Information geometry in quantum field theory: lessons from simple examples

Motivated by the increasing connections between information theory and high-energy physics, particularly in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence, we explore the information geometry associated to a variety of simple systems. By studying their Fisher metrics, we derive some general lessons that may have important implications for the application of information geometry in holography. We begin by demonstrating that the symmetries of the physical theory under study play a strong role in the resulting geometry, and that the appearance of an AdS metric is a relatively general feature. We then investigate what information the Fisher metric retains about the physics of the underlying theory by studying the geometry for both the classical 2d Ising model and the corresponding 1d free fermion theory, and find that the curvature diverges precisely at the phase transition on both sides. We discuss the differences that result from placing a metric on the space of theories vs. states, using the example of coherent free fermion states. We compare the latter to the metric on the space of coherent free boson states and show that in both cases the metric is determined by the symmetries of the corresponding density matrix. We also clarify some misconceptions in the literature pertaining to different notions of flatness associated to metric and non-metric connections, with implications for how one interprets the curvature of the geometry. Our results indicate that in general, caution is needed when connecting the AdS geometry arising from certain models with the AdS/CFT correspondence, and seek to provide a useful collection of guidelines for future progress in this exciting area.Comment: 36 pages, 2 figures; added new section and appendix, miscellaneous improvement

Multicritical Symmetry Breaking and Naturalness of Slow Nambu-Goldstone Bosons

We investigate spontaneous global symmetry breaking in the absence of Lorentz invariance, and study technical Naturalness of Nambu-Goldstone (NG) modes whose dispersion relation exhibits a hierarchy of multicritical phenomena with Lifshitz scaling and dynamical exponents $z>1$. For example, we find NG modes with a technically natural quadratic dispersion relation which do not break time reversal symmetry and are associated with a single broken symmetry generator, not a pair. The mechanism is protected by an enhanced `polynomial shift' symmetry in the free-field limit.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure; v2: minor typos corrected, references adde

New Heat Kernel Method in Lifshitz Theories

We develop a new heat kernel method that is suited for a systematic study of the renormalization group flow in Horava gravity (and in Lifshitz field theories in general). This method maintains covariance at all stages of the calculation, which is achieved by introducing a generalized Fourier transform covariant with respect to the nonrelativistic background spacetime. As a first test, we apply this method to compute the anisotropic Weyl anomaly for a (2+1)-dimensional scalar field theory around a z=2 Lifshitz point and corroborate the previously found result. We then proceed to general scalar operators and evaluate their one-loop effective action. The covariant heat kernel method that we develop also directly applies to operators with spin structures in arbitrary dimensions.Comment: 47 pages, 1 figure; v2: appendix C updated, minor typos corrected, references adde

Scalar Field Theories with Polynomial Shift Symmetries

We continue our study of naturalness in nonrelativistic QFTs of the Lifshitz type, focusing on scalar fields that can play the role of Nambu-Goldstone (NG) modes associated with spontaneous symmetry breaking. Such systems allow for an extension of the constant shift symmetry to a shift by a polynomial of degree $P$ in spatial coordinates. These "polynomial shift symmetries" in turn protect the technical naturalness of modes with a higher-order dispersion relation, and lead to a refinement of the proposed classification of infrared Gaussian fixed points available to describe NG modes in nonrelativistic theories. Generic interactions in such theories break the polynomial shift symmetry explicitly to the constant shift. It is thus natural to ask: Given a Gaussian fixed point with polynomial shift symmetry of degree $P$, what are the lowest-dimension operators that preserve this symmetry, and deform the theory into a self-interacting scalar field theory with the shift symmetry of degree $P$? To answer this (essentially cohomological) question, we develop a new graph-theoretical technique, and use it to prove several classification theorems. First, in the special case of $P=1$ (essentially equivalent to Galileons), we reproduce the known Galileon $N$-point invariants, and find their novel interpretation in terms of graph theory, as an equal-weight sum over all labeled trees with $N$ vertices. Then we extend the classification to $P>1$ and find a whole host of new invariants, including those that represent the most relevant (or least irrelevant) deformations of the corresponding Gaussian fixed points, and we study their uniqueness.Comment: 70 pages. v2: minor clarifications, typos corrected, a reference adde

Non-Lorentzian IIB Supergravity from a Polynomial Realization of SL(2,R)

We derive the action and symmetries of the bosonic sector of non-Lorentzian IIB supergravity by taking the non-relativistic string limit. We find that the bosonic field content is extended by a Lagrange multiplier that implements a restriction on the Ramond-Ramond fluxes. We show that the SL(2,R) transformation rules of non-Lorentzian IIB supergravity form a novel, nonlinear polynomial realization. Using classical invariant theory of polynomial equations and binary forms, we will develop a general formalism describing the polynomial realization of SL(2,R) and apply it to the special case of non-Lorentzian IIB supergravity. Using the same formalism, we classify all the relevant SL(2,R) invariants. Invoking other bosonic symmetries, such as the local boost and dilatation symmetry, we show how the bosonic part of the non-Lorentzian IIB supergravity action is formed uniquely from these SL(2,R) invariants. This work also points towards the concept of a non-Lorentzian bootstrap, where bosonic symmetries in non-Lorentzian supergravity are used to bootstrap the bosonic dynamics in Lorentzian supergravity, without considering the fermions.Comment: 43 page

The edge of chaos: quantum field theory and deep neural networks

We explicitly construct the quantum field theory corresponding to a general class of deep neural networks encompassing both recurrent and feedforward architectures. We first consider the mean-field theory (MFT) obtained as the leading saddlepoint in the action, and derive the condition for criticality via the largest Lyapunov exponent. We then compute the loop corrections to the correlation function in a perturbative expansion in the ratio of depth T to width N, and find a precise analogy with the well-studied O(N) vector model, in which the variance of the weight initializations plays the role of the 't Hooft coupling. In particular, we compute both the O(1) corrections quantifying fluctuations from typicality in the ensemble of networks, and the subleading O(T/N) corrections due to finite-width effects. These provide corrections to the correlation length that controls the depth to which information can propagate through the network, and thereby sets the scale at which such networks are trainable by gradient descent. Our analysis provides a first-principles approach to the rapidly emerging NN-QFT correspondence, and opens several interesting avenues to the study of criticality in deep neural networks

Branched SL(2,ℤ) duality

We investigate how SL(2,ℤ) duality is realized in nonrelativistic type IIB superstring theory, which is a self-contained corner of relativistic string theory. Within this corner, we realize manifestly SL(2,ℤ)-invariant (p, q)-string actions. The construction of these actions imposes a branching between strings of opposite charges associated with the two-form fields. The branch point is determined by these charges and the axion background field. Both branches must be incorporated in order to realize the full SL(2,ℤ) group. Besides these string actions, we also construct D-instanton and D3-brane actions that manifestly realize the branched SL(2,ℤ) symmetry

Engaging with History after Macpherson

The Race Relations Amendment Act (2000) identifies a key role for education, and more specifically history, in promoting ‘race equality’ in Britain. In this article Ian Grosvenor and Kevin Myers consider the extent of young people’s current engagement with the history of ‘diversity, change and immigration’ which underpins the commitment to ‘race equality’. Finding that in many of Britain’s schools and universities a singular and exclusionary version of history continues to dominate the curriculum, they go on to consider the reasons for the neglect of multiculturalism. The authors identify the development of an aggressive national identity that depends on the past for its legitimacy and argue that this sense of the past is an important obstacle to future progress