Perturbative deformations of symmetry structures on noncommutative spaces are studied in view of noncommutative quantum field theories. The rigidity of enveloping algebras of semi-simple Lie algebras with respect to formal deformations is reviewed in the context of star products. It is shown that rigidity of symmetry algebras extends to rigidity of the action of the symmetry on the space. This implies that the noncommutative spaces considered can be realized as star products by particular ordering prescriptions which are compatible with the symmetry. These symmetry preserving ordering prescriptions are calculated for the quantum plane and four-dimensional quantum Euclidean space. Using these ordering prescriptions greatly facilitates the construction of invariant Lagrangians for quantum field theory on noncommutative spaces with a deformed symmetry.
We discuss generalizations of the notion of i) the group of unitary elements of a (real or complex) finite dimensional C*-algebra, ii) gauge transformations and iii) (real) automorphisms, in the framework of compact quantum group theory and spectral triples. The quantum analogue of these groups are defined as universal (initial) objects in some natural categories. After proving the existence of the universal objects, we discuss several examples that are of interest to physics, as they appear in the noncommutative geometry approach to particle physics: in particular, the C*-algebras M_n(R), M_n…
We compute the quantum isometry group of the finite noncommutative geometry F describing the internal degrees of freedom in the Standard Model of particle physics. We show that this provides genuine quantum symmetries of the spectral triple corresponding to M x F where M is a compact spin manifold. We also prove that the bosonic and fermionic part of the spectral action are preserved by these symmetries.
We illustrate the various ways in which the algebraic framework of noncommutative geometry naturally captures the short-distance spacetime properties of string theory. We describe the noncommutative spacetime constructed from a vertex operator algebra and show that its algebraic properties bear a striking resemblence to some structures appearing in M Theory, such as the noncommutative torus. We classify the inner automorphisms of the space and show how they naturally imply the conventional duality symmetries of the quantum geometry of spacetime. We examine the problem of constructing a univers…
Quantum groups and quantum homogeneous spaces - developed by several authors since the 80's - provide a large class of examples of algebras which for many reasons we interpret as `coordinate algebras' over noncommutative spaces. This dissertation is an attempt to understand them from the point of view of Connes' noncommutative geometry.
We study the Lie bialgebra structures that can be built on the one-dimensional central extension of the Poincaré and (A)dS algebras in (1+1) dimensions. These central extensions admit more than one interpretation, but the simplest one is that they describe the symmetries of (the noncommutative deformation of) an Abelian gauge theory, $U(1)$ or $SO(2)$ on the (1+1) dimensional Minkowski or (A)dS spacetime. We show that this highlights the possibility that the algebra of functions on the gauge bundle becomes noncommutative. This is a new way in which the Coleman-Mandula theorem could be circumve…
We give a pedagogical introduction to $L_\infty$-algebras and their uses in organising the symmetries and dynamics of classical field theories, as well as of the conventional noncommutative gauge theories that arise as low-energy effective field theories in string theory. We review recent developments which formulate field theories with braided gauge symmetries as a new means of overcoming several obstacles in the standard noncommutative theories, such as the restrictions on gauge algebras and matter fields. These theories can be constructed by using techniques from Drinfel'd twist deformation…
We construct a five-parameter family of gauge-nonequivalent SU(2) instantons on a noncommutative four sphere $S_θ^4$ and of topological charge equal to -1. These instantons are critical points of a gauge functional and satisfy self-duality equations with respect to a Hodge star operator on forms on $S_θ^4$. They are obtained by acting with a twisted conformal symmetry on a basic instanton canonically associated with a noncommutative instanton bundle on the sphere. A completeness argument for this family is obtained by means of index theorems. The dimension of the ``tangent space'' to the modul…
We introduce the notion of noncommutative complex spheres with partial commutation relations for the coordinates. We compute the corresponding quantum symmetry groups of these spheres, and this yields new quantum unitary groups with partial commutation relations. We also discuss some geometric aspects of the quantum orthogonal groups associated with the mixture of classical and free independence discovered by Speicher and Weber. We show that these quantum groups are quantum symmetry groups on some quantum spaces of spherical vectors with partial commutation relations.
We analyze the perturbative quantization of the spectral action in noncommutative geometry and establish its one-loop renormalizability in a generalized sense, while staying within the spectral framework of noncommutative geometry. Our result is based on the perturbative expansion of the spectral action in terms of higher Yang-Mills and Chern-Simons forms. In the spirit of random noncommutative geometries, we consider the path integral over matrix fluctuations around a fixed noncommutative gauge background and show that the corresponding one-loop counterterms are of the same form so that they …
We summarise recent perspectives on symmetries of noncommutative field theories based on homotopy algebras. We show how these viewpoints naturally lead to a new class of noncommutative field theories which possess braided gauge symmetries, and explain in detail their uses in gravity. We review how these considerations lead to a new theory of noncommutative gravity in four dimensions within the Einstein-Cartan-Palatini formalism.
We examine the structure of spacetime symmetries of toroidally compactified string theory within the framework of noncommutative geometry. Following a proposal of Frohlich and Gawedzki, we describe the noncommutative string spacetime using a detailed algebraic construction of the vertex operator algebra. We show that the spacetime duality and discrete worldsheet symmetries of the string theory are a consequence of the existence of two independent Dirac operators, arising from the chiral structure of the conformal field theory. We demonstrate that these Dirac operators are also responsible for …
We define a new homotopy algebraic structure, that we call a braided $L_\infty$-algebra, and use it to systematically construct a new class of noncommutative field theories, that we call braided field theories. Braided field theories have gauge symmetries which realize a braided Lie algebra, whose Noether identities are inhomogeneous extensions of the classical identities, and which do not act on the solutions of the field equations. We use Drinfel'd twist deformation quantization techniques to generate new noncommutative deformations of classical field theories with braided gauge symmetries, …
A review of the applications of noncommutative geometry to a systematic formulation of duality symmetries in string theory is presented. The spectral triples associated with a lattice vertex operator algebra and the corresponding Dirac-Ramond operators are constructed and shown to naturally incorporate target space and discrete worldsheet dualities as isometries of the noncommutative space. The target space duality and diffeomorphism symmetries are shown to act as gauge transformations of the geometry. The connections with the noncommutative torus and Matrix Theory compactifications are also d…
We explore the consequences of time-space noncommutativity in the quantum mechanics of atoms and molecules, focusing on the Moyal plane with just time-space noncommutativity ($[\hat{x}_μ,\hat{x}_ν]=iθ_{μν}$, $θ_{0i}\neqq 0$, $θ_{ij}=0$). Space rotations and parity are not automorphisms of this algebra and are not symmetries of quantum physics. Still, when there are spectral degeneracies of a time-independent Hamiltonian on a commutative space-time which are due to symmetries, they persist when $θ_{0i}\neqq 0$; they do not depend at all on $θ_{0i}$. They give no clue about rotation and parity v…
We define motivic iterated integrals on the affine line, and give a simple proof of the formula for the coproduct in the Hopf algebra of they make. We show that it encodes the group law in the automorphism group of certain non-commutative variety. We relate the coproduct with the coproduct in the Hopf algebra of decorated rooted planar trivalent trees - a planar decorated version of the Hopf algebra defined by Connes and Kreimer. As an application we derive explicit formulas for the coproduct in the motivic multiple polylogarithm Hopf algebra. We give a criteria for a motivic iterated integral…
We propose Weil and Cartan models for the equivariant cohomology of noncommutative spaces which carry a covariant action of Drinfel'd twisted symmetries. The construction is suggested by the noncommutative Weil algebra of Alekseev and Meinrenken; we show that one can implement a Drinfel'd twist of their models in order to take into account the noncommutativity of the spaces we are acting on.
We study a multi-parametric family of quadratic algebras in four generators, which includes coordinate algebras of noncommutative four-planes and, as quotient algebras, noncommutative three spheres. Particular subfamilies comprise Sklyanin algebras and Connes--Dubois-Violette planes. We determine quantum groups of symmetries for the general algebras and construct finite-dimensional covariant differential calculi.
We discuss the effects that a noncommutative geometry induced by a Drinfeld twist has on physical theories. We systematically deform all products and symmetries of the theory. We discuss noncommutative classical mechanics, in particular its deformed Poisson bracket and hence time evolution and symmetries. The twisting is then extended to classical fields, and then to the main interest of this work: quantum fields. This leads to a geometric formulation of quantization on noncommutative spacetime, i.e. we establish a noncommutative correspondence principle from *-Poisson brackets to *-commutator…
Dynamics has been generalized to a noncommutative phase space. The noncommuting phase space is taken to be invariant under the quantum group $GL_{q,p}(2)$. The $q$-deformed differential calculus on the phase space is formulated and using this, both the Hamiltonian and Lagrangian forms of dynamics have been constructed. In contrast to earlier forms of $q$-dynamics, our formalism has the advantage of preserving the conventional symmetries such as rotational or Lorentz invariance.
