other results in the literature are also discussed and an extension of Schwinger's Master Theorem is commented in connection with closure relations. An adaptation of the Born's Reciprocity Principle (BRP) to the conformal relativity, the replacement of space-time by the 8-dimensional conformal domain at short distances and the existence of a maximal acceleration are also put forward.Comment: 33 pages, no figures, LaTe

Seeking an Even-Parity Mass Term for 3-D Gauge Theory

Mass-gap calculations in three-dimensional gauge theories are discussed. Also we present a Chern--Simons-like mass-generating mechanism which preserves parity and is realized non-perturbatively.Comment: 11 pages, revte

Renormalization of the Hamiltonian and a geometric interpretation of asymptotic freedom

Using a novel approach to renormalization in the Hamiltonian formalism, we study the connection between asymptotic freedom and the renormalization group flow of the configuration space metric. It is argued that in asymptotically free theories the effective distance between configuration decreases as high momentum modes are integrated out.Comment: 22 pages, LaTeX, no figures; final version accepted in Phys.Rev.D; added reference and appendix with comment on solution of eq. (9) in the tex

A Gauge-Invariant UV-IR Mixing and The Corresponding Phase Transition For U(1) Fields on the Fuzzy Sphere

From a string theory point of view the most natural gauge action on the fuzzy sphere {\bf S}^2_L is the Alekseev-Recknagel-Schomerus action which is a particular combination of the Yang-Mills action and the Chern-Simons term . Since the differential calculus on the fuzzy sphere is 3-dimensional the field content of this model consists naturally of a 2-dimensional gauge field together with a scalar fluctuation normal to the sphere . For U(1) gauge theory we compute the quadratic effective action and shows explicitly that the tadpole diagrams and the vacuum polarization tensor contain a gauge-invariant UV-IR mixing in the continuum limit L{\longrightarrow}{\infty} where L is the matrix size of the fuzzy sphere. In other words the quantum U(1) effective action does not vanish in the commutative limit and a noncommutative anomaly survives . We compute the scalar effective potential and prove the gauge-fixing-independence of the limiting model L={\infty} and then show explicitly that the one-loop result predicts a first order phase transition which was observed recently in simulation . The one-loop result for the U(1) theory is exact in this limit . It is also argued that if we add a large mass term for the scalar mode the UV-IR mixing will be completely removed from the gauge sector . It is found in this case to be confined to the scalar sector only. This is in accordance with the large L analysis of the model . Finally we show that the phase transition becomes harder to reach starting from small couplings when we increase M .Comment: 41 pages, 4 figures . Introduction rewritten extensively to include a summary of the main results of the pape

Remarks on Goldstone bosons and hard thermal loops

The hard thermal loop effective action for Goldstone bosons is deduced by symmetry arguments from the corresponding result for gauge bosons. Pseudoscalar mesons in chromodynamics and magnons in an antiferromagnet are discussed as special cases, including the hard thermal loop contribution to their scattering.Facultad de Ciencias Exacta

The magnetic mass of transverse gluon, the B-meson weak decay vertex and the triality symmetry of octonion

With an assumption that in the Yang-Mills Lagrangian, a left-handed fermion and a right-handed fermion both expressed as quaternion make an octonion which possesses the triality symmetry, I calculate the magnetic mass of the transverse self-dual gluon from three loop diagram, in which a heavy quark pair is created and two self-dual gluons are interchanged. The magnetic mass of the transverse gluon depends on the mass of the pair created quarks, and in the case of charmed quark pair creation, the magnetic mass $m_{mag}$ becomes approximately equal to $T_c$ at $T=T_c\sim 1.14\Lambda_{\bar{MS}}\sim 260$MeV. A possible time-like magnetic gluon mass from two self-dual gluon exchange is derived, and corrections in the B-meson weak decay vertices from the two self-dual gluon exchange are also evaluated.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figure