The functional renormalization group flow of a scalar field theory with quartic couplings and a sharp spatial momentum cutoff is presented in four-dimensional Minkowski space-time for the bare action by retaining the entanglement of the IR and the UV particle modes. It is argued that the open interaction channels have to be taken into account in quantum field theory defined by the help of a cutoff, and a non-perturbative UV-IR entanglement is found in closed or almost closed models.
We review the techniques used to renormalize quantum field theories at several loop orders. This includes the techniques to systematically extract the infinities in a Feynman integral and the implementation of the algorithm within computer algebra. To illustrate the method we discuss the renormalization of phi^4 theory and QCD including the application of the critical point large $N$ technique as a check on the anomalous dimensions. The renormalization of non-local operators in QCD is also discussed including the derivation of the two loop correction to the Gribov mass gap equation in the Land…
It is known that the $γ_{5}$ scheme of Breitenlohner and Maison (BM) in dimensional regularization requires finite counter-term renormalization to restore gauge symmetry and implementing this finite renormalization in practical calculation is a daunting task even at 1-loop order. In this paper, we show that there is a simple and straightforward method to obtain these finite counter terms by using the rightmost $γ_{5}$ scheme in which we move all the $γ_{5}$ matrices to the rightmost position before analytically continuing the dimension. For any 1-loop Feynman diagram, the difference between th…
Recent string theory developments suggest the necessity to understand supersymmetric gauge theories non-perturbatively, in various dimensions. In this work we show that there is a standard Hamiltonian formulation that generates a finite and supersymmetric result at every order of the DLCQ approximation scheme. We present this DLCQ renormalized Hamiltonian and solve for the bound states and the wave functions to verify that it exactly reproduces the large N SDLCQ results. We find that it has two novel features: it automatically chooses the t'Hooft prescription for renormalizing the singularitie…
We propose that the consistent field renormalization of gravity requires a specific Weyl transformation of the metric tensor. As a consequence, proper length and time, as well as energy and momentum, become functions of scale. We estimate the functional form of the field renormalization factor by imposing a minimum resolvable distance scale under an infinitesimal Weyl transformation. The derived transformation is applied to two key problems in quantum gravity, its non-conformal scaling, and non-renormalizability.
It is well-known that perturbative quantum gravity is non-renormalizable. The metric or vierbein has generally been used as the variable to quantize in perturbative quantum gravity. In this essay, we show that one can use the spin connection instead, in which case it is possible to obtain a ghost-free renormalizable theory of quantum gravity. Furthermore in this approach, gravitational analogs of particle physics phenomena can be studied. In particular, we study the gravitational Higgs mechanism using spin connection as a gauge field, and show that this provides a mechanism for the effective r…
The intricate machinery of perturbative quantum field theory has largely been devoted to the 'dynamical' side of the theory: simple states are evolved in complicated ways. This article begins to address this lopsided treatment. Although it is rarely possible to solve for the eigenstates of an interacting theory exactly, a general state and its evolution can nonetheless be constructed perturbatively in terms of the propagators and structures defined with respect to the free theory. The detailed form of the initial state in this picture is fixed by imposing suitable `renormalization conditions' …
This PhD thesis is devoted to show that differential renormalization is a simple and useful renormalization method that we can use when dealing with gauge theories. In this work, it is shown how the one-loop results of Constraint Differential Renormalization can be fruitfully applied when renormalizing two-loop amplitudes. As an example of this procedure, the two-loop beta functions of various relevant gauge theories are obtained (QED, SuperQED, Yang-Mills and N=1 SuperYM) without making use of the Ward identities, which are mandatory in the standard differential renormalization procedure. Als…
In recent papers it has been observed that non-Hermitian Hamiltonians, such as those describing $igϕ^3$ and $-gϕ^4$ field theories, still possess real positive spectra so long as the weaker condition of ${\cal PT}$ symmetry holds. This allows for the possibility of new kinds of quantum field theories that have strange and quite unexpected properties. In this paper a technique based on truncating the Schwinger-Dyson equations is presented for renormalizing and solving such field theories. Using this technique it is argued that a $-gϕ^4$ scalar quantum field theory in four-dimensional space-time…
We propose a solution to the problem of renormalizing light-cone Hamiltonian theories while maintaining Lorentz invariance and other symmetries. The method uses generalized Pauli--Villars regulators to render the theory finite. We discuss the method in the context of Yukawa theory at one loop and for a soluble model in 3+1 dimensions. The model is studied nonperturbatively. Numerical results obtained with use of discretized light-cone quantization, special integration weighting factors, and the complex symmetric Lanczos diagonalization algorithm compare well with the analytic answers.
The $Λ$-term in Einstein's equations is a fundamental building block of the `concordance' $Λ$CDM model of cosmology. Even though the model is not free of fundamental problems, they have not been circumvented by any alternative dark energy proposal either. Here we stick to the $Λ$-term, but we contend that it can be a `running quantity' in quantum field theory (QFT) in curved spacetime. A plethora of phenomenological works have shown that this option can be highly competitive with the $Λ$CDM with a rigid cosmological term. The, so-called, `running vacuum models' (RVM's) are characterized by the…
A nonperturbative determination of the energy-momentum tensor is essential for understanding the physics of strongly coupled systems. The ability of the Wilson flow to eliminate divergent contact terms makes it a practical method for renormalizing the energy-momentum tensor on the lattice. In this paper, we utilize the Wilson flow to define a procedure to renormalize the energy-momentum tensor for a three-dimensional massless scalar field in the adjoint of $SU(N)$ with a $φ^4$ interaction on the lattice. In this theory the energy-momentum tensor can mix with $φ^2$ and we present numerical resu…
The renormalization of the vacuum energy in quantum field theory (QFT) is usually plagued with theoretical conundrums related not only with the renormalization procedure itself, but also with the fact that the final result leads usually to very large (finite) contributions incompatible with the measured value of $Λ$ in cosmology. Herein, we compute the zero-point energy (ZPE) for a nonminimally coupled (massive) scalar field in FLRW spacetime using the off-shell adiabatic renormalization technique employed in previous work. The general off-shell result yields a smooth function $ρ_{\rm vac}(H)$…
It has long been known that perturbative calculations can be performed in a soliton sector of a quantum field theory by using a soliton Hamiltonian, which is constructed from the defining Hamiltonian by shifting the field by the classical soliton solution. It is also known that even if tadpoles are eliminated in the vacuum sector, they remain in the soliton sector. In this note we show, in the case of quantum kinks at two loops, that the soliton sector tadpoles may be removed by adding certain quantum corrections to the classical solution used in this construction. Stated differently, the reno…
The off-shell one-loop renormalization of a Higgs effective field theory possessing a scalar potential $\sim\left(Φ^\daggerΦ-\frac{v^2}2\right)^N$ with $N$ arbitrary is presented. This is achieved by renormalizing the theory once reformulated in terms of two auxiliary fields $X_{1,2}$, which, due to the invariance under an extended Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin symmetry, are tightly constrained by functional identities. The latter allow in turn the explicit derivation of the mapping onto the original theory, through which the (divergent) multi-Higgs amplitude are generated in a purely algebraic fa…
In renormalized field theories there are in general one or few fixed points which are accessible by the renormalization-group flow. They can be identified from the fixed-point equations. Exceptionally, an infinite family of fixed points exists, parameterized by a scaling exponent $ζ$, itself function of a non-renormalizing parameter. Here we report a different scenario with an infinite family of fixed points of which seemingly only one is chosen by the renormalization-group flow. This dynamical selection takes place in systems with an attractive interaction ${\cal V}(ϕ)$, as in standard $ϕ^4$ …
Using on-shell methods, we present a new perturbative non-renormalization theorem for operator mixing in massless four-dimensional quantum field theories. By examining how unitarity cuts of form factors encode anomalous dimensions we show that longer operators are often restricted from renormalizing shorter operators at the first order where there exist Feynman diagrams. The theorem applies quite generally and depends only on the field content of the operators involved. We apply our theorem to operators of dimension five through seven in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory, including exa…
I study the problem of renormalizing a non-renormalizable theory with a reduced, eventually finite, set of independent couplings. The idea is to look for special relations that express the coefficients of the irrelevant terms as unique functions of a reduced set of independent couplings lambda, such that the divergences are removed by means of field redefinitions plus renormalization constants for the lambda's. I consider non-renormalizable theories whose renormalizable subsector R is interacting and does not contain relevant parameters. The "infinite" reduction is determined by i) perturbativ…
Schwinger's formalism in quantum field theory can be easily implemented in the case of scalar theories in $D$ dimension with exponential interactions, such as $μ^D\exp(αϕ)$. In particular, we use the relation $$ \exp\big(α{δ\over δJ(x)}\big)\exp(-Z_0[J])=\exp(-Z_0[J+α_x]) $$ with $J$ the external source, and $α_x(y)=αδ(y-x)$. Such a shift is strictly related to the normal ordering of $\exp(αϕ)$ and to a scaling relation which follows by renormalizing $μ$. Next, we derive a new formulation of perturbation theory for the potentials $V(ϕ)={λ\over n!}:ϕ^n:$, using the generating functional associa…
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
Following my plenary lecture on ICMP2000 I review my results concerning two closely related topics: topological quantum field theories and the problem of quantization of gauge theories. I start with old results (first examples of topological quantum field theories were constructed in my papers in late seventies) and I come to some new results, that were not published yet.
Two quantum theories are physically equivalent if they are related, not by a unitary transformation, but by an isometric transformation. The conditions under which a quantum canonical transformation is an isometric transformation are given.
We complete the process of classifying all supersymmetric theories with quantum modified moduli. We present all the supersymmetric gauge theories based on a simple orthogonal or exceptional group that exhibit a quantum modified moduli space. The quantum modified constraints of theories derived from s-confining theories are invariant under all symmetries. However, theories that cannot be obtained by a deformation of an s-confining theory may have constraints that are covariant, rather than invariant.
Braided quantum field theories proposed by Oeckl can provide a framework for defining quantum field theories having Hopf algebra symmetries. In quantum field theories, symmetries lead to non-perturbative relations among correlation functions. We discuss Hopf algebra symmetries and such relations in braided quantum field theories. We give the four algebraic conditions between Hopf algebra symmetries and braided quantum field theories, which are required for the relations to hold. As concrete examples, we apply our discussions to the Poincare symmetries of two examples of noncommutative field th…
We review various aspects of (infinite) quantum group symmetries in 2D massive quantum field theories. We discuss how these symmetries can be used to exactly solve the integrable models. A possible way for generalizing to three dimensions is shortly described.
In this paper the relation between 2d topological gauge theories and Bethe Ansatz equations is reviewed. In addition we present some new results and clarifications. We hope the relations discussed here are particular examples of more general relations between quantum topological fields theories in dimensions $d\leq 4$ and quantum integrable systems.
Review of some old and relatively new ideas surrounding the subjects of AdS/CFT correspondence, generalized tau-functions and possible equivalences between a priori different quantum field theories.
Contribution to the proceedings of Schladming 1995. A review of the form factor approach and its utilisation to determine the space of local operators of integrable massive quantum theories is given. A few applications are discussed.
Motivated by the question of exploring the "theory space" of quantum field theories, we review the concept of "decomposing" and "gluing" quantum field theories. We explain this in the context of three-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric domain walls inside four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ theories, where the latter arise from the 6d $(2,0)$ theory compactified on Riemann surfaces. We find that $S^3$ partition functions of the three-dimensional theories can be interpreted as partition functions of a three-dimensional topological quantum field theory.
The functional integral has many triumphs in elucidating quantum theory. But incorporating charge fractionalization into that formalism remains a challenge.
A brief survey of recent results in the study of boundary integrable quantum field theories, indicating some currently open problems. Based on lectures given at the 2000 Eotvos Summer School in Physics on `Nonperturbative QFT methods and their applications'.
We begin the process of classifying all supersymmetric theories with quantum modified moduli. We determine all theories based on a single SU or Sp gauge group with quantum modified moduli. By flowing among theories we have calculated the precise modifications to the algebraic constraints that determine the moduli at the quantum level. We find a class of theories, those with a classical constraint that is covariant but not invariant under global symmetries, that have a singular modification to the moduli, which consists of a new branch.
Topological quantum field theories can be used to probe topological properties of low dimensional manifolds. A class of these theories known as Schwarz type theories, comprise of Chern-Simons theories and BF theories. In three dimensions both capture the properties of knots and links leading to invariants characterising them. These can also be used to construct three-manifold invariants. Three dimensional gravity is described by these field theories. BF theories exist also in higher dimensions. In four dimensions, these describe two-dimensional generalization of knots as well as Donaldson inva…
We review briefly a stream of ideas concerning the role of quantum groups as hidden symmetries in conformal field theories, paying particular attention to the field theoretical representations of quantum groups based on Coulomb gas methods. An extensive bibliography is also included.
This brief set of notes presents a modest introduction to the basic features entering the construction of supersymmetric quantum field theories in four-dimensional Minkowski spacetime, building a bridge from similar lectures presented at a previous Workshop of this series, and reaching only at the doorstep of the full edifice of such theories.
We establish the Schlieder and the Borchers property for thermal field theories. In addition, we provide some information on the commutation and localization properties of projection operators.
We construct the zero temperature (no compact dimensions) effective action for an SU(2) Yang-Mills theory in five dimensions, with boundary conditions that reduce the symmetry on the four-dimensional boundary located at the origin to a U(1)-complex scalar system. In order to be sensitive to the Higgs phase, we need to include higher dimensional operators in the effective action, which can be naturally achieved by generating it by expanding the corresponding lattice construction in small lattice spacing, taking the naive continuum limit and then renormalizing. In addition, we build in the effec…
The appearance of quantum groups in conformal field theories is traced back to the Poisson-Lie symmetries of the classical chiral theory. A geometric quantization of the classical theory deforms the Poisson-Lie symmetries to the quantum group ones. This elucidates the fundamental role of chiral symmetries that quantum groups play in conformal models. As a byproduct, one obtains a more geometric approach to the representation theory of quantum groups.
Computations in renormalizable perturbative quantum field theories reveal mathematical structures which go way beyond the formal structure which is usually taken as underlying quantum field theory. We review these new structures and the role they can play in future developments.
I review the appearance of classical integrable systems as an effective tool for the description of non-perturbative exact results in quantum string and gauge theories. Various aspects of this relation: spectral curves, action-angle variables, Whitham deformations and associativity equations are considered separately demonstrating hidden parallels between topological 2d string theories and naively non-topological 4d theories. The proofs are supplemented by explicit illustrative examples.
I recall the main motivation to study quantum field theories on noncommutative spaces and comment on the most-studied example, the noncommutative R^4. That algebra is given by the *-product which can be written in (at least) two ways: in an integral form or an exponential form. These two forms of the *-product are adapted to different classes of functions, which, when using them to formulate field theory, lead to two versions of quantum field theories on noncommutative R^4. The integral form requires functions of rapid decay and a (preferably smooth) cut-off in the path integral, which therefo…
The central theme of this thesis is to study some aspects of noncommutative quantum mechanics and noncommutative quantum field theory. We explore how noncommutative structures can emerge and study the consequences of such structures in various physical models.
We prove the equivalence of many-photon Green functions in statistical quantum field Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau (DKP) and Klein-Gordon-Fock (KGF) theories using functional path integral formalism for partition functional in statistical quantum (finite temperature) field theory. We also calculate the polarization operators in these theories in one-loop approximation, and demonstrate their coincidence.
It is shown that the recently obtained quantum wave functionals in terms of the CJZ variables for generic 2d dilaton gravity are equivalent to the previously reported exact quantum wave functionals in geometrical variables. A third representation of these exact quantum states is also presented.
We study the quantum mechanical consistency of noncommutative gauge theories by perturbatively analyzing the Wilsonian quantum effective action in the matrix formulation. In the process of integrating out UV states, we find new divergences having dual UV-IR interpretations and no analogues in ordinary quantum field theories. The appearance of these new UV-IR divergences has profound consequences for the renormalizability of the theory. In particular, renormalizability fails in any nonsupersymmetric noncommutative gauge theory. In fact, we argue that renormalizability generally fails in any non…
The algebraic formulation of the quantum group gauge models in the framework of the $R$-matrix approach to the theory of quantum groups is given. We consider gauge groups taking values in the quantum groups and noncommutative gauge fields transformed as comodules under the coaction of the gauge quantum group $ G_{q}$. Using this approach we construct the quantum deformations of the topological Chern-Simons models, non-abelian gauge theories and the Einstein gravity. The noncommutative fields in these models generate $ G_{q}$-covariant quantum algebras.
We study the quantum integrability of nonsimply--laced affine Toda theories defined on the half--plane and explicitly construct the first nontrivial higher--spin charges in specific examples. We find that, in contradistinction to the classical case, addition of total derivative terms to the "bulk" current plays a relevant role for the quantum boundary conservation.
Quantum physics on manifolds with boundary brings novel aspects due to boundary conditions. One important feature is the appearance of localised negative eigenmodes for the Laplacian on the boundary. These can potentially lead to instabilities. We consider quantum field theories on such manifolds and interpret these as leading to the onset of phase transitions.
We address the question of whether the quantum scale-invariant theories introduced in [1] are renormalizable or play the role of effective field theories that are valid below the Planck scale $M_P$. We show that starting from two-loop level the renormalization procedure requires introduction of counter-terms with structures different from those in the initial Lagrangian, making these theories non-renormalizable and therefore non-predictive above $M_P$. Despite non-renormalizability, the attractive features of these theories, associated with the stability of the Higgs mass agains radiative corr…
General relativity can be recast as a theory of connections by performing a canonical transformation on its phase space. In this form, its (kinematical) structure is closely related to that of Yang-Mills theory and topological field theories. Over the past few years, a variety of techniques have been developed to quantize all these theories non-perturbatively. These developments are summarized with special emphasis on loop space methods and their applications to quantum gravity.
The spectra of $A_r$ affine Toda field theories with imaginary coupling constant, are investigated. Soliton solutions are found, which, despite the non-unitary form of the Lagrangian, have real classical masses and are stable to small perturbations. The quantum corrections to the soliton masses are determined, to lowest order in $\hbar$. The solitons have the same spectrum as the fundamental Toda particles; a feature that is preserved in the quantum theory.
We describe the role of Rational Hopf Algebras as the symmetries of rational field theories and discuss their relation with algebraic field theory, braided monoidal categories and modular fusion rule algebras.
In quantum gravity, we envision renormalization as the key tool for bridging the gap between microscopic models and observable scales. For spin foam quantum gravity, which is defined on a discretisation akin to lattice gauge theories, the goal is to derive an effective theory on a coarser discretisation from the dynamics on the finer one, coarse graining the system in the process and thus relating physics at different scales. In this review I will discuss the motivation for studying renormalization in spin foam quantum gravity, e.g. to restore diffeomorphism symmetry, and explain how to define…
Renormalization of Quantum Gravity with Lagrange Multiplier Fields
Instituto de Física, Universidade de São Paulo（圣保罗大学物理研究所）；Instituto de Física Teórica, Universidade Estadual Paulista（圣保罗州立大学理论物理研究所）；Department of Applied Mathematics, The University of Western Ontario（韦仕敦大学应用数学系）；Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Algoma University（阿尔戈马大学数学与计算机科学系）
I review recent results on conformal field theories in four dimensions and quantum field theories interpolating between conformal fixed points, supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric. The talk is structured in three parts: i) central charges, ii) anomalous dimensions and iii) quantum irreversibility.
