We study a model of N-component complex fermions with a kinetic term that is second order in derivatives. This symplectic fermion model has an Sp(2N) symmetry, which for any N contains an SO(3) subgroup that can be identified with rotational spin of spin-1/2 particles. Since the spin-1/2 representation is not promoted to a representation of the Lorentz group, the model is not fully Lorentz invariant, although it has a relativistic dispersion relation. The hamiltonian is pseudo-hermitian, H^\dagger = C H C, which implies it has a unitary time evolution. Renormalization-group analysis shows the model has a low-energy fixed point that is a fermionic version of the Wilson-Fisher fixed points. The critical exponents are computed to two-loop order. Possible applications to condensed matter physics in 3 space-time dimensions are discussed.
The unitarity in Lorentz invariance violating QED consisting of standard fermions and higher-order photons of the Myers-Pospelov theory is studied. We find ghost states associated to the higher-order character of the theory which could render the $S$ matrix nonunitary. An explicit calculation to check perturbative unitarity in the process of electron-positron scattering is performed and it is found to be possible to preserve unitarity.
The unitarity of a Lorentz-invariance violating QED model with higher-order Myers and Pospelov photons coupled to standard fermions is studied. As expected, we find ghost states associated to the higher-order terms that may lead to the loss of unitarity. An explicit calculation to check perturbative unitarity in the process of electron-positron scattering is performed and it is found to be possible to be preserved.
It is shown that the one-loop two-point amplitude in {\it Lorentz-invariant} non-commutative (NC) $ϕ^3$ theory is finite after subtraction in the commutative limit and satisfies the usual cutting rule, thereby eliminating the unitarity problem in Lorentz-non-invariant NC field theory in the approximation considered.
The gauge-invariant Chern-Simons-type Lorentz- and CPT-breaking term is here reassessed and a spin-projector method is adopted to account for the breaking (vector) parameter. Issues like causality, unitarity, spontaneous gauge-symmetry breaking and vortex formation are investigated, and consistency conditions on the external vector are identified.
Ultraviolet finite quantum field theory on even dimensional noncommutative spacetime is formulated using coordinate coherent states. 2d spacetime is foliated into families of orthogonal, non commutative, two-planes. Lorentz invariance is recovered if one imposes a single non commutative parameter theta in the theory. Unitarity is checked at the one-loop level and no violation is found. Being UV finite NCQFT does not present any UV/IR mixing.
The Lorentz-violating model proposed by Myers and Pospelov suffers from a higher-derivative pathology due to a dimension-5 operator. In particular, its electromagnetic sector exhibits an spectrum which contains, in addition to an expected massless photon, ghost contributions that could (in principle) spoil the unitarity of the model. We find that unitarity at tree-level can be assured for pure spacelike, timelike and lightlike background four-vectors (the last two under restrictions upon the allowed momenta). We then analyze the non-relativistic interparticle potential energy behavior for diff…
In this paper, we extend the analysis of the Lorentz-violating Quantum Eletrodynamics to the non-Abelian case: an SO(3) Yang-Mills Lagrangian with the addition of the non-Abelian Chern-Simons-type term. We consider the spontaneous symmetry breaking of the model and inspect its spectrum in order to check if unitarity and causality are respected. An analysis of the topological structure is also carried out and we show that a 't Hooft-Polyakov solution for monopoles is still present.
The gauge-invariant Chern-Simons-type Lorentz- and CPT-breaking term is here re-assessed and issues like causality, unitarity, spontaneous gauge-symmetry breaking are investigated. Moreover, we obtain a minimal extension of such a system to a supersymmetric environment. We comment on resulting peculiar self-couplings for the gauge sector, as well as on background contribution for gaugino masses.
We study perturbative unitarity in the scalar sector of the Myers-Pospelov model. The model introduces a preferred four-vector $n$ which breaks Lorentz symmetry and couples to a five-dimension operator. When the preferred four-vector is chosen in the pure timelike or lightlike direction, the model becomes a higher time derivative theory, leading to a cubic dispersion relation. Two of the poles are shown to be perturbatively connected to the standard ones, while a third pole, which we call the Lee-Wick-like pole, is associated to a negative metric, in Hilbert space, threatening the preservation…
We revisit the previously unsolved problems of ensuring Lorentz invariance and non-perturbative unitarity in Lee-Wick theories. We base our discussion on an ultraviolet completion of QED by Lee-Wick ghost fields, which is argued to be asymptotically safe. We argue that as long as the state space is based upon a suitable choice of distributions of a type invented by Gel'fand and Shilov, the Lee-Wick ghosts can be eliminated while preserving Lorentz invariance to produce a unitary theory. The method for eliminating ghosts is in principle non-perturbatively well-defined, in contrast with some pre…
In two recent papers, a new method was developed for calculating ten-dimensional superstring amplitudes with an arbitrary number of loops and external massless particles, and for expressing them in manifestly Lorentz-invariant form. By explicitly checking for divergences when the Riemann surface degenerates, these amplitudes are proven to be finite. By choosing light-cone moduli for the surface and comparing with the light-cone Green-Schwarz formalism, these amplitudes are proven to be unitary.
A free quantum field theory with Lorentz symmetry is derived for spin-half symplectic fermions in 2+1 dimensions. In particular, we show that fermionic spin-half fields may be canonically quantized in a free theory with a Klein-Gordon Lagrangian. This theory is shown to have all the required properties of a consistent free quantum field theory, namely causality, unitarity, adherence to the spin-statistics theorem, CPT symmetry, and the Hermiticity and positive definiteness of the Hamiltonian. The global symmetry of the free theory is Sp(4) $\simeq$ SO(5). Possible interacting theories of both …
The Lorentz-violating isotropic modified Maxwell theory minimally coupled to standard Dirac theory is characterized by a single real dimensionless parameter which is taken to vanish for the case of the standard (Lorentz-invariant) theory. A finite domain of positive and negative values of this Lorentz-violating parameter is determined, in which microcausality and unitarity hold. The main focus of this article is on isotropic modified Maxwell theory, but similar results for two anisotropic nonbirefringent cases are presented in the appendices.
Higher-order effects of CPT and Lorentz violation within the SME effective framework including Myers-Pospelov dimension-five operator terms are studied. The model is canonically quantized by giving special attention to the arising of indefinite-metric states or ghosts in an indefinite Fock space. As is well-known, without a perturbative treatment that avoids the propagation of ghost modes or any other approximation, one has to face the question of whether unitarity and microcausality are preserved. In this work, we study both possible issues. We found that microcausality is preserved due to th…
We study a generalization of a Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator for fermionic variables. Next, we consider an ensemble of these oscillators and we identify a particular case of the Myers-Pospelov model which is relevant for effective theories of quantum gravity. Finally, by taking the advantage of this connection, we analyze, for this model, the unitarity at one loop order in the low energy regime where no ghost states can be created on-shell. This energy regime is the relevant one when we consider the Myers-Pospelov model as a true effective theory coming from new space-time structure.
The concepts of Lorentz invariance of local (flat space) physics, and unitarity of time evolution and the S-matrix, are famously rigid and robust, admitting no obvious consistent theoretical deformations, and confirmed to incredible accuracy by experiments. But neither of these notions seem to appear directly in describing the spatial correlation functions at future infinity characterizing the "boundary" observables in cosmology. How then can we see them emerge as {\it exact} concepts from a possible ab-initio theory for the late-time wavefunction of the universe? In this letter we examine thi…
During inflation, there is a preferred reference frame in which the expansion of the background spacetime is spatially isotropic. In contrast to Minkowski spacetime, observables can depend on the velocity of the system with respect to this cosmic rest frame. We derive new constraints from radiative stability and unitarity on effective field theories with such spontaneously broken Lorentz symmetry. In addition to a maximum energy scale, there is now also a critical velocity at which the theory breaks down. The theory therefore has different resolving power in time and in space, and we show that…
We show that a spinless theory of gravity is also allowed by the kinematics of general relativity. In the absence of fermions the spinless theory of gravity and the theories in the standard model of particle physics are the same Yang-Mills theories with different gauge groups. Therefore, every theorem of a pure Yang-Mills theory is valid for the spinless theory of gravity in vacuum, i.e. it is unitary and renormalizable to all orders. When fermions are present the spinless theory of gravity has an extra constraint due to the tetrad postulate. A path integral quantization of this theory and all…
The violation of Lorentz symmetry is studied from the point of view of a canonical formulation. We make the usual analysis on the constraints structure of the Carroll-Field-Jackiw model. In this context we derive the equations of motion for the physical variables and check out the dispersion relations obtained from them. Therefore, by the analysis using Symplectic Projector Method (SPM), we can check the results about this type of Lorentz breaking with those in the recent literature: in this sense we can confirm that the configuration of $v^μ$ space-like is stable, and the $v^μ$ time-like carr…
We consider the holography of the Abelian Maxwell-Chern-Simons (MCS) system in Lorentzian three-dimensional asymptotically-AdS spacetimes, and discuss a broad class of boundary conditions consistent with conservation of the symplectic structure. As is well-known, the MCS theory contains a massive sector dual to a vector operator in the boundary theory, and a topological sector consisting of flat connections dual to U(1) chiral currents; the boundary conditions we examine include double-trace deformations in these two sectors, as well as a class of boundary conditions that mix the vector operat…
Using Lorentz force equation as an input a Hamiltonian mechanics on the non-projective two twistor phase space TxT is formulated. Such a construction automatically reproduces dynamics of the intrinsic classical relativistic spin. The charge appears as a dynamical variable. It is also shown that if the classical relativistic spin function on TxT vanishes, the natural conformally invariant symplectic structure on TxT reduces to the natural symplectic structure on the cotangent bundle of the Kaluza-Klein space.
The standard theory of elementary particle physics is modified in such a way that the Higgs boson becomes unobservable and Lorentz invariance is slightly violated at the level of the S-matrix. The basic technique of realizing these properties without violating the unitarity of the physical S-matrix is the use of the complex-ghost quantum field theory.
Relaxing the Bondi gauge, the solution space of three-dimensional gravity in the metric formulation has been shown to contain an additional free function that promotes the boundary metric to a Lorentz or Carroll frame, in asymptotically AdS or flat spacetimes. We pursue this analysis and show that the solution space also admits a finite symplectic structure, obtained taking advantage of the built-in ambiguities. The smoothness of the flat limit of the AdS symplectic structure selects a prescription in which the holographic anomaly appears in the boundary Lorentz symmetry, that rotates the fram…
A non-Hermitian Hamiltonian has a real positive spectrum and exhibits unitary time evolution if the Hamiltonian possesses an unbroken PT (space-time reflection) symmetry. The proof of unitarity requires the construction of a linear operator called C. It is shown here that C is the complex extension of the intrinsic parity operator and that the C operator transforms under the Lorentz group as a scalar.
We consider a scalar Yukawa-like model in the framework of partially reduced quantum field theory. The reduced Lagrangian of the model consists of free scalar field terms and nonlocal current interaction term. Hamiltonian expressions for conserved quantities arose from a Lorentz-invariance of the model in the momentum representation have been found in the first-order approximation with respect to a coupling constant squared. Canonical quantization of the system is performed. It is shown that the obtained conserved quantities and previously founded the Hamiltonian and the momentum of the system…
We study perturbative unitarity in a Lorentz-symmetry-violating QED model with higher-order derivative operators in the light of the results of Lee and Wick to preserve unitarity in indefinite metric theories. Specifically, we consider the fermionic sector of the Myers-Pospelov model, which includes dimension-five operators, coupled to standard photons. We canonically quantize the model, paying attention to its effective character, and show that its Hamiltonian is stable, emphasizing the exact stage at which the indefinite metric appears and decomposes into a positive-metric sector and a negat…
In the current paper the properties of a quantum field theory based on certain sets of Lorentz-violating coefficients in the nonminimal fermion sector of the Standard-Model Extension are analyzed. In particular, three families of coefficients are considered, where two of them are CPT-even and the third is CPT-odd. As a first step the modified fermion dispersion relations are obtained. Then the positive- and negative-energy solutions of the modified Dirac equation and the fermion propagator are derived. These are used to demonstrate the validity of the optical theorem at tree-level, which provi…
Using the effective Lagrangian approach, we clarify general issues about Nambu-Goldstone bosons without Lorentz invariance. We show how to count their number and study their dispersion relations. Their number is less than the number of broken generators when some of them form canonically conjugate pairs. The pairing occurs when the generators have a nonzero expectation value of their commutator. For non-semi-simple algebras, central extensions are possible. The underlying geometry of the coset space in general is partially symplectic.
An Abelian gauge theory describing dynamics of massive spin one bosons is constructed. This is achieved by appending to the Maxwell action, a gauge invariant mass term. The theory is quantised in temporal as well as Lorentz gauge, and the corresponding Hilbert spaces are constructed. In both the gauges, it is found that, the theory respects Lorentz invariance, locality, causality and unitarity.
The renormalization of quantum field theories usually assumes Lorentz and gauge symmetries, besides the general restrictions imposed by unitarity and causality. However, the set of renormalizable theories can be enlarged by relaxing some of these assumptions. In this work, we consider the particular case of a CPT-preserving but Lorentz-breaking extension of scalar QED. For this theory, we calculate the one-loop radiative corrections to the three- and four-point scalar-vector vertex functions, at the lowest order in the Lorentz violation parameters; and we explicitly verify that the resulting l…
In this second paper of the series we continue to spell out a new program for quantum gravity, grounded in the notion of corner symmetry algebra and its representations. Here we focus on tetrad gravity and its corner symplectic potential. We start by performing a detailed decomposition of the various geometrical quantities appearing in BF theory and tetrad gravity. This provides a new decomposition of the symplectic potential of BF theory and the simplicity constraints. We then show that the dynamical variables of the tetrad gravity corner phase space are the internal normal to the spacetime f…
Scalar QED is studied with higher order derivatives for the scalar field kinetic energy. A local potential is generated for the gauge field due to the covariant derivatives and the vacuum with non-vanishing expectation value for the scalar field and the vector potential is constructed in the leading order saddle point expansion. This vacuum breaks the global gauge and Lorentz symmetry spontaneously. The unitarity of time evolution is assured in the physical, positive norm subspace and the linearized equations of motion are calculated. Goldstone theorem always keeps the radiation field massless…
We give a non-perturbative proof that any 4D unitary and Lorentz-invariant quantum field theory with a conserved scale current is in fact conformally invariant. We show that any scale invariant theory (unitary or not) must have either a vanishing anomaly for global scale transformations or an operator of spin 2 and dimension 2. Neither of these possibilities is allowed for unitary theories, proving the result. This is also a strong constraint on non-unitary Euclidean theories with scale but not conformal invariance, suggesting the conjecture that all such theories are free field theories.
There has been a recent interest in considering Quantum Field Theories in which Lorentz Invariance is broken in the UV sector. However attention has been mostly limited to dispersive theories. In this work we provide the generalized settings for studying dissipation. Unitarity is preserved by coupling the original fields to additional (heavy) fields which induce the dissipation. Starting with Lagrangians breaking LI in the UV, we learn that dissipative effects unavoidably develop in the effective theory. We then covariantize these Lagrangians in order to address the trans-Planckian question of…
What is the space of weakly-coupled, gravitational theories which contain massive, higher-spin particles? This class of theories is highly constrained and it is conjectured their ultraviolet completion must be string theory. We provide more evidence for this conjecture by studying the Regge limit in large $N$, $4d$ CFTs with single-trace operators of unbounded spin. We show that in the Regge limit, these theories have bulk scattering amplitudes which are consistent with the string theory prediction to all orders in $1/N$ for large, but finite, coupling. In the language of Regge theory, we show…
We report three manifestly Lorentz-invariant Hamiltonian formulations of minimally and nonminimally coupled fermion fields to the Holst action. These formulations are achieved by making a suitable parametrization of both the tetrad and the Lorentz connection, which allows us to integrate out some auxiliary fields without spoiling the local Lorentz symmetry. They have the peculiarity that their noncanonical symplectic structures as well as the phase-space variables for the gravitational sector are real. Moreover, two of these Hamiltonian formulations involve half-densitized fermion fields. We a…
Just like the vector bosons in Abelian and non-Abelian gauge theories, gravitons can attain mass by spontaneous local symmetry breaking. The question is whether this can happen in a Lorentz-invariant way. We consider the use of four scalar fields that break coordinate reparametrization invariance, by playing the role of preferred flat coordinates x, y, z, and t. In the unbroken representation, the theory has a (negative) cosmological constant, which is tuned to zero by the scalars in the broken phase. Massive spin 2 bosons and a single massive scalar survive. The theory is not renormalizable, …
We derive the first positivity bounds for low-energy Effective Field Theories (EFTs) that are not invariant under Lorentz boosts. "Positivity bounds" are the low-energy manifestation of certain fundamental properties in the UV -- to date they have been used to constrain a wide variety of EFTs, however since all of the existing bounds require Lorentz invariance they are not directly applicable when this symmetry is broken, such as for most cosmological and condensed matter systems. From the UV axioms of unitarity, causality and locality, we derive an infinite family of bounds which (derivatives…
Many experiments have recently been proposed to test whether non-relativistic gravitational interactions can generate entanglement. In this note, I consider the extent to which these experiments can test if the graviton exists. Assuming unitarity and Lorentz invariance of the $S$-matrix, I demonstrate that this "Newtonian entanglement" requires the existence of massless bosons, universally coupled to mass, in the Hilbert space of low-energy scattering states. These bosons could be the usual spin-2 gravitons, but in principle there are other possibilities like spin-0 scalar gravitons. I suggest…
For any fundamental quantum field theory, unitarity, renormalizability, and relativistic invariance are considered to be essential properties. Unitarity is inevitably connected to the probabilistic interpretation of the quantum theory, while renormalizability guarantees its completeness. Relativistic invariance, in turn, is a symmetry which derives from the structure of spacetime. So far, the perturbative attempt to formulate a fundamental local quantum field theory of gravity based on the metric field seems to be in conflict with at least one of these properties. In quantum Hořava gravity, a …
We derive new effective field theory (EFT) positivity bounds on the elastic $2\to2$ scattering amplitudes of massive spinning particles from the standard UV properties of unitarity, causality, locality and Lorentz invariance. By bounding the $t$ derivatives of the amplitude (which can be represented as angular momentum matrix elements) in terms of the total ingoing helicity, we derive stronger unitarity bounds on the $s$- and $u$-channel branch cuts which determine the dispersion relation. In contrast to previous positivity bounds, which relate the $t$-derivative to the forward-limit EFT ampli…
We compute the most general embedding space two-point function in arbitrary Lorentz representations in the context of the recently introduced formalism in arXiv:1905.00036 and arXiv:1905.00434. This work provides a first explicit application of this approach and furnishes a number of checks of the formalism. We project the general embedding space two-point function to position space and find a form consistent with conformal covariance. Several concrete examples are worked out in detail. We also derive constraints on the OPE coefficient matrices appearing in the two-point function, which allow …
We extend our investigation of the IR effects on the local dynamics of matter fields in quantum gravity. Specifically we clarify how the IR effects depend on the change of the quantization scheme: different parametrization of the metric and the matter field redefinition. Conformal invariance implies effective Lorentz invariance of the matter system in de Sitter space. An arbitrary choice of the parametrization of the metric and the matter field redefinition does not preserve the effective Lorentz invariance of the local dynamics. As for the effect of different parametrization of the metric alo…
A Lorentz and general co-ordinate co-variant form of canonical gravity, using Ashtekar's variables, is investigated. A co-variant treatment due to Crnkovic and Witten is used, in which a point in phase space represents a solution of the equations of motion and a symplectic functional two form is constructed which is Lorentz and general co-ordinate invariant. The subtleties and difficulties due to the complex nature of Ashtekar's variables are addressed and resolved.
Poincaré invariance is a well-tested symmetry of nature and sits at the core of our description of relativistic particles and gravity. At the same time, in most systems Poincaré invariance is not a symmetry of the ground state and is hence broken spontaneously. This phenomenon is ubiquitous in cosmology where Lorentz boosts are spontaneously broken by the existence of a preferred reference frame in which the universe is homogeneous and isotropic. This motivates us to study scattering amplitudes without requiring invariance of the interactions under Lorentz boosts. In particular, using on-shell…
The earlier treatments of Lorentz covariant harmonic oscillator have brought to light various difficulties, such as reconciling Lorentz symmetry with the full Fock space, and divergence issues with their functional representations. We present here a full solution avoiding those problems. The complete set of Fock states is obtained, together with the corresponding explicit wavefunction and their inner product integrals free from any divergence problem and the Lorentz symmetry fully maintained without additional constraints imposed. By a simple choice of the pseudo-unitary representation of the …
