In this review I discuss intersection numbers of twisted cocycles and their relation to physics. After defining what these intersection number are, I will first discuss a method for computing them. This is followed by three examples where intersection numbers appear in physics. These examples are: tree-level scattering amplitudes within the the CHY-formalism, reduction of Feynman integrals to master integrals and correlation functions on the lattice.
We present a detailed description of the recent idea for a direct decomposition of Feynman integrals onto a basis of master integrals by projections, as well as a direct derivation of the differential equations satisfied by the master integrals, employing multivariate intersection numbers. We discuss a recursive algorithm for the computation of multivariate intersection numbers and provide three different approaches for a direct decomposition of Feynman integrals, which we dub the straight decomposition, the bottom-up decomposition, and the top-down decomposition. These algorithms exploit the …
Feynman integrals obey linear relations governed by intersection numbers, which act as scalar products between vector spaces. We present a general algorithm for constructing multivariate intersection numbers relevant to Feynman integrals, and show for the first time how they can be used to solve the problem of integral reduction to a basis of master integrals by projections, and to directly derive functional equations fulfilled by the latter. We apply it to the derivation of contiguity relations for special functions admitting multi-fold integral representations, and to the decomposition of a …
Intersection numbers of twisted cocycles arise in mathematics in the field of algebraic geometry. Quite recently, they appeared in physics: Intersection numbers of twisted cocycles define a scalar product on the vector space of Feynman integrals. With this application, the practical and efficient computation of intersection numbers of twisted cocycles becomes a topic of interest. An existing algorithm for the computation of intersection numbers of twisted cocycles requires in intermediate steps the introduction of algebraic extensions (for example square roots), although the final result may b…
We revisit the localization formulas of cohomology intersection numbers associated to a logarithmic connection. The main contribution of this paper is threefold: we prove the localization formula of the cohomology intersection number of logarithmic forms in terms of residue of a connection; we prove that the leading term of the Laurent expansion of the cohomology intersection number is Grothendieck residue when the connection is hypergeometric; and we prove that the leading term of stringy integral discussed by Arkani-Hamed, He and Lam is nothing but the self-cohomology intersection number of …
We present a series of new results we obtained recently about the intersection numbers of tautological classes on moduli spaces of curves, including a simple formula of the n-point functions for Witten's $τ$ classes, an effective recursion formula to compute higher Weil-Petersson volumes, several new recursion formulae of intersection numbers and our proof of a conjecture of Itzykson and Zuber concerning denominators of intersection numbers. We also present Virasoro and KdV properties of generating functions of general mixed $κ$ and $ψ$ intersections.
In a recent paper DeWolfe et al. have shown how to use the self-intersection number of junctions to constrain the BPS spectrum of N=2, D=4 theories with ADE flavor symmetry arising on a single D3-brane probe in a 7-brane background. Motivated by the existence of more general N=2, D=4 theories arising on the worldvolume of multiple D3-brane probes we show how to compute the self-intersection number of junctions in the presence of 7-branes and multiple D3-branes.
By elaborating on the recent progress made in the area of Feynman integrals, we apply the intersection theory for twisted de Rham cohomologies to simple integrals involving orthogonal polynomials, matrix elements of operators in Quantum Mechanics and Green's functions in Field Theory, showing that the algebraic identities they obey are related to the decomposition of twisted cocycles within cohomology groups, and which, therefore, can be derived by means of intersection numbers. Our investigation suggests an algebraic approach generically applicable to the study of higher-order moments of prob…
The intersection numbers of p-spin curves are computed through correlation functions of Gaussian ensembles of random matrices in an external matrix source. The p-dependence of intersection numbers is determined as polynomial in p; the large p behavior is also considered. The analytic continuation of intersection numbers to negative values of p is discussed in relation to SL(2,R)/U(1) black hole sigma model.
We derive some explicit expressions for correlators on Grassmannian G_r(C^n) as well as on the moduli space of holomorphic maps, of a fixed degree d, from sphere into the Grassmannian. Correlators obtained on the Grassmannain are a first step generalization of the Schubert formula for the self-intersection. The intersection numbers on the moduli space for r=2,3 are given explicitly by two closed formulas, when r=2 the intersection numbers, are found to generate the alternate Fibonacci numbers, the Pell numbers and in general a random walk of a particle on a line with absorbing barriers. For r=…
In this review article, we report on some recent advances on the computational aspects of cohomology intersection numbers of GKZ systems developed in \cite{GM}, \cite{MH}, \cite{MT} and \cite{MT2}. We also discuss the relation between intersection theory and evaluation of an integral of a product of powers of absolute values of polynomials.
We consider a Gaussian random matrix theory in the presence of an external matrix source. This matrix model, after duality (a simple version of the closed/open string duality), yields a generalized Kontsevich model through an appropriate tuning of the external source. The n-point correlation functions of this theory are shown to provide the intersection numbers of the moduli space of curves with a p-spin structure, n marked points and top Chern class. This sheds some light on Witten's conjecture on the relationship with the pth-KdV equation.
A study of the intersection theory on the moduli space of Riemann surfaces with boundary was recently initiated in a work of R. Pandharipande, J. P. Solomon and the third author, where they introduced open intersection numbers in genus 0. Their construction was later generalized to all genera by J. P. Solomon and the third author. In this paper we consider a refinement of the open intersection numbers by distinguishing contributions from surfaces with different numbers of boundary components, and we calculate all these numbers. We then construct a matrix model for the generating series of the …
In this paper we conjecture that the generating function of the intersection numbers on the moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces with boundary, constructed recently by R. Pandharipande, J. Solomon and R. Tessler and extended by A. Buryak, is a tau-function of the KP integrable hierarchy. Moreover, it is given by a simple modification of the Kontsevich matrix integral so that the generating functions of open and closed intersection numbers are described by the MKP integrable hierarchy. Virasoro constraints for the open intersection numbers naturally follow from the matrix integral representation.
We continue our investigation of the Kontsevich--Penner model, which describes intersection theory on moduli spaces both for open and closed curves. In particular, we show how Buryak's residue formula, which connects two generating functions of intersection numbers, appears in the general context of matrix models and tau-functions. This allows us to prove that the Kontsevich--Penner matrix integral indeed describes open intersection numbers. For arbitrary $N$ we show that the string and dilaton equations completely specify the solution of the KP hierarchy. We derive a complete family of the Vi…
Generalized Kontsevich Matrix Model (GKMM) with a certain given potential is the partition function of $r$-spin intersection numbers. We represent this GKMM in terms of fermions and expand it in terms of the Schur polynomials by boson-fermion correspondence, and link it with a Hurwitz partition function and a Hodge partition by operators in a $\widehat{GL}(\infty)$ group. Then, from a $W_{1+\infty}$ constraint of the partition function of $r$-spin intersection numbers, we get a $W_{1+\infty}$ constraint for the Hodge partition function. The $W_{1+\infty}$ constraint completely determines the S…
In their recent inspiring paper Mironov and Morozov claim a surprisingly simple expansion formula for the Kontsevich-Witten tau-function in terms of the Schur Q-functions. Here we provide a similar conjecture for the Brézin-Gross-Witten tau-function. Moreover, we identify both tau-functions of the KdV hierarchy, which describe intersection numbers on the moduli spaces of punctured Riemann surfaces, with the hypergeometric solutions of the BKP hierarchy.
The matrix model of topological field theory for the moduli space of p-th spin curves is extended to the case of the Lie algebra of the orthogonal group. We derive a new duality relation for the expectation values of characteristic polynomials in the antisymmetric Gaussian matrix model with an external matrix source. The intersection numbers for non-orientable surfaces of spin curves with k marked points are obtained from the Fourier transform of the k-point correlation functions at the critical point where the gap is closing.
Kontsevich's work on Airy matrix integrals has led to explicit results for the intersection numbers of the moduli space of curves. In this article we show that a duality between k-point functions on $N\times N$ matrices and N-point functions of $k\times k$ matrices, plus the replica method, familiar in the theory of disordered systems, allows one to recover Kontsevich's results on the intersection numbers, and to generalize them to other models. This provides an alternative and simple way to compute intersection numbers with one marked point, and leads also to some new results.
Combining quantum information theory with thermodynamics unites 21st-century technology with 19th-century principles. The union elucidates the spread of information, the flow of time, and the leveraging of energy. This thesis contributes to the theory of quantum thermodynamics, particularly to quantum-information-theoretic thermodynamics. The thesis also contains applications of the theory, wielded as a toolkit, across physics. Fields touched on include atomic, molecular, and optical physics; nonequilibrium statistical mechanics; condensed matter; high-energy physics; and chemistry. I propose …
In \cite{M}, Sebastian Mizera discovered a tree expansion formula of a homology intersection number on the configuration space $\mathcal{M}_{0,n}$. The formula originates in a study of Kawai-Lewellen-Tye relation in string theory. In this paper, we give an elementary proof of the formula. The basic ingredients are the combinatorics of the real moduli space $\overline{\mathcal{M}}_{0,n}(\R)$ and a combinatorial identity related to the face number of the associahedron.
We use Picard-Lefschetz theory to prove a new formula for intersection numbers of twisted cocycles associated to a given arrangement of hyperplanes. In a special case when this arrangement produces the moduli space of punctured Riemann spheres, intersection numbers become tree-level scattering amplitudes of quantum field theories in the Cachazo-He-Yuan formulation.
