5,308 research outputs found
Renormalization of the Topological Charge in Yang-Mills Theory
The conditions leading to a nontrivial renormalization of the topological
charge in four--dimensional Yang--Mills theory are discussed. It is shown that
if the topological term is regarded as the limit of a certain nontopological
interaction, quantum effects due to the gauge bosons lead to a finite
multiplicative renormalization of the theta--parameter while fermions give rise
to an additional shift of theta. A truncated form of an exact renormalization
group equation is used to study the scale dependence of the theta--parameter.
Possible implications for the strong CP--problem of QCD are discussed.Comment: 31 pages, late
The role of Background Independence for Asymptotic Safety in Quantum Einstein Gravity
We discuss various basic conceptual issues related to coarse graining flows
in quantum gravity. In particular the requirement of background independence is
shown to lead to renormalization group (RG) flows which are significantly
different from their analogs on a rigid background spacetime. The importance of
these findings for the asymptotic safety approach to Quantum Einstein Gravity
(QEG) is demonstrated in a simplified setting where only the conformal factor
is quantized. We identify background independence as a (the ?) key prerequisite
for the existence of a non-Gaussian RG fixed point and the renormalizability of
QEG.Comment: 2 figures. Talk given by M.R. at the WE-Heraeus-Seminar "Quantum
Gravity: Challenges and Perspectives", Bad Honnef, April 14-16, 2008; to
appear in General Relativity and Gravitatio
Renormalization group improved gravitational actions: a Brans-Dicke approach
A new framework for exploiting information about the renormalization group
(RG) behavior of gravity in a dynamical context is discussed. The
Einstein-Hilbert action is RG-improved by replacing Newton's constant and the
cosmological constant by scalar functions in the corresponding Lagrangian
density. The position dependence of and is governed by a RG
equation together with an appropriate identification of RG scales with points
in spacetime. The dynamics of the fields and does not admit a
Lagrangian description in general. Within the Lagrangian formalism for the
gravitational field they have the status of externally prescribed
``background'' fields. The metric satisfies an effective Einstein equation
similar to that of Brans-Dicke theory. Its consistency imposes severe
constraints on allowed backgrounds. In the new RG-framework, and
carry energy and momentum. It is tested in the setting of homogeneous-isotropic
cosmology and is compared to alternative approaches where the fields and
do not carry gravitating 4-momentum. The fixed point regime of the
underlying RG flow is studied in detail.Comment: LaTeX, 72 pages, no figure
Running Gauge Coupling in Asymptotically Safe Quantum Gravity
We investigate the non-perturbative renormalization group behavior of the
gauge coupling constant using a truncated form of the functional flow equation
for the effective average action of the Yang-Mills-gravity system. We find a
non-zero quantum gravity correction to the standard Yang-Mills beta function
which has the same sign as the gauge boson contribution. Our results fit into
the picture according to which Quantum Einstein Gravity (QEG) is asymptotically
safe, with a vanishing gauge coupling constant at the non-trivial fixed point.Comment: 27 page
Long-term observations of Uranus and Neptune at 90 GHz with the IRAM 30m telescope - (1985 -- 2005)
The planets Uranus and Neptune with small apparent diameters are primary
calibration standards. We investigate their variability at ~90 GHz using
archived data taken at the IRAM 30m telescope during the 20 years period 1985
to 2005. We calibrate the planetary observations against non-variable secondary
standards (NGC7027, NGC7538, W3OH, K3-50A) observed almost simultaneously.
Between 1985 and 2005, the viewing angle of Uranus changed from south-pole to
equatorial. We find that the disk brightness temperature declines by almost 10%
(~2sigma) over this time span indicating that the south-pole region is
significantly brighter than average. Our finding is consistent with recent
long-term radio observations at 8.6 GHz by Klein & Hofstadter (2006). Both data
sets do moreover show a rapid decrease of the Uranus brightness temperature
during the year 1993, indicating a temporal, planetary scale change. We do not
find indications for a variation of Neptune's brightness temperature at the 8%
level. If Uranus is to be used as calibration source, and if accuracies better
than 10% are required, the Uranus sub-earth point latitude needs to be taken
into account.Comment: accepted for publication in A&
Gluon Condensation in Nonperturbative Flow Equations
We employ nonperturbative flow equations for an investigation of the
effective action in Yang-Mills theories. We compute the effective action
for constant color magnetic fields and examine Savvidy's
conjecture of an unstable perturbative vacuum. Our results indicate that the
absolute minimum of occurs for B=0. Gluon condensation is described
by a nonvanishing expectation value of the regularized composite operator
which agrees with phenomenological estimates.Comment: 64 pages, late
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