Gauging What's Real


Book Description

Gauge theories have provided our most successful representations of the fundamental forces of nature. But how do such representations work? Healey aims to answer this question, and defends a distinctive thesis which proves that loops rather than points are the locations of fundamental properties.




Strings, Gauge Fields, and the Geometry Behind


Book Description

This book contains exclusively invited contributions from collaborators of Maximilian Kreuzer, giving accounts of his scientific legacy and original articles from renowned theoretical physicists and mathematicians, including Victor Batyrev, Philip Candelas, Michael Douglas, Alexei Morozov, Joseph Polchinski, Peter van Nieuwenhuizen, and Peter West. Besides a collection of review and research articles from high-profile researchers in string theory and related fields of mathematics (in particular, algebraic geometry) which discuss recent progress in the exploration of string theory vacua and corresponding mathematical developments, this book contains a pedagogical account of the important work of Brandt, Dragon, and Kreuzer on classification of anomalies in gauge theories. This highly cited work, which is also quoted in the textbook of Steven Weinberg on quantum field theory, has not yet been presented in full detail except in private lecture notes by Norbert Dragon. Similarly, the software package PALP (Package for Analyzing Lattice Polytopes with applications to toric geometry), which has been incorporated in the SAGE (Software for Algebra and Geometry Experimentation) project, has not yet been documented in full detail. This book contains a user manual for a new thoroughly revised version of PALP. By including these two very useful original contributions, researchers in quantum field theory, string theory, and mathematics will find added value in a pedagogical presentation of the classification of quantum gauge field anomalies, and the accompanying comprehensive manual and tutorial for the powerful software package PALP.




Gauge Field Theory and Complex Geometry


Book Description

From the reviews: "... focused mainly on complex differential geometry and holomorphic bundle theory. This is a powerful book, written by a very distinguished contributor to the field" (Contemporary Physics )"the book provides a large amount of background for current research across a spectrum of field. ... requires effort to read but it is worthwhile and rewarding" (New Zealand Math. Soc. Newsletter) " The contents are highly technical and the pace of the exposition is quite fast. Manin is an outstanding mathematician, and writer as well, perfectly at ease in the most abstract and complex situation. With such a guide the reader will be generously rewarded!" (Physicalia) This new edition includes an Appendix on developments of the last 10 years, by S. Merkulov.




Classical Theory of Gauge Fields


Book Description

Based on a highly regarded lecture course at Moscow State University, this is a clear and systematic introduction to gauge field theory. It is unique in providing the means to master gauge field theory prior to the advanced study of quantum mechanics. Though gauge field theory is typically included in courses on quantum field theory, many of its ideas and results can be understood at the classical or semi-classical level. Accordingly, this book is organized so that its early chapters require no special knowledge of quantum mechanics. Aspects of gauge field theory relying on quantum mechanics are introduced only later and in a graduated fashion--making the text ideal for students studying gauge field theory and quantum mechanics simultaneously. The book begins with the basic concepts on which gauge field theory is built. It introduces gauge-invariant Lagrangians and describes the spectra of linear perturbations, including perturbations above nontrivial ground states. The second part focuses on the construction and interpretation of classical solutions that exist entirely due to the nonlinearity of field equations: solitons, bounces, instantons, and sphalerons. The third section considers some of the interesting effects that appear due to interactions of fermions with topological scalar and gauge fields. Mathematical digressions and numerous problems are included throughout. An appendix sketches the role of instantons as saddle points of Euclidean functional integral and related topics. Perfectly suited as an advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate text, this book is an excellent starting point for anyone seeking to understand gauge fields.




Gauge Theory of Elementary Particle Physics


Book Description

This is a practical introduction to the principal ideas in gauge theory and their applications to elementary particle physics. It explains technique and methodology with simple exposition backed up by many illustrative examples. Derivations, some of well known results, are presented in sufficient detail to make the text accessible to readers entering the field for the first time. The book focuses on the strong interaction theory of quantum chromodynamics and the electroweak interaction theory of Glashow, Weinberg, and Salam, as well as the grand unification theory, exemplified by the simplest SU(5) model. Not intended as an exhaustive survey, the book nevertheless provides the general background necessary for a serious student who wishes to specialize in the field of elementary particle theory. Physicists with an interest in general aspects of gauge theory will also find the book highly useful.




Chaos And Gauge Field Theory


Book Description

This book introduces a rapidly growing new research area — the study of dynamical properties of elementary fields. The methods used in this field range from algebraic topology to parallel computer programming. The main aim of this research is to understand the behavior of elementary particles and fields under extreme circumstances, first of all at high temperature and energy density generated in the largest accelerators of the world and supposed to be present in the early evolution of our Universe shortly after the Big Bang.In particular, chaos is rediscovered in a new appearance in these studies: in gauge theories the well-known divergence of initially adjacent phase space trajectories leads over into a quasi-thermal distribution of energy with a saturated average distance of different field configurations. This particular behavior is due to the compactness of the gauge group.Generally this book is divided into two main parts: the first part mainly deals with the “classical” discovery of chaos in gauge field theory while the second part presents methods and research achievements in recent years. One chapter is devoted entirely to the presentation and discussion of computational problems. The major theme, returning again and again throughout the book, is of course the phenomenon with a thousand faces — chaos itself.This book is intended to be a research book which introduces the reader to a new research field, presenting the basic new ideas in detail but just briefly touching on the problems of other related fields, like perturbative or lattice gauge theory, or dissipative chaos. The terminology of these related fields are, however, used.Exercises are also included in this book. They deepen the reader's understanding of special issues and at the same time offer more information on related problems. For the convenience of the fast reader, solutions are presented right after the problems.




The Dawning of Gauge Theory


Book Description

During the course of this century, gauge invariance has slowly emerged from being an incidental symmetry of electromagnetism to being a fundamental geometrical principle underlying the four known fundamental physical interactions. The development has been in two stages. In the first stage (1916-1956) the geometrical significance of gauge-invariance gradually came to be appreciated and the original abelian gauge-invariance of electromagnetism was generalized to non-abelian gauge invariance. In the second stage (1960-1975) it was found that, contrary to first appearances, the non-abelian gauge-theories provided exactly the framework that was needed to describe the nuclear interactions (both weak and strong) and thus provided a universal framework for describing all known fundamental interactions. In this work, Lochlainn O'Raifeartaigh describes the former phase. O'Raifeartaigh first illustrates how gravitational theory and quantum mechanics played crucial roles in the reassessment of gauge theory as a geometric principle and as a framework for describing both electromagnetism and gravitation. He then describes how the abelian electromagnetic gauge-theory was generalized to its present non-abelian form. The development is illustrated by including a selection of relevant articles, many of them appearing here for the first time in English, notably by Weyl, Schrodinger, Klein, and London in the pre-war years, and by Pauli, Shaw, Yang-Mills, and Utiyama after the war. The articles illustrate that the reassessment of gauge-theory, due in a large measure to Weyl, constituted a major philosophical as well as technical advance.




Gauge Fields, Knots And Gravity


Book Description

This is an introduction to the basic tools of mathematics needed to understand the relation between knot theory and quantum gravity. The book begins with a rapid course on manifolds and differential forms, emphasizing how these provide a proper language for formulating Maxwell's equations on arbitrary spacetimes. The authors then introduce vector bundles, connections and curvature in order to generalize Maxwell theory to the Yang-Mills equations. The relation of gauge theory to the newly discovered knot invariants such as the Jones polynomial is sketched. Riemannian geometry is then introduced in order to describe Einstein's equations of general relativity and show how an attempt to quantize gravity leads to interesting applications of knot theory.




Instantons in Gauge Theories


Book Description

This volume is a compilation of works which, taken together, give a complete and consistent presentation of instanton calculus in non-Abelian gauge theories, as it exists now. Some of the papers reproduced are instanton classics. Among other things, they show from a historical perspective how the instanton solution has been found, the motivation behind it and how the physical meaning of instantons has been revealed. Other papers are devoted to different aspects of instanton formalism including instantons in supersymmetric gauge theories. A few unsolved problems associated with instantons are described in great detail. The papers are organized into several sections that are linked both logically and historically, accompanied by extensive comments.




Group Theoretical Methods in Physics


Book Description

This book discusses group theoretical methods and their applications in physics, chemistry, and biology. It covers traditional subjects including Lie group and representation theory, special functions, foundations of quantum mechanics, and elementary particle, nuclear, atomic, and molecular physics. More recent areas discussed are supersymmetry, superstrings and quantum gravity, integrability, nonlinear systems and quantum chaos, semigroups, time asymmetry and resonances, condensed matter, and statistical physics. Topics such as linear and nonlinear optics, quantum computing, discrete systems, and signal analysis have only in the last few years become part of the group theorists' turf.