Ads/CFT Correspondence

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Ads/CFT Correspondence AdS/CFT Correspondence GEORGE SIOPSIS Department of Physics and Astronomy The University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 37996-1200 U.S.A. e-mail: [email protected] Notes by James Kettner Fall 2010 ii Contents 1 Path Integral 1 1.1 Quantum Mechanics ........................ 1 1.2 Statistical Mechanics ........................ 3 1.3 Thermodynamics .......................... 4 1.3.1 Canonical ensemble . 4 1.3.2 Microcanonical ensemble . 4 1.4 Field Theory ............................. 4 2 Schwarzschild Black Hole 7 3 Reissner-Nordstrom¨ Black Holes 11 3.1 The holes . 11 3.2 Extremal limit . 13 3.3 Generalizations . 15 3.3.1 Multi-center solution . 15 3.3.2 Arbitrary dimension . 16 3.3.3 Kaluza-Klein reduction . 17 4 Black Branes from String Theory 19 5 Microscopic calculation of Entropy and Hawking Radiation 23 5.1 The hole . 23 5.2 Entropy . 25 5.3 Finite temperature . 27 5.4 Scattering and Hawking radiation . 29 iii iv CONTENTS LECTURE 1 Path Integral 1.1 Quantum Mechanics Set ~ = 1. Given a particle described by coordinates (q, t) with initial and final coor- dinates of (qi, ti) and (qf , tf ), the amplitude of the transition is ∗ hqi, ti | qf , tf i = hψ |qf , tf i = ψ (qf , tf ) . where ψ satisfies the Schrodinger¨ equation ∂ψ 1 ∂2ψ i = − . ∂t 2m ∂q2 Feynman introduced the path integral formalism Z −iS hqi, ti | qf , tf i = [dq] e q(ti)=qi,q(tf )=qf R where S = dtL is the action and L = L(q, q˙) is the Lagrangian, e.g., 1 L = mq˙2 − V (q) 2 We convert to imaginary time via the Wick rotation τ = it so 1 L → − mq˙2 − V (q) ≡ −L 2 E where the derivative is with respect to τ, LE is the total energy (which is bounded Rbelow), and the subscript E stands for Euclidean. The action becomes iS → SE = dτLE so the path integral becomes Z [dq] e−SE . 2 LECTURE 1. PATH INTEGRAL The major contribution to the path integral’s value comes from minimum SE, i.e., δS = 0 i.e., from the classical trajectory q = qcl(τ). Consider a perturbation of the classical trajectory q(τ) = qcl (τ) + δq (τ) S = S + ... Z cl Z [dq] e−SE = e−Scl [dq] e− ... −Scl hqi, ti | qf , tf i ≈ e The correlators are Z −SE hqi,τ i |T [q (τ 1) q (τ 2) ··· ]| qf,τ f i = [dq] q (τ 1) q (τ 2) ··· e q(τ i)=qi,q(τ f )=qf (1.1.1) where T denotes a time ordered product. Notice that the path integral automatically takes care of time ordering. This can easily be seen by splitting the path integral into time intervals bounded by τ 1, τ 2, ... We are interested in the vacuum expectation values G(τ 1, τ 2,... ) = h0 |T [q (τ 1) q (τ 2) ··· ]| 0i . (1.1.2) To write them in terms of a path integral, notice that by using the time evolution oper- ator, we have −τ f H |qf , τ f i = e |qf , 0i (1.1.3) where H is the Hamiltonian with eigenstatesP|ni; H |ni = En |ni and we take E0 = 0 (not necessary). Inserting the identity I = states |ni hn| in equation (1.1.3), X −τ f En |qf , τ f i = e |ni hn | qf , 0i states we see that in the limit τ f → ∞, all terms but one vanish. Therefore, |qf , τ f i → |0i h0 | qf , 0i Similarly, hqi, τ i| → hqi, 0 | 0i h0| as τ i → −∞. Substituting these limiting expres- sions into equation (1.1.1) gives R −SE h0 |T [q (τ 1) q (τ 2) ··· ]| 0i hqi, 0 | 0i h0 | qf , 0i = [dq] q (τ 1) q (τ 2) ... e R h0 | 0i hq, 0 | 0i h0 | q, 0i = [dq] e−SE R [dq]q(τ )q(τ ) ... e−SE G(τ , τ ,... ) = R 1 2 1 2 [dq]e−SE where we integrate over all trajectories q(τ) with τ ∈ (−∞, +∞) and no specified end points. 1.2 Statistical Mechanics 3 1.2 Statistical Mechanics Set the Boltzmann constant kB = 1. Denote temperature by T ≥ 0; At T = 0 the system settles in the ground state. Vacuum expectation values correspond to T = 0. To study finite T , introduce the partition function X Z = e−En/T states D ¯ ¯ E X ¯ ¯ = n ¯e−H/T ¯ n states X ³ ´ = Tr e−H/T |ni hn| states³ ´ = Tr e−H/T Z D ¯ ¯ E ¯ ¯ = dq q, 0 ¯e−H/T ¯ q, 0 Z = dq hq, 0 | q, 1/T i Z Z = dq [dq0] e−SE 0 0 Z q (0)=q (1/T )=q = [dq] e−SE q(0)=q(1/T ) Therefore, the partition function is given by a path integral over periodic orbits of period 1/T . 1 2 Example 1 Quantum mechanics: consider a free particle V = 0 and L = 2 mq˙ . Then using path integrals r m 2 −m(qf −qi) /2(τ f −τ i) hqi, ti | qf , tf i = e 2π(τ f − τ i) Example 2 Statistical mechanics: Set τ i = 0, τ f = 1/T , and qi = qf = q. Z r mT Z = dq which is infinite so put thesystem in a box 2π r mT = V where V is the volume (length). 2π which is the same as Z ∞ dp 2 Z = V e−p /2m 2π r−∞ mT = V . 2π 4 LECTURE 1. PATH INTEGRAL 1.3 Thermodynamics 1.3.1 Canonical ensemble Expand the partition function around the classical trajectory to get Z = e−Scl+ ... = e−F/T where F is the Helmholtz free energy so F = SclT. 1 −En/T The probability of a state |ni is pn = Z e . The internal energy is U = hEi X = pnEn states ∂ (ln Z) = T 2 ∂T The entropy is X ∂ (ln Z) U F S = p ln p = T − ln Z = − n n ∂T T T states which means F = U − TS. 1.3.2 Microcanonical ensemble The microcanonical ensemble is isolated from its environment. The number of states with a given energy E is given by the multiplicity g(E) = eS(E), i.e., the entropy counts the number of different states. X Z = e−E/T g(E) energy levels −E0/T ≈ g(E0)e = eS(E0)−E0/T ∂S 1 where E0 maximizes S(E) − E/T . We deduce ∂E = T . 1.4 Field Theory µ Set the speed of light c = 1. Let x = (t, x) be the positionR 4-vector. Consider a real 4 field ϕ(x) with dynamics governed by the actionR S = d xL where L (∂µϕ, ϕ) is the Lagrangian density; the Lagrangian is L = d3xL. Use the Wick rotation τ = it so 1.4 Field Theory 5 2 2 2 2 2 2 ds = −dt + dx = dτ + dx = dsE (Euclidean continuation). The correlation functions or Green functions are G(x , x ,... ) = h0 |T (ϕ(x )ϕ(x ) ··· )| 0i 1 2 R 1 2 [dϕ] ϕ (x ) ϕ (x ) ··· e−SE = R 1 2 [dϕ] e−SE as before. Taking an arbitrary function J as a source current, the generating functional is given by Z ³ ´ R 4 Z [J] = [dϕ] e−SE + d xJϕ and ¯ ¯ δ δ ¯ G(x1, x2.... ) = ··· Z [J] ¯ (1.4.1) δJ(x1) δJ(x2) J=0 Example 3 For a free field of mass m, 1 1 L = (∂ φ)2 + m2φ2 + Jφ E 2 µ 2 The classical field equation is the Klein-Gordon equation 2 2 −∇ φcl + m φcl = J Writing a quantum field as φ = φcl + δφ we obtain Z (2) 4 SE = Scl + S (δφ) ,Scl = d LE(∂clµ, φcl) Notice that there is no linear terms, because it is proportional to the field equation. Then Z[J] = e−Scl where we omitted a constant which was independent of J. We have Z 1 S = d4xd4x0J(x)D (x, x0)J(x0) cl 2 E where DE is the propagator, 2 2 0 4 0 (−∇ + m )DE(x, x ) = δ (x − x ) Using (1.4.1), we easily deduce G(x1, x2) = DE(x1, x2) You are invited to check that this is still valid when interactions are included. 6 LECTURE 1. PATH INTEGRAL LECTURE 2 Schwarzschild Black Hole Spacetime is provided with a metric tensor gµν so that a line element has length 2 µ ν ds = gµν dx dx 2 2 2 3 In flat spacetime, ds = −dt + dx (x ∈ R ), so gµν = ηµν = diag(−1 1 1 1) as a matrix. We denote the determinant of gµν by g. The Einstein equations are ½ 1 0 , with just gravity not matter R − Rg = . µν 2 µν source , in the presence of matter ν µ Rµν is the Ricci tensor (the contracted curvature tensor Rµνρ) and R = Rµ (its trace) 1 is the Ricci scalar. Rµν − 2 Rgµν = 0 arises from the action Z 1 √ S = d4x −gR. 16πG If we take the trace of the Einstein equation in empty space, we get 1 Rµ − Rgµ = 0 µ 2 µ which implies R = 0 so Rµν = 0. Schwarzschild found the solution dr2 ds2 = −f(r)dt2 + + r2dΩ2 f(r) 2 2 2 2 2 2 where dΩ2 = dθ + sin θdϕ is the line element on the sphere S and 2GM f(r) = 1 − r Where do G and M come from? Compare to electromagnetism with Maxwell’s equations without currents µν ∂µF = 0. 8 LECTURE 2: Schwarzschild Black Hole 2 Q Its simplest symmetric solution is Aµ = (A0, 0) with ∇ A0 = 0 so A = r , i.e.
Recommended publications
  • Path Integrals in Quantum Mechanics
    Path Integrals in Quantum Mechanics Dennis V. Perepelitsa MIT Department of Physics 70 Amherst Ave. Cambridge, MA 02142 Abstract We present the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics and demon- strate its equivalence to the Schr¨odinger picture. We apply the method to the free particle and quantum harmonic oscillator, investigate the Euclidean path integral, and discuss other applications. 1 Introduction A fundamental question in quantum mechanics is how does the state of a particle evolve with time? That is, the determination the time-evolution ψ(t) of some initial | i state ψ(t ) . Quantum mechanics is fully predictive [3] in the sense that initial | 0 i conditions and knowledge of the potential occupied by the particle is enough to fully specify the state of the particle for all future times.1 In the early twentieth century, Erwin Schr¨odinger derived an equation specifies how the instantaneous change in the wavefunction d ψ(t) depends on the system dt | i inhabited by the state in the form of the Hamiltonian. In this formulation, the eigenstates of the Hamiltonian play an important role, since their time-evolution is easy to calculate (i.e. they are stationary). A well-established method of solution, after the entire eigenspectrum of Hˆ is known, is to decompose the initial state into this eigenbasis, apply time evolution to each and then reassemble the eigenstates. That is, 1In the analysis below, we consider only the position of a particle, and not any other quantum property such as spin. 2 D.V. Perepelitsa n=∞ ψ(t) = exp [ iE t/~] n ψ(t ) n (1) | i − n h | 0 i| i n=0 X This (Hamiltonian) formulation works in many cases.
    [Show full text]
  • Basics of Thermal Field Theory
    September 2021 Basics of Thermal Field Theory A Tutorial on Perturbative Computations 1 Mikko Lainea and Aleksi Vuorinenb aAEC, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland bDepartment of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland Abstract These lecture notes, suitable for a two-semester introductory course or self-study, offer an elemen- tary and self-contained exposition of the basic tools and concepts that are encountered in practical computations in perturbative thermal field theory. Selected applications to heavy ion collision physics and cosmology are outlined in the last chapter. 1An earlier version of these notes is available as an ebook (Springer Lecture Notes in Physics 925) at dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31933-9; a citable eprint can be found at arxiv.org/abs/1701.01554; the very latest version is kept up to date at www.laine.itp.unibe.ch/basics.pdf. Contents Foreword ........................................... i Notation............................................ ii Generaloutline....................................... iii 1 Quantummechanics ................................... 1 1.1 Path integral representation of the partition function . ....... 1 1.2 Evaluation of the path integral for the harmonic oscillator . ..... 6 2 Freescalarfields ..................................... 13 2.1 Path integral for the partition function . ... 13 2.2 Evaluation of thermal sums and their low-temperature limit . .... 16 2.3 High-temperatureexpansion. 23 3 Interactingscalarfields............................... ... 30 3.1 Principles of the weak-coupling expansion . 30 3.2 Problems of the naive weak-coupling expansion . .. 38 3.3 Proper free energy density to (λ): ultraviolet renormalization . 40 O 3 3.4 Proper free energy density to (λ 2 ): infraredresummation .
    [Show full text]
  • Euclidean Field Theory
    February 2, 2011 Euclidean Field Theory Kasper Peeters & Marija Zamaklar Lecture notes for the M.Sc. in Elementary Particle Theory at Durham University. Copyright c 2009-2011 Kasper Peeters & Marija Zamaklar Department of Mathematical Sciences University of Durham South Road Durham DH1 3LE United Kingdom http://maths.dur.ac.uk/users/kasper.peeters/eft.html [email protected] [email protected] 1 Introducing Euclidean Field Theory5 1.1 Executive summary and recommended literature............5 1.2 Path integrals and partition sums.....................7 1.3 Finite temperature quantum field theory.................8 1.4 Phase transitions and critical phenomena................ 10 2 Discrete models 15 2.1 Ising models................................. 15 2.1.1 One-dimensional Ising model................... 15 2.1.2 Two-dimensional Ising model................... 18 2.1.3 Kramers-Wannier duality and dual lattices........... 19 2.2 Kosterlitz-Thouless model......................... 21 3 Effective descriptions 25 3.1 Characterising phase transitions..................... 25 3.2 Mean field theory.............................. 27 3.3 Landau-Ginzburg.............................. 28 4 Universality and renormalisation 31 4.1 Kadanoff block scaling........................... 31 4.2 Renormalisation group flow........................ 33 4.2.1 Scaling near the critical point................... 33 4.2.2 Critical surface and universality................. 34 4.3 Momentum space flow and quantum field theory........... 35 5 Lattice gauge theory 37 5.1 Lattice action................................. 37 5.2 Wilson loops................................. 38 5.3 Strong coupling expansion and confinement.............. 39 5.4 Monopole condensation.......................... 39 3 4 1 Introducing Euclidean Field Theory 1.1. Executive summary and recommended literature This course is all about the close relation between two subjects which at first sight have very little to do with each other: quantum field theory and the theory of criti- cal statistical phenomena.
    [Show full text]
  • On Mass Interaction Principle
    On Mass Interaction Principle Chu-Jun Gu∗ Institute of Theoretical Physics, Grand Genius Group, 100085, Beijing, China 1 2 Abstract This paper proposes mass interaction principle (MIP) as: the particles will be subjected to the random frictionless quantum Brownian motion by the collision of space time particle (STP) prevalent in spacetime. The change in the amount of action of the particles during each collision is an integer multiple of the Planck constant h. The motion of particles under the action of STP is a quantum Markov process. Under this principle, we infer that the statistical inertial mass of a particle is a statistical property that characterizes the difficulty of particle diffusion in spacetime. Starting from this principle, this article has the following six aspects of work: First, we derive the mass-diffusion coefficient uncertainty and the quantized commutation, and derive the most basic coordinate-momentum uncertainty and time-energy uncertainty of quantum mechanics, and then clearly reveal the particle-wave duality, which are properties exhibited by particles collided by STP. Second, we created the three decompositions of particles velocity. The comprehensive property of three velocities deduced the equation of motion of the particle as Schrödinger equation, and made a novel interpretation of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle and Feynman’s path integral expression. And reexamine the quantum measurement problem, so that the EPR paradox can be explained in a self-consistent manner. Third, we reinterpret the physical origin of quantum spins. Each spacetime random impact not only gives the particle of matter the action of a Planck constant , but also produces the quantum fluctuation properties of the material particles.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:2006.02298V1 [Gr-Qc] 3 Jun 2020
    Lorentzian quantum cosmology in novel Gauss-Bonnet gravity from Picard-Lefschetz methods Gaurav Narain a∗ and Hai-Qing Zhang a,b† a Center for Gravitational Physics, Department of Space Science, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. b International Research Institute for Multidisciplinary Science, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China Abstract In this paper we study some aspects of classical and quantum cosmology in the novel-Gauss- Bonnet (nGB) gravity in four space-time dimensions. Starting with a generalised Friedmann- Lemaˆıtre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) metric respecting homogeneity and isotropicity in arbitrary space-time dimension D, we find the action of theory in four spacetime dimension where the limit D 4 is smoothly obtained after an integration by parts. The peculiar rescaling of Gauss-Bonnet → coupling by factor of D 4 results in a non-trivial contribution to the action. We study the system − of equation of motion to first order nGB coupling. We then go on to compute the transition probability from one 3-geometry to another directly in Lorentzian signature. We make use of combination of WKB approximation and Picard-Lefschetz (PL) theory to achieve our aim. PL theory allows to analyse the path-integral directly in Lorentzian signature without doing Wick rotation. Due to complication caused by non-linear nature of action, we compute the transition amplitude to first order in nGB coupling. We find non-trivial correction coming from the nGB coupling to the transition amplitude, even if the analysis was done perturbatively. We use this result to investigate the case of classical boundary conditions. arXiv:2006.02298v1 [gr-qc] 3 Jun 2020 ∗ [email protected][email protected] 1 I.
    [Show full text]
  • Statistical Field Theory University of Cambridge Part III Mathematical Tripos
    Preprint typeset in JHEP style - HYPER VERSION Michaelmas Term, 2017 Statistical Field Theory University of Cambridge Part III Mathematical Tripos David Tong Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge, CB3 OBA, UK http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/tong/sft.html [email protected] { 1 { Recommended Books and Resources There are a large number of books which cover the material in these lectures, although often from very different perspectives. They have titles like \Critical Phenomena", \Phase Transitions", \Renormalisation Group" or, less helpfully, \Advanced Statistical Mechanics". Here are some that I particularly like • Nigel Goldenfeld, Phase Transitions and the Renormalization Group A great book, covering the basic material that we'll need and delving deeper in places. • Mehran Kardar, Statistical Physics of Fields The second of two volumes on statistical mechanics. It cuts a concise path through the subject, at the expense of being a little telegraphic in places. It is based on lecture notes which you can find on the web; a link is given on the course website. • John Cardy, Scaling and Renormalisation in Statistical Physics A beautiful little book from one of the masters of conformal field theory. It covers the material from a slightly different perspective than these lectures, with more focus on renormalisation in real space. • Chaikin and Lubensky, Principles of Condensed Matter Physics • Shankar, Quantum Field Theory and Condensed Matter Both of these are more all-round condensed matter books, but with substantial sections on critical phenomena and the renormalisation group. Chaikin and Lubensky is more traditional, and packed full of content.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:2103.04335V2 [Quant-Ph] 29 Apr 2021 Explicit Construction of Local Hidden Variables for Any Quantum Theory up to Any
    Explicit construction of Local Hidden Variables for any quantum theory up to any desired accuracy Gerard ’t Hooft Faculty of Science, Department of Physics Institute for Theoretical Physics Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht The Netherlands e-mail: [email protected] internet: http://www.staff.science.uu.nl/˜hooft101 arXiv:2103.04335[quant-ph] v2 Abstract The machinery of quantum mechanics is fully capable of describing a single ontological world. Here we discuss the converse: in spite of appearances, and indeed numerous claims to the contrary, any quantum mechanical model can be mimicked, up to any required accuracy, by a completely classical system of equations. An implication of this observation is that Bell’s theorem can- not hold in many cases. This is explained by scrutinising Bell’s assumptions concerning causality, retrocausality, statistical (in-)dependence, and his fear of ‘conspiracy’ (there is no conspiracy in our constructions, provided that one considers only the deterministic models). The most crucial mechanism for the arXiv:2103.04335v2 [quant-ph] 29 Apr 2021 counter-intuitive Bell/CHSH violation is the fact that after every change in the settings chosen by Alice and Bob, the ontological status of the particles in the initial state must be adjusted. The potential importance of our construction in model building is discussed. 1 1 Introduction Quantum mechanics is usually perceived as being a revolutionary new theory for the interactions and dynamics of tiny particles and the forces between them. Here we propose to look at quantum mechanics in a somewhat different way. The fundamental interactions could be entirely deterministic, taking place in a world where all laws are absolute, without requiring statistics to understand what happens.
    [Show full text]
  • Lectures on Quantum Field Theory
    Lectures on Quantum Field Theory Aleksandar R. Bogojevi´c1 Institute of Physics P. O. Box 57 11000 Belgrade, Yugoslavia March, 1998 1Email: [email protected] ii Contents 1 Linearity and Combinatorics 1 1.1 Schwinger–DysonEquations. 1 1.2 GeneratingFunctionals. 3 1.3 FreeFieldTheory ........................... 6 2 Further Combinatoric Structure 7 2.1 ClassicalFieldTheory ......................... 7 2.2 TheEffectiveAction .......................... 8 2.3 PathIntegrals.............................. 10 3 Using the Path Integral 15 3.1 Semi-ClassicalExpansion . 15 3.2 WardIdentities ............................. 18 4 Fermions 21 4.1 GrassmannNumbers.......................... 21 5 Euclidean Field Theory 27 5.1 Thermodynamics ............................ 30 5.2 WickRotation ............................. 31 6 Ferromagnets and Phase Transitions 33 6.1 ModelsofFerromagnets . 33 6.2 TheMeanFieldApproximation. 34 6.3 TransferMatrices............................ 35 6.4 Landau–Ginsburg Theory . 36 6.5 TowardsLoopExpansion . 38 7 The Propagator 41 7.1 ScalarPropagator ........................... 41 7.2 RandomWalk.............................. 43 iii iv CONTENTS 8 The Propagator Continued 47 8.1 The Yukawa Potential . 47 8.2 VirtualParticles ............................ 49 9 From Operators to Path Integrals 53 9.1 HamiltonianPathIntegral. 53 9.2 LagrangianPathIntegral . 55 9.3 QuantumFieldTheory. 57 10 Path Integral Surprises 59 10.1 Paths that don’t Contribute . 59 10.2 Lagrangian Measure from SD Equations . 62 11 Classical Symmetry 67 11.1 NoetherTechnique . 67 11.2 Energy-Momentum Tensors Galore . 70 12 Symmetry Breaking 73 12.1 GoldstoneBosons............................ 73 12.2 TheHiggsMechanism . 77 13 Effective Action to One Loop 81 13.1 TheEffectivePotential. 81 13.2 The O(N)Model............................ 86 14 Solitons 89 14.1 Perturbative vs. Semi-Classical . 89 14.2 ClassicalSolitons ............................ 90 14.3 The φ4 Kink .............................
    [Show full text]
  • Wick Rotations in Quantum Gravity
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by CERN Document Server AEI-2002-011 The Real Wick rotations in quantum gravity Arundhati Dasgupta1, Max-Planck-Institut f¨ur Gravitationsphysik, Am M¨uhlenberg 1, D-14476 Golm, Germany. We discuss Wick rotations in the context of gravity, with emphasis on a non-perturbative Wick rotation proposed in hep-th/0103186 mapping real Lorentzian metrics to real Euclidean metrics in proper-time coordinates. As an application, we demonstrate how this Wick rotation leads to a correct answer for a two dimensional non-perturbative path-integral. 1email: [email protected] 1 1 Introduction The evaluation of the path-integral for any field theory, essentially involves a rotation to Euclidean signature space-times. This renders the complex measures and oscillatory weight factors geıS real and the functional inte- gral computable. One then Wick rotatesD back in the final answer to get Lorentzian quantities, or invoke the Osterwalder-Schraeder theorems. The usual methods used for field theories in flat space-times are difficult to ex- tend to gravity as there is no distinguished notion of time. There have been attempts to define a Euclidean gravitational path-integral and relate them to Lorentzian quantities. Initially complex weights were replaced by real Boltz- mann weights and the sum performed over all possible Riemannian metrics [1]. This prescription is ad hoc as there is no apriori relation between the Lorentzian and Riemannian sums. However, if one believes that Lorentzian quantities are the relevant physical quantities, then a prescription must exist for identifying the corresponding Euclidean metrics to be summed over.
    [Show full text]
  • Wick Rotation and Supersymmetry
    TMR meeting, Paris, 1999 PROCEEDINGS Wick rotation and supersymmetry Arthur J. Mountain ∗ The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom. E-mail: [email protected] Abstract: Wick rotation of supersymmetric theories is studied. In order to do this a comprehensive prescription for the Wick rotation of spinor fields is presented. This allows the consistent Wick rotation of the supersymmetry algebra and leads eventually to the Wick rotation of supersymmetric field theories. Two complementary descriptions of the Euclidean theory are found. Either it involves “doubled” spinor fields and is manifestly covariant under the Euclidean tangent space group or the spinor fields are subject to a nonlocal projection which recovers the physical degrees of freedom but breaks the tangent space symmetry group. This procedure is then applied to the Wess-Zumino model and eleven-dimensional supergravity. 1. Introduction one can sometimes see different parts of the same theory Wick rotated in different ways. Our aim Wick rotation has its history in the regularisa- here is to present a clear prescription for Wick tion of quantum field theories. The pathR integral rotation in the presence of supersymmetry. weights paths with e−iS where S = d4xL(x)is The difficulty in performing a Wick rotation the action. Paths which correspond to large ac- on a theory containing spinors is that the rep- tion are suppressed as the exponential becomes resentations of spinors change as the signature highly oscillatory. A Wick rotation is an analytic of the spacetime changes. The Wick rotation of continuation of the time co-ordinate spinors was first considered by Osterwalder and t →−it .
    [Show full text]
  • What Comes Beyond the Standard Models Bled, July 9–17, 2017
    i i “proc17” — 2017/12/11 — 19:44 — page I — #1 i i BLEJSKE DELAVNICE IZ FIZIKE LETNIK 18, STˇ . 2 BLED WORKSHOPS IN PHYSICS VOL. 18, NO. 2 ISSN 1580-4992 Proceedings to the 20th Workshop What Comes Beyond the Standard Models Bled, July 9–17, 2017 Edited by Norma Susana MankoˇcBorˇstnik Holger Bech Nielsen Dragan Lukman DMFA – ZALOZNIˇ STVOˇ LJUBLJANA, DECEMBER 2017 i i i i i i “proc17” — 2017/12/11 — 19:44 — page II — #2 i i The 20th Workshop What Comes Beyond the Standard Models, 9.– 17. July 2017, Bled was organized by Society of Mathematicians, Physicists and Astronomers of Slovenia and sponsored by Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana Society of Mathematicians, Physicists and Astronomers of Slovenia Beyond Semiconductor (MatjaˇzBreskvar) Scientific Committee John Ellis, CERN Roman Jackiw, MIT Masao Ninomiya, Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University and Mathematical Institute, Osaka-city University Organizing Committee Norma Susana MankoˇcBorˇstnik Holger Bech Nielsen Maxim Yu. Khlopov The Members of the Organizing Committee of the International Workshop “What Comes Beyond the Standard Models”, Bled, Slovenia, state that the articles published in the Proceedings to the 20th Workshop “What Comes Beyond the Standard Models”, Bled, Slovenia are refereed at the Workshop in intense in-depth discussions. i i i i i i “proc17” — 2017/12/11 — 19:44 — page III — #3 i i Workshops organized at Bled . What Comes Beyond the Standard Models (June 29–July 9, 1998), Vol. 0 (1999) No. 1 (July 22–31, 1999) (July 17–31, 2000) (July 16–28, 2001), Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • Quantum Mechanical Path Integrals: from Transition Amplitudes to Worldline Formalism
    Preprint typeset in JHEP style Quantum Mechanical Path Integrals: from Transition Amplitudes to Worldline Formalism Lecture notes from the \School on Spinning Particles in Quantum Field Theory: Worldline Formalism, Higher Spins and Conformal Geometry," held in Morelia (Michoac´an)Mexico, 19-23 November 2012 Olindo Corradini Centro de Estudios en F´ısica y Matem´aticas Basicas y Aplicadas Universidad Aut´onomade Chiapas, Ciudad Universitaria Tuxtla Guti´errez 29050, Chiapas, Mexico Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Informatiche e Matematiche Universit`adi Modena e Reggio Emilia Via Campi 213/A, I-41125 Modena, Italy E-mail: [email protected] Abstract: The following set of lectures cover introductory material on quantum-mechanical Feynman path integrals. We define and apply the path integrals to several particles mod- els in flat space. We start considering the nonrelativistic bosonic particle in a potential for which we compute the exact path integrals for the free particle and for the harmonic oscillator and then consider perturbation theory for an arbitrary potential. We then move to relativistic particles, bosonic and fermionic (spinning) ones, and start considering them from the classical view point studying the symmetries of their actions. We then consider canonical quantization and path integrals and underline the role these models have in the study of space-time higher-spin fields. Contents 1 Introduction2 2 Path integral representation of quantum mechanical transition ampli- tude: non relativistic bosonic particle3 2.1 Wick
    [Show full text]