Effective theories of a scalar $ϕ$ invariant under the internal \textit{galileon symmetry} $ϕ\toϕ+b_μx^μ$ have been extensively studied due to their special theoretical and phenomenological properties. In this paper, we introduce the notion of \textit{weakly broken galileon invariance}, which characterizes the unique class of couplings of such theories to gravity that maximally retain their defining symmetry. The curved-space remnant of the galileon's quantum properties allows to construct (quasi) de Sitter backgrounds largely insensitive to loop corrections. We exploit this fact to build novel cosmological models with interesting phenomenology, relevant for both inflation and late-time acceleration of the universe.
We study the generation of a large power spectrum, necessary for primordial black hole formation, within the effective theory of single-field inflation. The mechanisms we consider include a transition into a ghost-inflation-like phase and scenarios where an exponentially growing mode is temporarily turned on. In the cases we discuss, the enhancement in the power spectrum results from either a swift change in some effective coupling or a modification of the dispersion relation for the perturbations, while the background evolution remains unchanged and approximately de Sitter throughout inflatio…
In contrast to massless spinning particles, scalars are not heavily constrained by unitarity and locality. Off-shell, no gauge symmetries are required to write down manifestly local theories, while on-shell consistent factorisation is trivial. Instead a useful classification scheme for scalars is based on the symmetries they can non-linearly realise. Motivated by the breaking of Lorentz boosts in cosmology, in this paper we classify the possible symmetries of a shift-symmetric scalar that is assumed to non-linearly realise Lorentz boosts as, for example, in the EFT of inflation. Our classifica…
Theories such as massive Galileons and massive gravity can satisfy the presently known improved positivity bounds provided they are weakly coupled. We discuss the form of the EFT Lagrangian for a weakly coupled UV completion of massive gravity which closely parallels the massive Galileon, and perform the power counting of corrections to the scattering amplitude and the positivity bounds. The Vainshtein mechanism which is central to the phenomenological viability of massive gravity is entirely consistent with weak coupling since it is classical in nature. We highlight that the only implication …
The special galileon and Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) theories are effective field theories of a single scalar field that have many interesting properties in flat space. These theories can be extended to all maximally symmetric spaces, where their algebras of shift symmetries are simple. We study aspects of the curved space versions of these theories: for the special galileon, we find a new compact expression for its Lagrangian in de Sitter space and a field redefinition that relates it to the previous, more complicated formulation. This field redefinition reduces to the well-studied galileon duali…
We consider four-point functions of operators in the stress tensor multiplet of the 3d $\mathcal{N}=6$ $U(N)_k\times U(N+M)_{-k}$ or $SO(2)_{2k}\times USp(2+2M)_{-k}$ ABJ theories in the limit where $M$ and $k$ are taken to infinity while $N$ and $λ\sim M/k$ are held fixed. In this limit, these theories have weakly broken higher spin symmetry and are holographically dual to $\mathcal{N}=6$ higher spin gravity on $AdS_4$, where $λ$ is dual to the bulk parity breaking parameter. We use the weakly broken higher spin Ward identities, superconformal Ward identities, and the Lorentzian inversion for…
We consider a general system with weakly broken time and translation symmetries. We assume the system also possesses a $U(1)$ symmetry which is not only weakly broken, but is anomalous. We use the second order chiral quasi-hydrodynamics to compute the magneto-conductivities in the system in the presence of a weak magnetic field. Analogous to electrical and thermoelectric conductivities, it turns out that the thermal conductivity is identified with a coefficient which depends on the mixed gauge-gravitational anomaly. By applying our general formulas to a free system of Weyl fermions at low temp…
Hydrodynamics is a theory of long-range excitations controlled by equations of motion that encode the conservation of a set of currents (energy, momentum, charge, etc.) associated with explicitly realized global symmetries. If a system possesses additional weakly broken symmetries, the low-energy hydrodynamic degrees of freedom also couple to a few other "approximately conserved" quantities with parametrically long relaxation times. It is often useful to consider such approximately conserved operators and corresponding new massive modes within the low-energy effective theory, which we refer to…
Motivated by dynamical experiments on cold atomic gases, we develop a quantum kinetic approach to weakly perturbed integrable models out of equilibrium. Using the exact matrix elements of the underlying integrable model we establish an analytical approach to real-time dynamics. The method addresses a broad range of timescales, from the intermediate regime of pre-thermalization to late-time thermalization. Predictions are given for the time-evolution of physical quantities, including effective temperatures and thermalization rates. The approach provides conceptual links between perturbed quantu…
Bootstrapping Weakly Broken Gauge Theories in (A)dS
University of Cambridge（剑桥大学）；Leung Center for Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics（梁林宇宙学与粒子天体物理中心）；Case Western Reserve University（凯斯西储大学）；University of Arizona（亚利桑那大学）；University of Amsterdam（阿姆斯特丹大学）
A great deal of effort has recently been invested in developing methods of calculating scattering amplitudes that bypass the traditional construction based on Lagrangians and Feynman rules. Motivated by this progress, we investigate the long-wavelength behavior of scattering amplitudes of massless scalar particles: Nambu-Goldstone (NG) bosons. The low-energy dynamics of NG bosons is governed by the underlying spontaneously broken symmetry, which likewise allows one to bypass the Lagrangian and connect the scaling of the scattering amplitudes directly to the Lie algebra of the symmetry generato…
Positivity bounds are powerful tools to constrain effective field theories. Utilizing the partial wave expansion in the dispersion relation and the full crossing symmetry of the scattering amplitude, we derive several sets of generically nonlinear positivity bounds for a generic scalar effective field theory: We refer to these as the $PQ$, $D^{\rm su}$, $D^{\rm stu}$ and $\bar{D}^{\rm stu}$ bounds. While the $PQ$ bounds and $D^{\rm su}$ bounds only make use of the $s\leftrightarrow u$ dispersion relation, the $D^{\rm stu}$ and $\bar{D}^{\rm stu}$ bounds are obtained by further imposing the $s\…
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 use the large N approximation to find an exotic phase of a cold, two-dimensional, N-component Fermi gas which exhibits dynamically broken approximate scale symmetry. We identify a particular weakly damped collective excitation as the dilaton, the pseudo-Goldstone boson associated with the broken approximate scale symmetry. We argue that the symmetry breaking phase is stable for a range of parameters of the theory and there is a fluctuation induced first order quantum phase transition between the normal and the scale symmetry breaking phases which can be driven by tuning the chemical potenti…
We compute, to the first non-trivial order in the $ε$-expansion of a perturbed scalar field theory, the anomalous dimensions of an infinite class of primary operators with arbitrary spin $\ell=0,1,..$, including as a particular case the weakly broken higher-spin currents, using only constraints from conformal symmetry. Following the bootstrap philosophy, no reference is made to any Lagrangian, equations of motion or coupling constants. Even the space dimensions d are left free. The interaction is implicitly turned on through the local operators by letting them acquire anomalous dimensions. Whe…
We consider on one hand the possibility that a supersymmetric ${\cal N}=1$ conformal gauge theory has a strongly coupled locus on the conformal manifold at which a different, dual, conformal gauge theory becomes a good weakly coupled description. On the other hand we discuss the possibility that strongly coupled theories, e.g. SCFTs in class ${\cal S}$, having exactly marginal ${\cal N}=1$ deformations admit a weakly coupled gauge theory description on some locus of the conformal manifold. We present a simple algorithm to search for such dualities and discuss several concrete examples. In part…
We apply the methods of modern analytic bootstrap to the critical $O(N)$ model in a $1/N$ expansion. At infinite $N$ the model possesses higher spin symmetry which is weakly broken as we turn on $1/N$. By studying consistency conditions for the correlator of four fundamental fields we derive the CFT-data for all the (broken) currents to order $1/N$, and the CFT-data for the non-singlet currents to order $1/N^2$. To order $1/N$ our results are in perfect agreement with those in the literature. To order $1/N^2$ we reproduce known results for anomalous dimensions and obtain a variety of new resul…
We investigate approximate emergent nonabelian symmetry in a class of weakly first order `deconfined' phase transitions using Monte Carlo simulations and a renormalization group analysis. We study a transition in a 3D classical loop model that is analogous to a deconfined 2+1D quantum phase transition in a magnet with reduced lattice symmetry. The transition is between the Néel phase and a twofold degenerate valence bond solid (lattice-symmetry-breaking) phase. The combined order parameter at the transition is effectively a four-component superspin. It has been argued that in some weakly first…
We show that a class of finite quantum non-local gravitational theories is conformally invariant at classical as well as at quantum level. This is actually a range of conformal anomaly-free theories in the spontaneously broken phase of the Weyl symmetry. At classical level we show how the Weyl conformal invariance is able to tame all the spacetime singularities that plague not only Einstein gravity, but also local and weakly non-local higher derivative theories. The latter statement is proved by a singularity theorem that applies to a large class of weakly non-local theories. Therefore, we are…
