Special complex manifolds

We introduce the notion of a special complex manifold: a complex manifold (M,J) with a flat torsionfree connection \nabla such that (\nabla J) is symmetric. A special symplectic manifold is then defined as a special complex manifold together with a \nabla-parallel symplectic form \omega . This generalises Freed's definition of (affine) special K\"ahler manifolds. We also define projective versions of all these geometries. Our main result is an extrinsic realisation of all simply connected (affine or projective) special complex, symplectic and K\"ahler manifolds. We prove that the above three types of special geometry are completely solvable, in the sense that they are locally defined by free holomorphic data. In fact, any special complex manifold is locally realised as the image of a holomorphic 1-form \alpha : C^n \to T^* C^n. Such a realisation induces a canonical \nabla-parallel symplectic structure on M and any special symplectic manifold is locally obtained this way. Special K\"ahler manifolds are realised as complex Lagrangian submanifolds and correspond to closed forms \alpha. Finally, we discuss the natural geometric structures on the cotangent bundle of a special symplectic manifold, which generalise the hyper-K\"ahler structure on the cotangent bundle of a special K\"ahler manifold.Comment: 24 pages, latex, section 3 revised (v2), modified Abstract and Introduction, version to appear in J. Geom. Phy

Subspaces of a para-quaternionic Hermitian vector space

Let $(\tilde Q,g)$ be a para-quaternionic Hermitian structure on the real vector space $V$. By referring to the tensorial presentation $(V, \tilde{Q},g) \simeq (H^2 \otimes E^{2n}, \mathfrak{sl}(H),\omega^H \otimes \omega^E)$, we give an explicit description, from an affine and metric point of view, of main classes of subspaces of $V$ which are invariantly defined with respect to the structure group of $\tilde{Q}$ and $(\tilde{Q},g)$ respectively

Time evolution of effective central charge and signatures of RG irreversibility after a quantum quench

At thermal equilibrium, the concept of effective central charge for massive deformations of two-dimensional conformal field theories (CFT) is well understood, and can be defined by comparing the partition function of the massive model to that of a CFT. This temperature-dependent effective charge interpolates monotonically between the central charge values corresponding to the IR and UV fixed points at low and high temperatures, respectively. We propose a non-equilibrium, time-dependent generalization of the effective central charge for integrable models after a quantum quench, $c_{\rm eff}(t)$, obtained by comparing the return amplitude to that of a CFT quench. We study this proposal for a large mass quench of a free boson, where the charge is seen to interpolate between $c_{\rm eff}=0$ at $t=0$, and $c_{\rm eff}\sim 1$ at $t\to\infty$, as is expected. We use our effective charge to define an "Ising to Tricritical Ising" quench protocol, where the charge evolves from $c_{\rm eff}=1/2$ at $t=0$, to $c_{\rm eff}=7/10$ at $t\to\infty$, the corresponding values of the first two unitary minimal CFT models. We then argue that the inverse "Tricritical Ising to Ising" quench is impossible with our methods. These conclusions can be generalized for quenches between any two adjacent unitary minimal CFT models. We finally study a large mass quench into the "staircase model" (sinh-Gordon with a particular complex coupling). At short times after the quench, the effective central charge increases in a discrete "staircase" structure, where the values of the charge at the steps can be computed in terms of the central charges of unitary minimal CFT models. When the initial state is a pure state, one always finds that $c_{\rm eff}(t\to\infty)\geq c_{\rm eff}(t=0)$, though $c_{\rm eff}(t)$, generally oscillates at finite times. We explore how this constraint may be related to RG flow irreversibility.Comment: Some discussion modified. Title slightly modified. References added. Scipost submissio

Raman Spectroscopy on Plasmonic Materials: Recent Advances and Applications in Molecular detection

Plasmonic Enhancement of the electric field is the basis of the Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering technique (SERS). This technique is based on the localization of light in the nanoscale occurring in plasmonic materials and provides the best conditions for molecular detection, even single-molecule detection. This can only be achieved by the use of spectroscopy in the nanoscale. The building of functional nanostructured devices to obtain sensitive and selective platforms, with specific applications in molecular detection, biodiagnosis and Cultural Heritage is presented. Plasmonic effects are highly activated in nanostructures substrates containing tips or in interparticle gaps. The nanofabrication of metal nanoparticles with special morphology, such as nanostars is presented here for the specific case of silver. The functionalization with bifunctional molecules gives rise to highly active gaps that can be employed in the molecular detection of pollutants. Another important application of these nanostructured platforms is the functionalization with biological molecules for bioanalytical applications and the detection of colorants with interest for the Cultural Heritage.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Confinement-Higgs Phase Crossover as a Lattice Artifact in 1+1 Dimensions

We examine the phase structure of massive Yang-Mills theory in 1+1 dimensions. This theory is equivalent to a gauged principal chiral sigma model. It has been previously shown that the gauged theory has only a confined phase, and no Higgs phase in the continuum, and at infinite volume. There are no massive gluons, but only hadron-like bound states of sigma-model particles. The reason is that the gluon mass diverges, being proportional to the two-point correlation function of the renormalized field of the sigma model at $x=0$. We use exact large-$N$ results to show that after introducing a lattice regularization and typical values of the coupling constants used in Monte Carlo simulations, the gluon mass becomes finite, and even sometimes small. A smooth crossover into a Higgs phase can then appear. For small volumes and large $N$, we find an analytic expression for the gluon mass, which depends on the coupling constants and the volume. We argue that this Higgs phase is qualitatively similar to the one observed in lattice computations at $N=2$.Comment: Version accepted for publication in JHEP. Improved discussion of results, references adde