The Dual Phases of Massless/Massive Kalb-Ramond Fields

We have developed dualization of ordinary and ``Stueckelberg compensated'' massive phase for the Kalb-Ramond theory. The compensated phase allows to study the interplay between spin jumping and duality. We show that spin jumping is caused by mass, while gauge symmetry is not necessary for this effect to take place.Comment: 8pages, non figures, LaTex 2e; accepted for publ. in J.Phys.

Nambu-Goto Strings from SU(N) Born-Infeld model

The spectrum of quenched Yang-Mills theory in the large-N limit displays strings and higher dimensional extended objects. The effective dynamics of string-like excitations is encoded into area preserving Schild action. In this letter, we bridge the gap between SU(N) gauge models and fully reparametrization invariant Nambu-Goto string models by introducing an extra matrix degree of freedom in the Yang-Mills action. In the large-N limit this matrix variable becomes the world-sheet auxiliary field allowing a smooth transition between the Schild and Nambu-Goto strings. The new improved matrix model we propose here can be extended to p-branes provided we enlarge the dimensionality of the target spacetime.Comment: 11pages, no figures, LateX2e; added discussio

Membrane Vacuum as a Type II Superconductor

We study a functional field theory of membranes coupled to a rank--three tensor gauge potential. We show that gauge field radiative corrections lead to membrane condensation which turns the gauge field into a {\it massive spin--0 field}. This is the Coleman--Weinberg mechanism for {\it membranes}. An analogy is also drawn with a type--II superconductor. The ground state of the system consists of a two--phase medium in which the superconducting background condensate is ``pierced'' by four dimensional domains, or ``bags'', of non superconducting vacuum. Bags are bounded by membranes whose physical thickness is of the order of the inverse mass acquired by the gauge field.Comment: 14 pages, no figures, LaTeX; to be Published on In.J.Mod.Phys.B Umezawa Memorial Issu

Particle Propagator in Elementary Quantum Mechanics: a New Path Integral Derivation

This paper suggests a new way to compute the path integral for simple quantum mechanical systems. The new algorithm originated from previous research in string theory. However, its essential simplicity is best illustrated in the case of a free non relativistic particle, discussed here, and can be appreciated by most students taking an introductory course in Quantum Mechanics. Indeed, the emphasis is on the role played by the {\it entire family of classical trajectories} in terms of which the path integral is computed exactly using a functional representation of the Dirac delta-distribution. We argue that the new algorithm leads to a deeper insight into the connection between classical and quantum systems, especially those encountered in high energy physics.Comment: LaTex uses iopams package, 15pages, no figures, in print on Euro.J.of Phy

Stabilization of Neutral Thin Shells By Gravitational Effects From Electric Fields

We study the properties of a system consisting of an uncharged spherically symmetric two dimensional extended object which encloses a stationary point charge placed in the shell's center. We show that there can be a static and stable configuration for the neutral shell, using only the gravitational field of the charged source as a stabilizing mechanism. In particular, two types of shells are studied: a dust shell and a string gas shell. The dynamical possibilities are also analyzed, including the possibility of child universe creation.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Effective dynamics of self-gravitating extended objects

We introduce an effective Lagrangian which describes the classical and semiclassical dynamics of spherically symmetric, self-gravitating objects that may populate the Universe at large and small (Planck) scale. These include wormholes, black holes and inflationary bubbles. We speculate that such objects represent some possible modes of fluctuation in the primordial spacetime foam out of which our universe was born. Several results obtained by different methods are encompassed and reinterpreted by our effective approach. As an example, we discuss: i) the gravitational nucleation coefficient for a pair of Minkowski bubbles, and ii) the nucleation coefficient of an inflationary vacuum bubble in a Minkowski backgroundComment: 13 pages, no figures, ReVTe

Fuzzy dimensions and Planck's Uncertainty Principle for p-branes

The explicit form of the quantum propagator of a bosonic p-brane, previously obtained by the authors in the quenched-minisuperspace approximation, suggests the possibility of a novel, unified, description of p-branes with different dimensionality. The background metric that emerges in this framework is a quadratic form on a Clifford manifold. Substitution of the Lorentzian metric with the Clifford line element has two far reaching consequences. On the one hand, it changes the very structure of the spacetime fabric since the new metric is built out of a Minimum Length below which it is impossible to resolve the distance between two points; on the other hand, the introduction of the Clifford line element extends the usual relativity of motion to the case of Relative Dimensionalism of all p-branes that make up the spacetime manifold near the Planck scale.Comment: 11 pages, LaTex, no figures; in print on Class.& Quantum Gra

Vacuum Bubbles Nucleation and Dark Matter Production through Gauge Symmetry Rearrangement

Modern particle physics and cosmology support the idea that a background of invisible material pervades the whole universe, and identify in the cosmic vacuum the ultimate source of matter-energy, both seen and unseen. Within the framework of the theory of fundamental relativistic membranes, we suggest a self-consistent, vacuum energy-driven mechanism for dark matter creation through gauge symmetry rearrangement.Comment: 22pages, RevTeX, no figures; accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.

Properties of noncommutative axionic electrodynamics

Using the gauge-invariant but path-dependent variables formalism, we compute the static quantum potential for noncommutative axionic electrodynamics, and find a radically different result than the corresponding commutative case. We explicitly show that the static potential profile is analogous to that encountered in both non-Abelian axionic electrodynamics and in Yang-Mills theory with spontaneous symmetry breaking of scale symmetry.Comment: 4 pages. To appear in PR