Geometry, Topology, Field Theory and Two-dimensional Quantum Gravity [microform]

Geometry, Topology, Field Theory and Two-dimensional Quantum Gravity [microform] PDF Author: Eugene C. M. Wong
Publisher: Ann Arbor, Mich. : University Microfilms International
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 240

Get Book Here

Book Description

Geometry, Topology, Field Theory and Two-dimensional Quantum Gravity [microform]

Geometry, Topology, Field Theory and Two-dimensional Quantum Gravity [microform] PDF Author: Eugene C. M. Wong
Publisher: Ann Arbor, Mich. : University Microfilms International
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 240

Get Book Here

Book Description


Geometry, Topology, Field Theory and Two-dimensional Quantum Gravity

Geometry, Topology, Field Theory and Two-dimensional Quantum Gravity PDF Author: Eugene C. M. Wong
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 240

Get Book Here

Book Description


Elementary Introduction to Quantum Geometry

Elementary Introduction to Quantum Geometry PDF Author: Jan Ambjorn
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 100077600X
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 292

Get Book Here

Book Description
This graduate textbook provides an introduction to quantum gravity, when spacetime is two-dimensional. The quantization of gravity is the main missing piece of theoretical physics, but in two dimensions it can be done explicitly with elementary mathematical tools, but it still has most of the conceptional riddles present in higher dimensional (not yet known) quantum gravity. It provides an introduction to a very interdisciplinary field, uniting physics (quantum geometry) and mathematics (combinatorics) in a non-technical way, requiring no prior knowledge of quantum field theory or general relativity. Using the path integral, the chapters provide self-contained descriptions of random walks, random trees and random surfaces as statistical systems where the free relativistic particle, the relativistic bosonic string and two-dimensional quantum gravity are obtained as scaling limits at phase transition points of these statistical systems. The geometric nature of the theories allows one to perform the path integral by counting geometries. In this way the quantization of geometry becomes closely linked to the mathematical fields of combinatorics and probability theory. By counting the geometries, it is shown that the two-dimensional quantum world is fractal at all scales unless one imposes restrictions on the geometries. It is also discussed in simple terms how quantum geometry and quantum matter can interact strongly and change the properties both of the geometries and of the matter systems. It requires only basic undergraduate knowledge of classical mechanics, statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics, as well as some basic knowledge of mathematics at undergraduate level. It will be an ideal textbook for graduate students in theoretical and statistical physics and mathematics studying quantum gravity and quantum geometry. Key features: Presents the first elementary introduction to quantum geometry Explores how to understand quantum geometry without prior knowledge beyond bachelor level physics and mathematics. Contains exercises, problems and solutions to supplement and enhance learning

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

Get Book Here

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.

Conformal Field Theory and Topology

Conformal Field Theory and Topology PDF Author: Toshitake Kohno
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 9780821821305
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 188

Get Book Here

Book Description
Geometry and physics have been developed with a strong influence on each other. One of the most remarkable interactions between geometry and physics since 1980 has been an application of quantum field theory to topology and differential geometry. This book focuses on a relationship between two-dimensional quantum field theory and three-dimensional topology which has been studied intensively since the discovery of the Jones polynomial in the middle of the 1980s and Witten's invariantfor 3-manifolds derived from Chern-Simons gauge theory. An essential difficulty in quantum field theory comes from infinite-dimensional freedom of a system. Techniques dealing with such infinite-dimensional objects developed in the framework of quantum field theory have been influential in geometryas well. This book gives an accessible treatment for a rigorous construction of topological invariants originally defined as partition functions of fields on manifolds. The book is organized as follows: The Introduction starts from classical mechanics and explains basic background materials in quantum field theory and geometry. Chapter 1 presents conformal field theory based on the geometry of loop groups. Chapter 2 deals with the holonomy of conformal field theory. Chapter 3 treatsChern-Simons perturbation theory. The final chapter discusses topological invariants for 3-manifolds derived from Chern-Simons perturbation theory.

Geometry, Topology and Quantum Field Theory

Geometry, Topology and Quantum Field Theory PDF Author: P. Bandyopadhyay
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401716978
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is a monograph on geometrical and topological features which arise in quantum field theory. It is well known that when a chiral fermion interacts with a gauge field we have chiral anomaly which corresponds to the fact that divergence of the axial vector current does not vanish. It is observed that this is related to certain topological features associated with the fermion and leads to the realization of the topological origin of fermion number as well as the Berry phase. The role of gauge fields in the quantization procedure has its implications in these topological features of a fermion and helps us to consider a massive fermion as a soliton (skyrrnion). In this formalism chiral anomaly is found to be responsible for mass generation. This has its relevance in electroweak theory where it is observed that weak interaction gauge bosons attain mass topologically. The geometrical feature of a skyrmion also helps us to realize the internal symmetry of hadrons from reflection group. Finally it has been shown that noncommutative geometry where the space time manifold is taken to be X = M x Zz has its relevance in the description of a massive 4 fermion as a skyrmion when the discrete space is considered as the internal space and the symmetry breaking leads to chiral anomaly. In chap. l preliminary mathematical formulations related to the spinor structure have been discussed. In chap.

Differential Topology and Quantum Field Theory

Differential Topology and Quantum Field Theory PDF Author: Charles Nash
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 9780125140768
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 404

Get Book Here

Book Description
The remarkable developments in differential topology and how these recent advances have been applied as a primary research tool in quantum field theory are presented here in a style reflecting the genuinely two-sided interaction between mathematical physics and applied mathematics. The author, following his previous work (Nash/Sen: Differential Topology for Physicists, Academic Press, 1983), covers elliptic differential and pseudo-differential operators, Atiyah-Singer index theory, topological quantum field theory, string theory, and knot theory. The explanatory approach serves to illuminate and clarify these theories for graduate students and research workers entering the field for the first time. Treats differential geometry, differential topology, and quantum field theory Includes elliptic differential and pseudo-differential operators, Atiyah-Singer index theory, topological quantum field theory, string theory, and knot theory Tackles problems of quantum field theory using differential topology as a tool

New Paths Towards Quantum Gravity

New Paths Towards Quantum Gravity PDF Author: Bernhelm Booß-Bavnbek
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3642118976
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 372

Get Book Here

Book Description
Aside from the obvious statement that it should be a theory capable of unifying general relativity and quantum field theory, not much is known about the true nature of quantum gravity. New ideas - and there are many of them for this is an exciting field of research - often diverge to a degree where it seems impossible to decide in which of the many possible direction(s) the ongoing developments should be further sustained. The division of the book in two (overlapping) parts reflects the duality between the physical vision and the mathematical construction. The former is represented by tutorial reviews on non-commutative geometry, on space-time discretization and renormalization and on gauge field path integrals. The latter one by lectures on cohomology, on stochastic geometry and on mathematical tools for the effective action in quantum gravity. The book will benefit everyone working or entering the field of quantum gravity research.

Geometric and Topological Methods for Quantum Field Theory

Geometric and Topological Methods for Quantum Field Theory PDF Author: Hernan Ocampo
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9783540242833
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Get Book Here

Book Description
This volume offers an introduction, in the form of four extensive lectures, to some recent developments in several active topics at the interface between geometry, topology and quantum field theory. The first lecture is by Christine Lescop on knot invariants and configuration spaces, in which a universal finite-type invariant for knots is constructed as a series of integrals over configuration spaces. This is followed by the contribution of Raimar Wulkenhaar on Euclidean quantum field theory from a statistical point of view. The author also discusses possible renormalization techniques on noncommutative spaces. The third lecture is by Anamaria Font and Stefan Theisen on string compactification with unbroken supersymmetry. The authors show that this requirement leads to internal spaces of special holonomy and describe Calabi-Yau manifolds in detail. The last lecture, by Thierry Fack, is devoted to a K-theory proof of the Atiyah-Singer index theorem and discusses some applications of K-theory to noncommutative geometry. These lectures notes, which are aimed in particular at graduate students in physics and mathematics, start with introductory material before presenting more advanced results. Each chapter is self-contained and can be read independently.

Boundary Conformal Field Theory and the Worldsheet Approach to D-Branes

Boundary Conformal Field Theory and the Worldsheet Approach to D-Branes PDF Author: Andreas Recknagel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107511801
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 349

Get Book Here

Book Description
Boundary conformal field theory is concerned with a class of two-dimensional quantum field theories which display a rich mathematical structure and have many applications ranging from string theory to condensed matter physics. In particular, the framework allows discussion of strings and branes directly at the quantum level. Written by internationally renowned experts, this comprehensive introduction to boundary conformal field theory reaches from theoretical foundations to recent developments, with an emphasis on the algebraic treatment of string backgrounds. Topics covered include basic concepts in conformal field theory with and without boundaries, the mathematical description of strings and D-branes, and the geometry of strongly curved spacetime. The book offers insights into string geometry that go beyond classical notions. Describing the theory from basic concepts, and providing numerous worked examples from conformal field theory and string theory, this reference is of interest to graduate students and researchers in physics and mathematics.