We show how to carry out the gauging of the Poisson sigma model in an AKSZ inspired formulation by coupling it to the a generalization of the Weil model worked out in ref. arXiv:0706.1289 [hep-th]. We call the resulting gauged field theory, Poisson--Weil sigma model. We study the BV cohomology of the model and show its relation to Hamiltonian basic and equivariant Poisson cohomology. As an application, we carry out the gauge fixing of the pure Weil model and of the Poisson--Weil model. In the first case, we obtain the 2--dimensional version of Donaldson--Witten topological gauge theory, describing the moduli space of flat connections on a closed surface. In the second case, we recover the gauged A topological sigma model worked out by Baptista describing the moduli space of solutions of the so--called vortex equations.
The G/G WZW model results from the WZW-model by a standard procedure of gauging. G/G WZW models are members of Dirac sigma models, which also contain twisted Poisson sigma models as other examples. We show how the general class of Dirac sigma models can be obtained from a gauging procedure adapted to Lie algebroids in the form of an equivariantly closed extension. The rigid gauge groups are generically infinite dimensional and a standard gauging procedure would give a likewise infinite number of 1-form gauge fields; the proposed construction yields the requested finite number of them. Although…
This paper examines a proposal for gauging non-linear sigma models with respect to a Lie algebroid action. The general conditions for gauging a non-linear sigma model with a set of involutive vector fields are given. We show that it is always possible to find a set of vector fields which will (locally) admit a Lie algebroid gauging. Furthermore, the gauging process is not unique; if the vector fields span the tangent space of the manifold, there is a free choice of a flat connection. Ensuring that the gauged action is equivalent to the ungauged action imposes the real constraint of the Lie alg…
We investigate the gauging of the Wess-Zumino term of a sigma model with boundary. We derive a set of obstructions to gauging and we interpret them as the conditions for the Wess-Zumino term to extend to a closed form in a suitable equivariant relative de Rham complex. We illustrate this with the two-dimensional sigma model and we show that the new obstructions due to the boundary can be interpreted in terms of Courant algebroids. We specialise to the case of the Wess-Zumino-Witten model, where it is proved that there always exist suitable boundary conditions which allow gauging any subgroup w…
We present the construction of the Dirac sigma models by gauging the 2-dimensional nonlinear sigma models, but also including the possibility of nonminimal coupling to the metric sector. We show that for a large variety of possible cases, the minimal coupling to the metric sector is the only nontrivial possibility. In addition, we present the construction of the classical Batalin-Vilkovisky action for the Dirac sigma models. We follow a direct approach in its construction, by requiring it to be a solution of the classical master equation.
The geometry of (2,1) supersymmetric sigma-models is reviewed and the conditions under which they have isometry symmetries are analysed. Certain potentials are constructed that play an important role in the gauging of such symmetries. The gauged action is found for a special class of models.
We extend our analysis of the gauging of rigid symmetries in bosonic two-dimensional sigma models with Wess-Zumino terms in the action to the case of world-sheets with defects. A structure that permits a non-anomalous coupling of such sigma models to world-sheet gauge fields of arbitrary topology is analysed, together with obstructions to its existence, and the classification of its inequivalent choices.
The Poisson--Weil sigma model, worked out by us recently, stems from gauging a Hamiltonian Lie group symmetry of the target space of the Poisson sigma model. Upon gauge fixing of the BV master action, it yields interesting topological field theories such as the 2--dimensional Donaldson-Witten topological gauge theory and the gauged A topological sigma model. In this paper, generalizing the above construction, we construct the Lie algebroid Poisson sigma model. This is yielded by gauging a Hamiltonian Lie groupoid symmetry of the Poisson sigma model target space. We use the BV quantization appr…
We use an extension of the method due to Batalin, Fradkin, Fradkina, and Tyutin (BFFT) for transforming the nonlinear $σ$ model in a non-Abelian gauge theory. We deal with both supersymmetric and nonsupersymmetric cases. The bosonic case was already considered in literature but just gauged with an Abelian algebra. We show that the supersymmetric version is only compatible with a non-Abelian gauge theory. The usual BFFT method for this case leads to a nonlocal algebra.
In this paper we study sigma models in which a noneffective group action has been gauged. Such gauged sigma models turn out to be different from gauged sigma models in which an effectively-acting group is gauged, because of nonperturbative effects on the worldsheet. We concentrate on finite noneffectively-acting groups, though we also outline how analogous phenomena also happen in nonfinite noneffectively-acting groups. We find that understanding deformations along twisted sector moduli in these theories leads one to new presentations of CFT's, defined by fields valued in roots of unity.
The Large Vector Multiplet and Gauging $(2,2)$ $σ$-models
Steklov Math. Inst. of Russian Academy of Sciences（俄罗斯科学院斯捷克洛夫数学研究所）；Inst. for Theoretical and Math. Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University（莫斯科国立大学理论与数学物理研究所）；HSE University（高等经济学院）；Beijing Inst. of Math. Sciences and Applications (BIMSA)（北京数学与应用数学研究所）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, Division of Theoretical Physics and Center for Geometry and Physics, Uppsala University（乌普萨拉大学物理与天文学系理论物理部几何与物理中心）；Physics Division, National Technical University of Athens（雅典国家技术大学物理系）；C.N. Yang Inst. for Theoretical Physics, Stony Brook University（石溪大学杨振宁理论物理研究所）
In this paper we study the general conditions that have to be met for a gauged extension of a two-dimensional bosonic sigma-model to exist. In an inversion of the usual approach of identifying a global symmetry and then promoting it to a local one, we focus directly on the gauge symmetries of the theory. This allows for action functionals which are gauge invariant for rather general background fields in the sense that their invariance conditions are milder than the usual case. In particular, the vector fields that control the gauging need not be Killing. The relaxation of isometry for the back…
We show that the half-maximal SU(2) gauged supergravity with topological mass term admits coupling of an arbitrary number of n vector multiplets. The chiral circle reduction of the ungauged theory in the dual 2-form formulation gives N=(1,0) supergravity in 6D coupled to 3p scalars that parametrize the coset SO(p,3)/SO(p)x SO(3), a dilaton and (p+3) axions with p < n+1. Demanding that R-symmetry gauging survives in 6D is shown to put severe restrictions on the 7D model, in particular requiring noncompact gaugings. We find that the SO(2,2) and SO(3,1) gauged 7D supergravities give a U(1)_R, and…
We study a formulation of the standard Poisson sigma model in which the target space Poisson manifold carries the Hamilton action of some finite dimensional Lie algebra. We show that the structure of the action and the properties of the gauge invariant observables can be understood in terms of the associated target space equivariant cohomology. We use a de Rham superfield formalism to efficiently explore the implications of the Batalin Vilkoviski master equation.
The gauge principle is at the heart of a good part of fundamental physics: Starting with a group G of so-called rigid symmetries of a functional defined over space-time Sigma, the original functional is extended appropriately by additional Lie(G)-valued 1-form gauge fields so as to lift the symmetry to Maps(Sigma,G). Physically relevant quantities are then to be obtained as the quotient of the solutions to the Euler-Lagrange equations by these gauge symmetries. In this article we show that one can construct a gauge theory for a standard sigma model in arbitrary space-time dimensions where the …
We find the T-duality transformation rules for 2-dimensional (2,1) supersymmetric sigma-models in (2,1) superspace. Our results clarify certain aspects of the (2,1) sigma model geometry relevant to the discussion of T-duality. The complexified duality transformations we find are equivalent to the usual Buscher duality transformations (including an important refinement) together with diffeomorphisms. We use the gauging of sigma-models in (2,1) superspace, which we review and develop, finding a manifestly real and geometric expression for the gauged action. We discuss the obstructions to gauging…
Poisson sigma models are a very rich class of two-dimensional theories that includes, in particular, all 2D dilaton gravities. By using the Hamiltonian reduction method, we show that a Poisson sigma model (with a sufficiently well-behaving Poisson tensor) on a finite cylinder is equivalent to a noncommutative quantum mechanics for the boundary data.
We construct a new model for relativistic particle on the noncommutative surface in $(2+1)$ dimensions, using the symplectic formalism of constrained systems and embedding the model on an extended phase space. We suggest a short cut to construct the gauged Lagrangian, using the Poisson algebra of constraints, without calculating the whole procedure of symplectic formalism. We also propose an approach for the systems, in which the symplectic formalism is not applicable, due to truncation of secondary constraints appearing at the first level. After gauging the model, we obtained generators of ga…
In this note, we gauge the rigid vectorial supersymmetry of the two-dimensional Poisson sigma model presented in arXiv:1503.05625. We show that the consistency of the construction does not impose any further constraints on the differential Poisson algebra geometry than those required for the ungauged model. We conclude by proposing that the gauged model provides a first-quantized framework for higher spin gravity.
By using the Poisson geometry, we develop a manifestly invariant and calculation-friendly formalism for handling $UOSp(2|1)$-supersymmetric field theories. In particular, the super-Langrangians are written solely in terms of superfields, Poisson brackets and the moment map generating the $UOSp(2|1)$ action. As an application of this formalism, we construct the Kalb-Ramond term for supersymmetric sigma models on the supersphere.
We study some graded geometric constructions appearing naturally in the context of gauge theories. Inspired by a known relation of gauging with equivariant cohomology we generalize the latter notion to the case of arbitrary Q-manifolds introducing thus the concept of equivariant Q-cohomology. Using this concept we describe a procedure for analysis of gauge symmetries of given functionals as well as for constructing functionals (sigma models) invariant under an action of some gauge group. As the main example of application of these constructions we consider the twisted Poisson sigma model. We o…
The AKSZ construction was developed as a geometrical formalism to find the solution to the classical master equation in the BV quantization of topological branes based on the concept of QP manifolds. However, the formalism does not apply in presence of Wess-Zumino terms, as demonstrated recently by Ikeda and Strobl in the simplest example of WZW-Poisson sigma models. In this contribution, we review a class of topological field theories in arbitrary dimensions, the twisted R-Poisson sigma models, which suitably generalize Poisson or twisted Poisson sigma models. Their relation to differential g…
Chern-Simons gauge theories in 3 dimensions and the Poisson Sigma Model (PSM) in 2 dimensions are examples of the same theory, if their field equations are interpreted as morphisms of Lie algebroids and their symmetries (on-shell) as homotopies of such morphisms. We point out that the (off-shell) gauge symmetries of the PSM in the literature are not globally well-defined for non-parallelizable Poisson manifolds and propose a covariant definition of them as left action of some finite-dimensional Lie algebroid. Our approach allows to avoid complications arising in the infinite dimensional super-…
A general form for the boundary coupling of a Lie algebroid Poisson sigma model is proposed. The approach involves using the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism in the AKSZ geometrical version, to write a BRST-invariant coupling for a representation up to homotopy of the target Lie algebroid or its subalgebroids. These considerations lead to a conjectural description of topological D-branes on generalized complex manifolds, which includes A-branes and B-branes as special cases.
The equations of motion of a super non-Abelian T-dual sigma model on the Lie supergroup $(C^1_1+A)$ in the curved background are explicitly solved by the super Poisson-Lie T-duality. To find the solution of the flat model we use the transformation of supercoordinates, transforming the metric into a constant one, which is shown to be a supercanonical transformation. Then, using the super Poisson-Lie T-duality transformations and the dual decomposition of elements of Drinfel'd superdouble, the solution of the equations of motion for the dual sigma model is obtained. The general form of the dilat…
We determine the solution to the classical master equation for a 3D topological field theory with Wess-Zumino term and an underlying geometrical structure of a twisted R-Poisson manifold on its target space. The graded geometry of the target space departs from the usual QP structure encountered in the AKSZ construction of topological sigma models, the obstruction being attributed to the presence of the Wess-Zumino 4-form. Due to the inapplicability of the AKSZ construction in this case, we set up the traditional BV/BRST formalism for twisted R-Poisson sigma models in any dimension, which featu…
The gauged sigma-model argument that string backgrounds related by T-dual give equivalent quantum theories is revisited, taking careful account of global considerations. The topological obstructions to gauging sigma-models give rise to obstructions to T-duality, but these are milder than those for gauging: it is possible to T-dualise a large class of sigma-models that cannot be gauged. For backgrounds that are torus fibrations, it is expected that T-duality can be applied fibrewise in the general case in which there are no globally-defined Killing vector fields, so that there is no isometry sy…
We present a Poisson-sigma model describing general 2D dilaton gravity with non-metricity, torsion and curvature. It involves three arbitrary functions of the dilaton field, two of which are well-known from metric compatible theories, while the third one characterizes the local strength of non-metricity. As an example we show that alpha' corrections in 2D string theory can generate (target space) non-metricity.
We review and extend the Alexandrov-Kontsevich-Schwarz-Zaboronsky construction of solutions of the Batalin-Vilkovisky classical master equation. In particular, we study the case of sigma models on manifolds with boundary. We show that a special case of this construction yields the Batalin-Vilkovisky action functional of the Poisson sigma model on a disk. As we have shown in a previous paper, the perturbative quantization of this model is related to Kontsevich's deformation quantization of Poisson manifolds and to his formality theorem. We also discuss the action of diffeomorphisms of the targe…
The Poisson-Lie sigma models over nonsemisimple low dimensional real Poisson-Lie groups are investigated. We find two sided models on two, three and some four dimensional Poisson-Lie groups where the Poisson-Lie sigma models over Poisson-Lie groups G and its dual $\tilde{G}$ are topological sigma models or BF gauge models.
Poisson sigma models represent an interesting use of Poisson manifolds for the construction of a classical field theory. Their definition in the language of fibre bundles is shown and the corresponding field equations are derived using a coordinate independent variational principle. The elegant form of equations of motion for so called Poisson-Lie groups is derived. Construction of the Poisson-Lie group corresponding to a given Lie bialgebra is widely known only for coboundary Lie bialgebras. Using the adjoint representation of Lie group and Drinfel'd double we show that Poisson-Lie group can …
The topics covered in this thesis may be divided into three parts. Firstly, we perform a study on the most general branes which are consistent with the Poisson sigma model, both at the classical and quantum levels. The second part is devoted to the particular case in which the target Poisson manifold is a Poisson-Lie group. Finally, we investigate the supersymmetric version of the twisted Poisson sigma model and its connection with twisted generalized complex geometry.
In this paper we outline the construction of semiclassical eigenfunctions of integrable models in terms of the semiclassical path integral for the Poisson sigma model with the target space being the phase space of the integrable system. The semiclassical path integral is defined as a formal power series with coefficients being Feynman diagrams. We also argue that in a similar way one can obtain irreducible semiclassical representations of Kontsevich's star product.
We extend the coupling to the topological backgrounds, recently worked out for the 2-dimensional BF-model, to the most general Poisson sigma models. The coupling involves the choice of a Casimir function on the target manifold and modifies the BRST transformations. This in turn induces a change in the BRST cohomology of the resulting theory. The observables of the coupled theory are analyzed and their geometrical interpretation is given. We finally couple the theory to 2-dimensional topological gravity: this is the first step to study a topological string theory in propagation on a Poisson man…
General boundary conditions ("branes") for the Poisson sigma model are studied. They turn out to be labeled by coisotropic submanifolds of the given Poisson manifold. The role played by these boundary conditions both at the classical and at the perturbative quantum level is discussed. It turns out to be related at the classical level to the category of Poisson manifolds with dual pairs as morphisms and at the perturbative quantum level to the category of associative algebras (deforming algebras of functions on Poisson manifolds) with bimodules as morphisms. Possibly singular Poisson manifolds …
Stationary solutions of 5D supergravity with U(1) isometry can be efficiently studied by dimensional reduction to three dimensions, where they reduce to solutions to a locally supersymmetric non-linear sigma model. We generalize this procedure to 5D gauged supergravity, and identify the corresponding gauging in 3D. We pay particular attention to the case where the Killing spinor is non constant along the fibration, which results, even for ungauged supergravity in 5D, in an additional gauging in 3D, without introducing any extra potential. We further study SU(2)\times U(1) symmetric solutions, …
We discuss the A-model as a gauge fixing of the Poisson Sigma Model with target a symplectic structure. We complete the discussion in [arXiv:0706.3164], where a gauge fixing defined by a compatible complex structure was introduced, by showing how to recover the A-model hierarchy of observables in terms of the AKSZ observables. Moreover, we discuss the off-shell supersymmetry of the A-model as a residual BV symmetry of the gauge-fixed PSM action.
We construct a two-dimensional topological sigma model whose target space is endowed with a Poisson algebra for differential forms. The model consists of an equal number of bosonic and fermionic fields of worldsheet form degrees zero and one. The action is built using exterior products and derivatives, without any reference to any worldsheet metric, and is of the covariant Hamiltonian form. The equations of motion define a universally Cartan integrable system. In addition to gauge symmetries, the model has one rigid nilpotent supersymmetry corresponding to the target space de Rham operator. Th…
A globalized version of a trace formula for the Poisson Sigma Model on the disk is presented by using its formal global picture in the setting of the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism. This global construction includes the concept of zero modes. Moreover, for the symplectic case of the Poisson Sigma Model with cotangent target, the globalized trace reduces to a symplectic construction which was presented by Grady, Li and Li for 1-dimensional Chern-Simons theory (topological quantum mechanics). In addition, the connection between this formula and the Nest-Tsygan theorem and the Tamarkin-Tsygan theor…
We study the two-dimensional twisted (0,2) sigma-model on various smooth complex flag manifolds G/B, and explore its relevance to the geometric Langlands program. We find that an equivalence - at the level of the holomorphic chiral algebra - between a bosonic string on G/B and a B-gauged version of itself on G, will imply an isomorphism of classical W-algebras and a level relation which underlie a geometric Langlands correspondence for G=SL(N,C). This furnishes an alternative physical interpretation of the geometric Langlands correspondence for G=SL(N,C), to that demonstrated earlier by Kapust…
We review the AKSZ construction as applied to the topological open membranes and Poisson sigma models. We describe a generalization to open topological p-branes and Nambu-Poisson sigma models.
Using methods of formal geometry, the Poisson sigma model on a closed surface is studied in perturbation theory. The effective action, as a function on vacua, is shown to have no quantum corrections if the surface is a torus or if the Poisson structure is regular and unimodular (e.g., symplectic). In the case of a Kahler structure or of a trivial Poisson structure, the partition function on the torus is shown to be the Euler characteristic of the target; some evidence is given for this to happen more generally. The methods of formal geometry introduced in this paper might be applicable to othe…
We construct recursively an infinite number of Poisson structures for the supersymmetric integrable hierarchy governing the Pohlmeyer reduction of superstring sigma models on the target spaces AdS_{n}\times S^n, n=2,3,5. These Poisson structures are all non-local and not relativistic except one, which is the canonical Poisson structure of the semi-symmetric space sine-Gordon model (SSSSG). We verify that the superposition of the first three Poisson structures corresponds to the canonical Poisson structure of the reduced sigma model. Using the recursion relations we construct commuting charges …
We consider the Poisson sigma model associated to a Poisson manifold. The perturbative quantization of this model yields the Kontsevich star product formula. We study here the classical model in the Hamiltonian formalism. The phase space is the space of leaves of a Hamiltonian foliation and has a natural groupoid structure. If it is a manifold then it is a symplectic groupoid for the given Poisson manifold. We study various families of examples. In particular, a global symplectic groupoid for a general class of two-dimensional Poisson domains is constructed.
In this paper we reopen the discussion of gauging the two-dimensional off-shell (2,2) supersymmetric sigma models written in terms of semichiral superfields. The associated target space geometry of this particular sigma model is generalized Kahler (or bi-hermitean with two non-commuting complex structures). The gauging of the isometries of the sigma model is now done by coupling the semichiral superfields to the new (2,2) semichiral vector multiplet. We show that the two moment maps together with a third function form the complete set of three Killing potentials which are associated with this …
Using the concept of Jacobi-Lie group and Jacobi-Lie bialgebra, we generalize the definition of Poisson-Lie symmetry to Jacobi-Lie symmetry. In this regard, we generalize the concept of Poisson-Lie T-duality to Jacobi-Lie T-duality and present Jacobi-Lie T-dual sigma models on Lie groups, which have Jacobi-Lie symmetry. Using this symmetry, new cases of duality appear and some examples are given. This generalization may provide insights to understand the quantum features of Poisson-Lie T-duality, in a more satisfactory way.
We present the proof of the one loop renormalizability in the strict field theoretic sense of the Poisson-Lie sigma models. The result is valid for any Drinfeld double and it relies solely on the Poisson-Lie structure encoded in the target manifold.
Covariance of the one-loop renormalization group equations with respect to Poisson-Lie T-plurality of sigma models is discussed. The role of ambiguities in renormalization group equations of Poisson-Lie sigma models with truncated matrices of parameters is investigated.
We present the BFV and the BV extension of the Poisson sigma model (PSM) twisted by a closed 3-form H. There exist superfield versions of these functionals such as for the PSM and, more generally, for the AKSZ sigma models. However, in contrast to those theories, here they depend on the Euler vector field of the source manifold and contain terms mixing data from the source and the target manifold. Using an auxiliary connection $\nabla$ on the target manifold M, we obtain alternative, purely geometrical expressions without the use of superfields, which are new also for the ordinary PSM and prom…
We analyse the general boundary conditions (branes) consistent with the Poisson-sigma model and study the structure of the phase space of the model defined on the strip with these boundary conditions. Finally, we discuss the perturbative quantization of the model on the disc with a Poisson-Dirac brane and relate it to Kontsevich's formula for the deformation quantization of the Dirac bracket induced on the brane.
A general master action in terms of superfields is given which generates generalized Poisson sigma models by means of a natural ghost number prescription. The simplest representation is the sigma model considered by Cattaneo and Felder. For Dirac brackets considerably more general models are generated.
