Operators, Geometry and Quanta

Operators, Geometry and Quanta PDF Author: Dmitri Fursaev
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400702051
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 294

Book Description
This book gives a detailed and self-contained introduction into the theory of spectral functions, with an emphasis on their applications to quantum field theory. All methods are illustrated with applications to specific physical problems from the forefront of current research, such as finite-temperature field theory, D-branes, quantum solitons and noncommutativity. In the first part of the book, necessary background information on differential geometry and quantization, including less standard material, is collected. The second part of the book contains a detailed description of main spectral functions and methods of their calculation. In the third part, the theory is applied to several examples (D-branes, quantum solitons, anomalies, noncommutativity). This book addresses advanced graduate students and researchers in mathematical physics with basic knowledge of quantum field theory and differential geometry. The aim is to prepare readers to use spectral functions in their own research, in particular in relation to heat kernels and zeta functions.

Reflections on Quanta, Symmetries, and Supersymmetries

Reflections on Quanta, Symmetries, and Supersymmetries PDF Author: V.S. Varadarajan
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1441906673
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Book Description
This is a collection of essays based on lectures that author has given on various occasions on foundation of quantum theory, symmetries and representation theory, and the quantum theory of the superworld created by physicists. The lectures are linked by a unifying theme: how the quantum world and superworld appear under the lens of symmetry and supersymmetry. In the world of ultra-small times and distances such as the Planck length and Planck time, physicists believe no measurements are possible and so the structure of spacetime itself is an unknown that has to be first understood. There have been suggestions (Volovich hypothesis) that world geometry at such energy regimes is non-archimedian and some of the lectures explore the consequences of such a hypothesis. Ultimately, symmetries and supersymmetries are described by the representation of groups and supergroups. The author's interest in representation is a lifelong one and evolved slowly, and owes a great deal to conversations and discussions he had with George Mackey and Harish-Chandra. The book concludes with a retrospective look at these conversations.

Motives, Quantum Field Theory, and Pseudodifferential Operators

Motives, Quantum Field Theory, and Pseudodifferential Operators PDF Author: Alan L. Carey
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 0821851993
Category : Algebraic geometry / (Co)homology theory / Motivic cohomology
Languages : en
Pages : 361

Book Description
This volume contains articles related to the conference ``Motives, Quantum Field Theory, and Pseudodifferntial Operators'' held at Boston University in June 2008, with partial support from the Clay Mathematics Institute, Boston University, and the National Science Foundation. There are deep but only partially understood connections between the three conference fields, so this book is intended both to explain the known connections and to offer directions for further research. In keeping with the organization of the conference, this book contains introductory lectures on each of the conference themes and research articles on current topics in these fields. The introductory lectures are suitable for graduate students and new Ph.D.'s in both mathematics and theoretical physics, as well as for senior researchers, since few mathematicians are expert in any two of the conference areas. Among the topics discussed in the introductory lectures are the appearance of multiple zeta values both as periods of motives and in Feynman integral calculations in perturbative QFT, the use of Hopf algebra techniques for renormalization in QFT, and regularized traces of pseudodifferential operators. The motivic interpretation of multiple zeta values points to a fundamental link between motives and QFT, and there are strong parallels between regularized traces and Feynman integral techniques. The research articles cover a range of topics in areas related to the conference themes, including geometric, Hopf algebraic, analytic, motivic and computational aspects of quantum field theory and mirror symmetry. There is no unifying theory of the conference areas at present, so the research articles present the current state of the art pointing towards such a unification.

Quantum Physics and Geometry

Quantum Physics and Geometry PDF Author: Edoardo Ballico
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3030061221
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 173

Book Description
This book collects independent contributions on current developments in quantum information theory, a very interdisciplinary field at the intersection of physics, computer science and mathematics. Making intense use of the most advanced concepts from each discipline, the authors give in each contribution pedagogical introductions to the main concepts underlying their present research and present a personal perspective on some of the most exciting open problems. Keeping this diverse audience in mind, special efforts have been made to ensure that the basic concepts underlying quantum information are covered in an understandable way for mathematical readers, who can find there new open challenges for their research. At the same time, the volume can also be of use to physicists wishing to learn advanced mathematical tools, especially of differential and algebraic geometric nature.

Dirac Operators and Spectral Geometry

Dirac Operators and Spectral Geometry PDF Author: Giampiero Esposito
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521648629
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 227

Book Description
A clear, concise and up-to-date introduction to the theory of the Dirac operator and its wide range of applications in theoretical physics for graduate students and researchers.

Lectures on Field Theory and Topology

Lectures on Field Theory and Topology PDF Author: Daniel S. Freed
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 1470452065
Category : Algebraic topology
Languages : en
Pages : 186

Book Description
These lectures recount an application of stable homotopy theory to a concrete problem in low energy physics: the classification of special phases of matter. While the joint work of the author and Michael Hopkins is a focal point, a general geometric frame of reference on quantum field theory is emphasized. Early lectures describe the geometric axiom systems introduced by Graeme Segal and Michael Atiyah in the late 1980s, as well as subsequent extensions. This material provides an entry point for mathematicians to delve into quantum field theory. Classification theorems in low dimensions are proved to illustrate the framework. The later lectures turn to more specialized topics in field theory, including the relationship between invertible field theories and stable homotopy theory, extended unitarity, anomalies, and relativistic free fermion systems. The accompanying mathematical explanations touch upon (higher) category theory, duals to the sphere spectrum, equivariant spectra, differential cohomology, and Dirac operators. The outcome of computations made using the Adams spectral sequence is presented and compared to results in the condensed matter literature obtained by very different means. The general perspectives and specific applications fuse into a compelling story at the interface of contemporary mathematics and theoretical physics.

Some Unusual Topics in Quantum Mechanics

Some Unusual Topics in Quantum Mechanics PDF Author: Pankaj Sharan
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031359623
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 326

Book Description
This second edition of Some Unusual Topics in Quantum Mechanics builds upon the topics covered in the first, with additional chapters that delve deeper into the mathematical foundations of the subject. New topics include Hilbert spaces and unbounded operators, minimum uncertainty states, path integrals in general coordinates, Fock spaces, second quantization, relativistic particle states, and quantum fields. Historical insights are also included, such as a pre-history of matrix mechanics and Pauli's proof of the H-atom spectrum using O(4) symmetry. Finally, readers are introduced to Bell's inequality and the non-locality in quantum mechanics that is revealed through its violation. These topics are rarely covered in introductory textbooks but are crucial to developing a student's interest and deeper understanding of quantum mechanics. This book serves as valuable supporting material for graduate-level core courses on the subject.

Perturbative and Non-perturbative Approaches to String Sigma-Models in AdS/CFT

Perturbative and Non-perturbative Approaches to String Sigma-Models in AdS/CFT PDF Author: Edoardo Vescovi
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319634208
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 239

Book Description
This thesis introduces readers to the type II superstring theories in the AdS5×S5 and AdS4×CP3 backgrounds. Each chapter exemplifies a different computational approach to measuring observables (conformal dimensions of single-trace operators and expectation values of Wilson loop operators) relevant for two supersymmetric theories: the N=4 super Yang-Mills theory and the N=6 Chern-Simons-matter (ABJM) theory. Perturbative techniques have traditionally been used to make quantitative predictions in quantum field theories, but they are only reliable as long as the interaction strengths are weak. The anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory (AdS/CFT) correspondence realizes physicists’ dream of studying strongly coupled quantum field theories with “enhanced” symmetries, using the methods provided by string theory. The first part of the thesis sets up the semiclassical quantization of worldsheet sigma-model actions around string solutions of least area in AdS space. This machinery is used to capture quantum corrections at large coupling to next-to-leading and next-to-next-to-leading order by solving the determinants of partial differential operators and by computing Feynman diagrams, respectively. In turn, the second part presents an innovative approach based on Monte Carlo simulations to finite coupling for a lattice-discretized model of the AdS5×S5 superstring action. The thesis focuses on fundamental aspects, as well as on applications previously published by the author, and offers a valuable reference work for anyone interested in the most recent developments in this field.

Quantum Theories and Geometry

Quantum Theories and Geometry PDF Author: M. Cahen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400930550
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 196

Book Description
This book presents the text of most of the lectures which were de livered at the Meeting Quantum Theories and Geometry which was held at the Fondation Les Treilles from March 23 to March 27, 1987. The general aim of this meeting was to bring together mathemati cians and physicists who have worked in this growing field of contact between the two disciplines, namely this region where geometry and physics interact creatively in both directions. It 1S the strong belief of the organizers that these written con tributions will be a useful document for research people workin~ 1n geometry or physics. Three lectures were devoted to the deformation approach to quantum mechanics which involves a modification of both the associative and the Lie structure of the algebra of functions on classical phase space. A. Lichnerowicz shows how one can view classical and quantum statistical mechanics in terms of a deformation with a parameter inversely propor tional to temperature. S. Gutt reviews the physical background of star products and indicates their applications in Lie groups representa tion theory and in harmonic analysis. D. Arnal gives a rigorous theory Vll viii PREFACI of the star exponential in the case of the Heisenberg group and shows how this can be extended to arbitrary nilpotent groups.

Geometric And Algebraic Topological Methods In Quantum Mechanics

Geometric And Algebraic Topological Methods In Quantum Mechanics PDF Author: Luigi Mangiarotti
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9814481149
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 715

Book Description
In the last decade, the development of new ideas in quantum theory, including geometric and deformation quantization, the non-Abelian Berry's geometric factor, super- and BRST symmetries, non-commutativity, has called into play the geometric techniques based on the deep interplay between algebra, differential geometry and topology. The book aims at being a guide to advanced differential geometric and topological methods in quantum mechanics. Their main peculiarity lies in the fact that geometry in quantum theory speaks mainly the algebraic language of rings, modules, sheaves and categories. Geometry is by no means the primary scope of the book, but it underlies many ideas in modern quantum physics and provides the most advanced schemes of quantization.