Groupoid Quantization of Loop Spaces

We review the various contexts in which quantized 2-plectic manifolds are expected to appear within closed string theory and M-theory. We then discuss how the quantization of a 2-plectic manifold can be reduced to ordinary quantization of its loop space, which is a symplectic manifold. We demonstrate how the latter can be quantized using groupoids. After reviewing the necessary background, we present the groupoid quantization of the loop space of R^3 in some detail.Comment: 19 pages, Proceedings of the Corfu Summer Institute 2011 - School and Workshops on Elementary Particle Physics and Gravity, September 4-18, 2011, Corfu, Greec

Branes, Quantization and Fuzzy Spheres

We propose generalized quantization axioms for Nambu-Poisson manifolds, which allow for a geometric interpretation of n-Lie algebras and their enveloping algebras. We illustrate these axioms by describing extensions of Berezin-Toeplitz quantization to produce various examples of quantum spaces of relevance to the dynamics of M-branes, such as fuzzy spheres in diverse dimensions. We briefly describe preliminary steps towards making the notion of quantized 2-plectic manifolds rigorous by extending the groupoid approach to quantization of symplectic manifolds.Comment: 18 pages; Based on Review Talk at the Workshop on "Noncommutative Field Theory and Gravity", Corfu Summer Institute on Elementary Particles and Physics, September 8-12, 2010, Corfu, Greece; to be published in Proceedings of Scienc

Groupoids, Loop Spaces and Quantization of 2-Plectic Manifolds

We describe the quantization of 2-plectic manifolds as they arise in the context of the quantum geometry of M-branes and non-geometric flux compactifications of closed string theory. We review the groupoid approach to quantizing Poisson manifolds in detail, and then extend it to the loop spaces of 2-plectic manifolds, which are naturally symplectic manifolds. In particular, we discuss the groupoid quantization of the loop spaces of R^3, T^3 and S^3, and derive some interesting implications which match physical expectations from string theory and M-theory.Comment: 71 pages, v2: references adde

The 2-Hilbert Space of a Prequantum Bundle Gerbe

We construct a prequantum 2-Hilbert space for any line bundle gerbe whose Dixmier-Douady class is torsion. Analogously to usual prequantisation, this 2-Hilbert space has the category of sections of the line bundle gerbe as its underlying 2-vector space. These sections are obtained as certain morphism categories in Waldorf's version of the 2-category of line bundle gerbes. We show that these morphism categories carry a monoidal structure under which they are semisimple and abelian. We introduce a dual functor on the sections, which yields a closed structure on the morphisms between bundle gerbes and turns the category of sections into a 2-Hilbert space. We discuss how these 2-Hilbert spaces fit various expectations from higher prequantisation. We then extend the transgression functor to the full 2-category of bundle gerbes and demonstrate its compatibility with the additional structures introduced. We discuss various aspects of Kostant-Souriau prequantisation in this setting, including its dimensional reduction to ordinary prequantisation.Comment: 97 pages; v2: minor changes; Final version to be published in Reviews in Mathematical Physic

Ab-initio quantum transport simulation of self-heating in single-layer 2-D materials

Through advanced quantum mechanical simulations combining electron and phonon transport from first-principles self-heating effects are investigated in n-type transistors with a single-layer MoS2, WS2, and black phosphorus as channel materials. The selected 2-D crystals all exhibit different phonon-limited mobility values, as well as electron and phonon properties, which has a direct influence on the increase of their lattice temperature and on the power dissipated inside their channel as a function of the applied gate voltage and electrical current magnitude. This computational study reveals (i) that self-heating plays a much more important role in 2-D materials than in Si nanowires, (ii) that it could severely limit the performance of 2-D devices at high current densities, and (iii) that black phosphorus appears less sensitive to this phenomenon than transition metal dichalcogenides

Cheeger-Simons differential characters with compact support and Pontryagin duality

By adapting the Cheeger-Simons approach to differential cohomology, we establish a notion of differential cohomology with compact support. We show that it is functorial with respect to open embeddings and that it fits into a natural diagram of exact sequences which compare it to compactly supported singular cohomology and differential forms with compact support, in full analogy to ordinary differential cohomology. We prove an excision theorem for differential cohomology using a suitable relative version. Furthermore, we use our model to give an independent proof of Pontryagin duality for differential cohomology recovering a result of [Harvey, Lawson, Zweck - Amer. J. Math. 125 (2003) 791]: On any oriented manifold, ordinary differential cohomology is isomorphic to the smooth Pontryagin dual of compactly supported differential cohomology. For manifolds of finite-type, a similar result is obtained interchanging ordinary with compactly supported differential cohomology.Comment: 33 pages, no figures - v3: Final version to be published in Communications in Analysis and Geometr

Finite-volume corrections to the leading-order hadronic contribution to gμ−2g_\mu-2

We present preliminary results of a 2+1-flavor study of finite-volume effects in the lattice QCD computation of the leading-order hadronic contribution to the muon anomalous magnetic moment. We also present methods for obtaining directly the invariant hadronic polarization function, $\Pi(Q^2)$, and the Adler function at all discrete lattice values of $Q^2$, including $Q^2=0$. Results are obtained with HEX-smeared clover fermions.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, Contribution to the Proceedings of the 32nd International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2014), 23-28 June 2014, Columbia University, New York, NY, US

Continuum EoS for QCD with Nf=2+1 flavors

We report on a continuum extrapolated result [arXiv:1309.5258] for the equation of state (EoS) of QCD with $N_f=2+1$ dynamical quark flavors. In this study, all systematics are controlled, quark masses are set to their physical values, and the continuum limit is taken using at least three lattice spacings corresponding to temporal extents up to $N_t=16$. A Symanzik improved gauge and stout-link improved staggered fermion action is used. Our results are available online [ancillary file to arXiv:1309.5258].Comment: Conference proceedings, 7 pages, 4 figures. Talk presented at 31st International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (LATTICE 2013), July 29 - August 3, 2013, Mainz, German

Differential cohomology and locally covariant quantum field theory

We study differential cohomology on categories of globally hyperbolic Lorentzian manifolds. The Lorentzian metric allows us to define a natural transformation whose kernel generalizes Maxwell's equations and fits into a restriction of the fundamental exact sequences of differential cohomology. We consider smooth Pontryagin duals of differential cohomology groups, which are subgroups of the character groups. We prove that these groups fit into smooth duals of the fundamental exact sequences of differential cohomology and equip them with a natural presymplectic structure derived from a generalized Maxwell Lagrangian. The resulting presymplectic Abelian groups are quantized using the CCR-functor, which yields a covariant functor from our categories of globally hyperbolic Lorentzian manifolds to the category of C*-algebras. We prove that this functor satisfies the causality and time-slice axioms of locally covariant quantum field theory, but that it violates the locality axiom. We show that this violation is precisely due to the fact that our functor has topological subfunctors describing the Pontryagin duals of certain singular cohomology groups. As a byproduct, we develop a Fr\'echet-Lie group structure on differential cohomology groups