The energy of a deterministic Loewner chain: Reversibility and interpretation via SLE0+_{0+}

We study some features of the energy of a deterministic chordal Loewner chain, which is defined as the Dirichlet energy of its driving function. In particular, using an interpretation of this energy as a large deviation rate function for SLE$_\kappa$ as $\kappa$ tends to 0 and the known reversibility of the SLE$_\kappa$ curves for small $\kappa$, we show that the energy of a deterministic curve from one boundary point A of a simply connected domain D to another boundary point B, is equal to the energy of its time-reversal ie. of the same curve but viewed as going from B to A in D.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures, minor changes in Sec. 2.2., to appear in J. Europ. Math. So

Equivalent Descriptions of the Loewner Energy

Loewner's equation provides a way to encode a simply connected domain or equivalently its uniformizing conformal map via a real-valued driving function of its boundary. The first main result of the present paper is that the Dirichlet energy of this driving function (also known as the Loewner energy) is equal to the Dirichlet energy of the log-derivative of the (appropriately defined) uniformizing conformal map. This description of the Loewner energy then enables to tie direct links with regularized determinants and Teichm\"uller theory: We show that for smooth simple loops, the Loewner energy can be expressed in terms of the zeta-regularized determinants of a certain Neumann jump operator. We also show that the family of finite Loewner energy loops coincides with the Weil-Petersson class of quasicircles, and that the Loewner energy equals to a multiple of the universal Liouville action introduced by Takhtajan and Teo, which is a K\"ahler potential for the Weil-Petersson metric on the Weil-Petersson Teichm\"uller space.Comment: 43 pages, 7 figures. Revised version according to the referee's report, the title is change

Interplay between Loewner and Dirichlet energies via conformal welding and flow-lines

The Loewner energy of a Jordan curve is the Dirichlet energy of its Loewner driving term. It is finite if and only if the curve is a Weil-Petersson quasicircle. In this paper, we describe cutting and welding operations on finite Dirichlet energy functions defined in the plane, allowing expression of the Loewner energy in terms of Dirichlet energy dissipation. We show that the Loewner energy of a unit vector field flow-line is equal to the Dirichlet energy of the harmonically extended winding. We also give an identity involving a complex-valued function of finite Dirichlet energy that expresses the welding and flow-line identities simultaneously. As applications, we prove that arclength isometric welding of two domains is sub-additive in the energy, and that the energy of equipotentials in a simply connected domain is monotone. Our main identities can be viewed as action functional analogs of both the welding and flow-line couplings of Schramm-Loewner evolution curves with the Gaussian free field.Comment: 28 pages, 3 figures. Minor revision according to referees' repor

A new inflationary Universe scenario with inhomogeneous quantum vacuum

We investigate the quantum vacuum and find the fluctuations can lead to the inhomogeneous quantum vacuum. We find that the vacuum fluctuations can significantly influence the cosmological inhomogeneity, which is different from what previously expected. By introducing the modified Green's function, we reach a new inflationary scenario which can explain why the Universe is still expanding without slowing down. We also calculate the tunneling amplitude of the Universe based on the inhomogeneous vacuum. We find that the inhomogeneity can lead to the penetration of the universe over the potential barrier faster than previously thought.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figure

A note on Loewner energy, conformal restriction and Werner's measure on self-avoiding loops

In this note, we establish an expression of the Loewner energy of a Jordan curve on the Riemann sphere in terms of Werner's measure on simple loops of SLE$_{8/3}$ type. The proof is based on a formula for the change of the Loewner energy under a conformal map that is reminiscent of the restriction properties derived for SLE processes.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Interaction-induced quantum anomalous Hall phase in (111) bilayer of LaCoO3_3

In the present paper, the Gutzwiller density functional theory (LDA+G) has been applied to study a bilayer system of LaCoO$_3$ grown along the $(111)$ direction on SrTiO$_3$. The LDA calculations show that there are two nearly flat bands located at the top and bottom of $e_{g}$ bands of Co atoms with the Fermi level crossing the lower one, which is almost half-filled. After including both the spin-orbit coupling and the Coulomb interaction in the LDA+G method, we find that the interplay between spin-orbit coupling and Coulomb interaction stabilizes a very robust ferromagnetic insulator phase with non-zero Chern number, which indicates the possibility to realize quantum anomalous Hall effect in this system.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure