It is well known that standard gauge theories are renormalizable in D=4 while Einstein gravity is renormalizable in D=2. This is where the research in the field of two derivatives theories is currently standing. We hereby present a class of weakly non-local higher derivative gravitational and gauge theories universally consistent at quantum level in any spacetime dimension. These theories are unitary (ghost-free) and perturbatively renormalizable. Moreover, we can always find a simple extension of these theories that is super-renormalizable or finite at quantum level in even and odd spacetime dimensions. Finally, we propose a super-renormalizable or finite theory for gravity coupled to matter laying the groundwork for a "finite standard model of particle physics" and/or a grand unified theory of all fundamental interactions.
Einstein's equations in a tetrad formulation are derived from a linear theory in flat spacetime with an asymmetric potential using free field gauge invariance, local Lorentz invariance and universal coupling. The gravitational potential can be either covariant or contravariant and of almost any density weight. These results are adapted to produce universally coupled massive variants of Einstein's equations, yielding two one-parameter families of distinct theories with spin 2 and spin 0. The theories derived, upon fixing the local Lorentz gauge freedom, are seen to be a subset of those found by…
We discuss the consistency of a recently proposed class of theories described by an arbitrary function of the Ricci scalar, the trace of the energy-momentum tensor and the contraction of the Ricci tensor with the energy-momentum tensor. We briefly discuss the limitations of including the energy-momentum tensor in the action, as it is a non fundamental quantity, but a quantity that should be derived from the action. The fact that theories containing non-linear contractions of the Ricci tensor usually leads to the presence of pathologies associated with higher-order equations of motion will be s…
The 2-parameter family of massive variants of Einstein's gravity (on a Minkowski background) found by Ogievetsky and Polubarinov by excluding lower spins can also be derived using universal coupling. A Dirac-Bergmann constrained dynamics analysis seems not to have been presented for these theories, the Freund-Maheshwari-Schonberg special case, or any other massive gravity beyond the linear level treated by Marzban, Whiting and van Dam. Here the Dirac-Bergmann apparatus is applied to these theories. A few remarks are made on the question of positive energy. Being bimetric, massive gravities hav…
We derive Einstein's equations from a linear theory in flat space-time using free-field gauge invariance and universal coupling. The gravitational potential can be either covariant or contravariant and of almost any density weight. We adapt these results to yield universally coupled massive variants of Einstein's equations, yielding two one-parameter families of distinct theories with spin 2 and spin 0. The Freund-Maheshwari-Schonberg theory is therefore not the unique universally coupled massive generalization of Einstein's theory, although it is privileged in some respects. The theories we d…
It is argued that the effective string of whatever 3D gauge system at the deconfining transition is universally described by the minimal $N=2$ extended superconformal theory at $c=1$. A universal value of the critical temperature is predicted.
Translation-invariant noncommutative gauge theories are discussed in the setting of matrix modeled gauge theories. Using the matrix model formulation the explicit form of consistent anomalies and consistent Schwinger terms for translation-invariant noncommutative gauge theories are derived.
One of the major developments of twentieth century physics has been the gradual recognition that a common feature of the known fundamental interactions is their gauge structure. In this article the authors review the early history of gauge theory, from Einstein's theory of gravitation to the appearance of non-abelian gauge theories in the fifties. The authors also review the early history of dimensional reduction, which played an important role in the developement of gauge-theory. A description is given how, in recent times, the ideas of gauge-theory and dimensional reduction have emerged natu…
We classify the weakly interacting fixed points of general gauge theories coupled to matter and explain how the competition between gauge and matter fluctuations gives rise to a rich spectrum of high- and low-energy fixed points. The pivotal role played by Yukawa couplings is emphasized. Necessary and sufficient conditions for asymptotic safety of gauge theories are also derived, in conjunction with strict no go theorems. Implications for phase diagrams of gauge theories and physics beyond the Standard Model are indicated.
Along the recently trodden path of studying certain number theoretic properties of gauge theories, especially supersymmetric theories whose vacuum manifolds are non-trivial, we investigate Ihara's Graph Zeta Function for large classes of quiver theories and periodic tilings by bi-partite graphs. In particular, we examine issues such as the spectra of the adjacency and whether the gauge theory satisfies the strong and weak versions of the graph theoretical analogue of the Riemann Hypothesis.
We consider gauge theories in a String Field Theory-inspired formalism. The constructed algebraic operations lead in particular to homotopy algebras of the related BV theories. We discuss invariant description of the gauge fixing procedure and special algebraic features of gauge theories coupled to matter fields.
To appear in Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics, published by Elsevier in early 2006. Comments/corrections welcome. The article surveys topological aspects in gauge theories.
Various gauge invariant but non-Yang-Mills dynamical models are discussed: Précis of Chern-Simons theory in (2+1)-dimensions and reduction to (1+1)-dimensional B-F theories; gauge theories for (1+1)-dimensional gravity-matter interactions; parity and gauge invariant mass term in (2+1)-dimensions.
In this talk, we briefly review the basic concepts of anomalous gauge theories. It has been known for some time how theories with local anomalies can be handled. Recently it has been pointed out that global anomalies, which obstruct the quantization of certain gauge theories in the temporal gauge, get bypassed in canonical quantization.
A space for gauge theories is defined, using projective limits as subsets of Cartesian products of homomorphisms from a lattice on the structure group. In this space, non-interacting and interacting measures are defined as well as functions and operators. From projective limits of test functions and distributions on products of compact groups, a projective gauge triplet is obtained, which provides a framework for the infinite-dimensional calculus in gauge theories. The gauge measure behavior on nongeneric strata is also obtained.
We describe the explicit construction of groves, the smallest gauge invariant classes of tree Feynman diagrams in gauge theories. The construction is valid for gauge theories with any number of group factors which may be mixed. It requires no summation over a complete gauge group multiplet of external matter fields. The method is therefore suitable for defining gauge invariant classes of Feynman diagrams for processes with many observed final state particles in the standard model and its extensions.
We start by briefly reviewing the description of gravity theories as gauge theories in four dimensions. More specifically we recall the procedure leading to the results of General Relativity and Weyl Gravity in a gauge-theoretic manner. Then, after a brief reminder of the formulation of gauge theories on noncommutative spaces, we review our recent work, where gravity is constructed as a gauge theory on the fuzzy $dS_4$.
We search for dual gauge theories of all-loop finite, N = 1 supersymmetric gauge theories. It is shown how to find explicitly the dual gauge theories of almost all chiral, N = 1, all-loop finite gauge theories, while several models have been discussed in detail, including a realistic finite SU(5) unified theory. Out of our search only one all-loop, N = 1 finite SO(10) theory emerges, so far, as a candidate for exhibiting also S-duality.
In the light-cone Fock state expansion of gauge theories, the influence of non-valence states may be significant in precision non-perturbative calculations. In two-dimensional gauge theories, it is shown how these states modify the behaviour of the light-cone wavefunction in significant ways relative to endemic choices of variational ansatz. Similar effects in four-dimensional gauge theories are briefly discussed.
The gauge variance of wave functionals for a gauge theory quantized in the momentum (curvature) representation is described. It is shown that a gauge transformation gives rise to a cocycle, which for theories in two space-time dimensions is related to the Kirillov-Kostant form. Various derivations are presented, including one based on geometric (pre-) quantization. The formalism is applied to two dimensional gravity models that are equivalently described by "B-F" gauge theories.
This thesis is about conceptual aspects of gauge theories. Gauge theories lie at the heart of modern physics: in particular, they constitute the standard model of particle physics. At its simplest, the idea of gauge is that nature is best described using a descriptively redundant language; the different descriptions are said to be related by a gauge symmetry. The over-arching question the thesis aims to answer is: how can descriptive redundancy be fruitful for physics?
We analyze patterns of dynamical symmetry breaking in strongly coupled chiral gauge theories with direct-product gauge groups $G$. If the gauge coupling for a factor group $G_i \subset G$ becomes sufficiently strong, it can produce bilinear fermion condensates that break the $G_i$ symmetry itself and/or break other gauge symmetries $G_j \subset G$. Our comparative study of a number of strongly coupled direct-product chiral gauge theories elucidates how the patterns of symmetry breaking depend on the structure of $G$ and on the relative sizes of the gauge couplings corresponding to factor group…
We derive the finite one-loop counterterm required to restore the Ward Identities broken by the regularization scheme in chiral gauge theories. Our result is an analytic expression applicable to a wide class of regularizations satisfying a few general properties. We adopt the background field method, which ensures background gauge invariance in the quantized theory, and focus on renormalizable chiral theories with arbitrary gauge group and fermions in general representations. Our approach can be extended to theories involving scalars, such as the Standard Model, or to non-renormalizable theori…
Canonical quantisation gives a new and convenient finite-temperature perturbation theory in covariant gauges, and solves the problem of the zero-frequency mode in the temporal gauge. [Talk at Workshop on Thermal Field Theories and their Applications, Banff, August 1993]
The equivalence of correct Hamiltonian and naive Lagrangian (Faddeev--Popov) path integral quantization (Matthews's theorem) is proven for gauge theories with arbitrary effective interaction terms. Effective gauge-boson self-interactions and effective interactions with scalar and fermion fields are considered. This result becomes extended to effective gauge theories with higher derivatives of the fields.
The leading term in the gauge coupling beta function comes due to interaction of gauge field with gravitons. It is shown to be a universal quantity for all gauge theories. At one-loop it is found to be zero in four dimensions. This is independent of the gravity action with metric as the field variable, gauge fixing condition and regularization scheme. This term being universally same for all gauge groups is further studied in the case of abelian gauge theories, where due to self-duality this term is shown to be zero to all loops, on-shell. Consequences of this are discussed.
A recently proposed formulation of chiral lattice gauge theories is reviewed, in which the locality and gauge invariance of the theory can be preserved if the fermion representation of the gauge group is anomaly-free.
We review some of the recent work on the dynamics of four dimensional, supersymmetric gauge theories. The kinematics are largely determined by holomorphy and the dynamics are governed by duality. The results shed light on the phases of gauge theories. Some results and interpretations which have not been published before are also included.
The off-shell and the on-shell Sudakov form factors in theories with broken gauge symmetry are calculated in the double-logarithmic approximation. We have used different infrared cut-offs, i.e. different mass scales, for virtual photons and weak gauge bosons.
We introduce a new map between a q-deformed gauge theory on a general GL_{q}(N)-covariant quantum hyperplane and an ordinary gauge theory in a full analogy with Seiberg-Witten map. Perturbative analysis of the q-deformed QED at the classical level is presented and gauge fixing a la BRST is discussed
The lattice formulation of gauge theories in a renormalizable gauge is discussed. The formulation invokes a new phase diagram, and it may allow for a lattice definition of Chiral Gauge Theories.
We present the conformal behavior of the shear viscosity-to-entropy density ratio and the fermion-number diffusion coefficient within the perturbative regime of the conformal window for gauge-fermion theories.
We present an efficient method for computing the zero frequency limit of transport coefficients in strongly coupled field theories described holographically by higher derivative gravity theories. Hydrodynamic parameters such as shear viscosity and conductivity can be obtained by computing residues of poles of the off-shell lagrangian density. We clarify in which sense these coefficients can be thought of as effective couplings at the horizon, and present analytic, Wald-like formulae for the shear viscosity and conductivity in a large class of general higher derivative lagrangians. We show how …
The brief review of the duality between gauge theories and closed strings propagating in the curved space is based on the lectures given at ITEP Winter School - 2005
On the example of topologically massive gauge field theory we find the origin of possible inconsistency of working with gauge fixing terms (together with relevant ghost sector)
We investigate strings theories as defined from four dimensional gauge theories. It is argued that novel (super)string theories exist up to 26 dimensions. Some of them may support weakly curved geometries.
We thereby prove that a large class of topologically massive theories of the Cremmer-Scherk-Kalb-Ramond-type in any $d$ dimensions corresponds to gauge non-invariant first-order theories that can be interpreted as self-dual models.
We consider gauge theories on noncommutative euclidean space . In particular, we discuss the structure of gauge group following standard mathematical definitions and using the ideas of hep-th/0102182.
We propose a generating functional for nonrelativistic gauge invariant actions. In particular, we consider actions without the usual magnetic term. Like in the Born-Infeld theory, there is an upper bound to the electric field strength in these gauge theories.
In this paper we describe a systematic method to compute elliptic genera of (2,2) supersymmetric gauge theories in two dimensions with gauge group G/Gamma (for G semisimple and simply-connected, Gamma a subgroup of the center of G) with various discrete theta angles. We apply the technique to examples of pure gauge theories with low-rank gauge groups. Our results are consistent with expectations from decomposition of two-dimensional theories with finite global one-form symmetries and with computations of supersymmetry breaking for some discrete theta angles in pure gauge theories. Finally, we …
First, we briefly review the description of gravity theories as gauge theories in three and four dimensions. Specifically, we recall the procedure in which the results of General Relativity in three and four dimensions are recovered in a gauge-theoretic approach. Also, the procedure is applied for the case of the Weyl gravity, too. Then, after reminding briefly the formulation of gauge theories on noncommutative spaces, we review our most recent works in which gravity models are constructed as gauge theories on noncommutative spaces.
The matrix model computations of effective superpotential terms in N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories in four dimensions have been proposed to apply more generally to gauge theories in higher dimensions. We discuss aspects of five-dimensional gauge theory compactified on a circle, which leads to a unitary matrix model.
The inaction approach introduced previously for phi^4 is generalized to gauge theories. It combines the advantages of the effective field theory and causal approaches to quantum fields. Also, it suggests ways to generalizing gauge theories.
Gauge theories are formulated on the noncommutative two-sphere. These theories have only finite number of degrees of freedom, nevertheless they exhibit both the gauge symmetry and the SU(2) "Poincaré" symmetry of the sphere. In particular, the coupling of gauge fields to chiral fermions is naturally achieved.
Higher Derivative (HD) Field Theories can be transformed into second order equivalent theories with a direct particle interpretation. In a simple model involving abelian gauge symmetries we examine the fate of the possible gauge fixings throughout this process. This example is a useful test bed for HD theories of gravity and provides a nice intuitive interpretation of the "third ghost" occurring there and in HD gauge theories when a HD gauge fixing is adopted.
In this short note we extend the results of Alfaro and Damgaard on the origin of antifields to theories with a gauge algebra that is open or reducible.
We show for the case of interacting massless vector bosons, how the structure of Yang-Mills theories emerges automatically from a more fundamental concept, namely perturbative quantum gauge invariance. It turns out that the coupling in a non-abelian gauge theory is necessarily of Yang-Mills type plus divergence- and coboundary couplings. The extension of the method to massive gauge theories is briefly discussed.
Gauge fixing and the observable fields for both abelian and non-abelian gauge theories with spontaneous breaking of gauge symmetry are studied. We explicitly show that it is possible to globally fix the gauge in the broken sector and hence construct physical fields even in the non-abelian theory. We predict that any high temperature restoration of gauge symmetry will be accompanied by a confining transition.
In free completely symmetric tensor gauge field theories on Minkowski space-time, all gauge invariant functions and Killing tensor fields are computed, both on-shell and off-shell. These problems are addressed in the metric-like formalisms.
