Ginsparg-Wilson Fermions in Odd Dimensions

The Ginsparg-Wilson relation, if written in a suitable form, can be used as a condition for lattice Dirac operators of massless fermions also in odd dimensions. The fermion action with such a Dirac operator is invariant under a generalized parity transformation, which reduces to the ordinary parity transformation in the (naive) continuum limit. The fermion measure, however, transforms non-trivially under the generalized parity transformation, and hence the parity anomaly arises solely from the fermion measure. The analogy to the lattice construction of chiral gauge theories in even dimensions is clarified by considering a dimensional reduction. We also propose a natural definition of a lattice Chern-Simons term, which is consistent with odd dimensional Ginsparg-Wilson fermions.Comment: 15 pages, no figures, final version published in JHE

The continuum limit of the non-commutative lambda phi^4 model

We present a numerical study of the \lambda \phi^{4} model in three Euclidean dimensions, where the two spatial coordinates are non-commutative (NC). We first show the explicit phase diagram of this model on a lattice. The ordered regime splits into a phase of uniform order and a ``striped phase''. Then we discuss the dispersion relation, which allows us to introduce a dimensionful lattice spacing. Thus we can study a double scaling limit to zero lattice spacing and infinite volume, which keeps the non-commutativity parameter constant. The dispersion relation in the disordered phase stabilizes in this limit, which represents a non-perturbative renormalization. From its shape we infer that the striped phase persists in the continuum, and we observe UV/IR mixing as a non-perturbative effect.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, talk presented by W.B. at the 11th Regional Conference on Mathematical Physics, Tehran, May 3-6, 200

Non--Commutative Field Theories beyond Perturbation Theory

We investigate two models in non-commutative (NC) field theory by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Even if we start from the Euclidean lattice formulation, such simulations are only feasible after mapping the systems onto dimensionally reduced matrix models. Using this technique, we measure Wilson loops in 2d NC gauge theory of rank 1. It turns out that they are non-perturbatively renormalizable, and the phase follows an Aharonov-Bohm effect if we identify \theta = 1/B. Next we study the 3d \lambda \phi^{4} model with two NC coordinates, where we present new results for the correlators and the dispersion relation. We further reveal the explicit phase diagram. The ordered regime splits into a uniform and a striped phase, as it was qualitatively conjectured before. We also confirm the recent observation by Ambjorn and Catterall that such stripes occur even in d=2, although they imply the spontaneous breaking of translation symmetry. However, in d=3 and d=2 we observe only patterns of two stripes to be stable in the range of parameters investigated.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, talk presented at 35th Ahrenshoop Symposiu

The Area Law in Matrix Models for Large N QCD Strings

We study the question whether matrix models obtained in the zero volume limit of 4d Yang-Mills theories can describe large N QCD strings. The matrix model we use is a variant of the Eguchi-Kawai model in terms of Hermitian matrices, but without any twists or quenching. This model was originally proposed as a toy model of the IIB matrix model. In contrast to common expectations, we do observe the area law for Wilson loops in a significant range of scale of the loop area. Numerical simulations show that this range is stable as N increases up to 768, which strongly suggests that it persists in the large N limit. Hence the equivalence to QCD strings may hold for length scales inside a finite regime.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

On the Quantum Geometry of String Theory

The IKKT or IIB matrix model has been proposed as a non-perturbative definition of type IIB superstring theories. It has the attractive feature that space--time appears dynamically. It is possible that lower dimensional universes dominate the theory, therefore providing a dynamical solution to the reduction of space--time dimensionality. We summarize recent works that show the central role of the phase of the fermion determinant in the possible realization of such a scenario.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, Lattice2001(surfaces

A non-perturbative study of non-commutative U(1) gauge theory

We study U(1) gauge theory on a 4d non-commutative torus, where two directions are non-commutative. Monte Carlo simulations are performed after mapping the regularized theory onto a U(N) lattice gauge theory in d=2. At intermediate coupling strength, we find a phase in which open Wilson lines acquire non-zero vacuum expectation values, which implies the spontaneous breakdown of translational invariance. In this phase, various physical quantities obey clear scaling behaviors in the continuum limit with a fixed non-commutativity parameter theta, which provides evidence for a possible continuum theory. In the weak coupling symmetric phase, the dispersion relation involves a negative IR-singular term, which is responsible for the observed phase transition.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, Talk presented by J. Nishimura at the 21st Nishinomiya-Yukawa Memorial Symposium on Theoretical Physics: ``Noncommutative Geometry and Quantum Spacetime in Physics'', Nishinomiya and Kyoto (2006