Search results for "theoretical physics"
showing 10 items of 751 documents
Rigour and Rigidity: Systematics on particle physics D6-brane models on Z(2)xZ(6)
2014
We launch a systematic search for phenomenologically appealing string vacua with intersecting D-branes on the promising T6/Z(2)xZ(6)xOR orientifold with discrete torsion. The number of independent background lattices is reduced from six to two by new symmetries. The occurrence of USp(2N) and SO(2N) versus U(N) gauge groups is classified as well as D-branes without matter in the adjoint and/or symmetric representation. Supersymmetric fractional D6-branes allowing for RR tadpole cancellation are fully classified in terms of all possible values of the one complex structure modulus inherited from the underlying six-torus. We then systematically investigate the conditions for three particle gene…
Ghosts in metric-affine higher order curvature gravity
2019
We disprove the widespread belief that higher order curvature theories of gravity in the metric-affine formalism are generally ghost-free. This is clarified by considering a sub-class of theories constructed only with the Ricci tensor and showing that the non-projectively invariant sector propagates ghost-like degrees of freedom. We also explain how these pathologies can be avoided either by imposing a projective symmetry or additional constraints in the gravity sector. Our results put forward that higher order curvature gravity theories generally remain pathological in the metric-affine (and hybrid) formalisms and highlight the key importance of the projective symmetry and/or additional co…
Impact of curvature divergences on physical observers in a wormhole space-time with horizons
2016
The impact of curvature divergences on physical observers in a black hole space-time which, nonetheless, is geodesically complete is investigated. This space-time is an exact solution of certain extensions of General Relativity coupled to Maxwell's electrodynamics and, roughly speaking, consists on two Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m (or Schwarzschild or Minkowski) geometries connected by a spherical wormhole near the center. We find that, despite the existence of infinite tidal forces, causal contact is never lost among the elements making up the observer. This suggests that curvature divergences may not be as pathological as traditionally thought.
The Holographic Interpretation of Hawking Radiation
2007
Holography gives us a tool to view the Hawking effect from a new, classical perspective. In the context of Randall-Sundrum braneworld models, we show that the basic features of four-dimensional evaporating solutions are nicely translated into classical five-dimensional language. This includes the dual bulk description of particles tunneling through the horizon.
En route to Background Independence: Broken split-symmetry, and how to restore it with bi-metric average actions
2014
The most momentous requirement a quantum theory of gravity must satisfy is Background Independence, necessitating in particular an ab initio derivation of the arena all non-gravitational physics takes place in, namely spacetime. Using the background field technique, this requirement translates into the condition of an unbroken split-symmetry connecting the (quantized) metric fluctuations to the (classical) background metric. If the regularization scheme used violates split-symmetry during the quantization process it is mandatory to restore it in the end at the level of observable physics. In this paper we present a detailed investigation of split-symmetry breaking and restoration within the…
Einstein-Cartan gravity, Asymptotic Safety, and the running Immirzi parameter
2013
In this paper we analyze the functional renormalization group flow of quantum gravity on the Einstein-Cartan theory space. The latter consists of all action functionals depending on the spin connection and the vielbein field (co-frame) which are invariant under both spacetime diffeomorphisms and local frame rotations. In the first part of the paper we develop a general methodology and corresponding calculational tools which can be used to analyze the flow equation for the pertinent effective average action for any truncation of this theory space. In the second part we apply it to a specific three-dimensional truncated theory space which is parametrized by Newton's constant, the cosmological…
The quantum, the geon, and the crystal
2015
Effective geometries arising from a hypothetical discrete structure of space-time can play an important role in the understanding of the gravitational physics beyond General Relativity. To discuss this question, we make use of lessons from crystalline systems within solid state physics, where the presence of defects in the discrete microstructure of the crystal determine the kind of effective geometry needed to properly describe the system in the macroscopic continuum limit. In this work we study metric-affine theories with non-metricity and torsion, which are the gravitational analog of crystalline structures with point defects and dislocations. We consider a crystal-motivated gravitationa…
Locality, QED and classical electrodynamics
1998
We report on some conceptual changes in our present understanding of Quantum Field Theory and muse about possible consequences for the understanding of $v>c$ signals.
Negative S parameter from holographic technicolor.
2006
We present a new class of 5D models, Holographic Technicolor, which fulfills the basic requirements for a candidate of comprehensible 4D strong dynamics at the electroweak scale. It is the first Technicolor-like model able to provide a vanishing or even negative tree-level S parameter, avoiding any no-go theorem on its sign. The model is described in the large-N regime. S is therefore computable: possible corrections coming from boundary terms follow the 1/N suppression, and generation of fermion masses and the S parameter issue do split up. We investigate the model's 4D dual, probably walking Technicolor-like with a large anomalous dimension.
Computing the full two-loop gluon Regge trajectory within Lipatov's high energy effective action
2013
We discuss computational details of our recent result, namely, the first derivation of the two-loop gluon Regge trajectory within the framework of Lipatov's high energy effective action. In particular, we elaborate on the direct evaluation of Feynman two-loop diagrams by using the Mellin-Barnes representations technique. Our result is in precise agreement with previous computations in the literature, providing this way a highly non-trivial test of the effective action and the proposed subtraction and renormalization scheme combined with our approach for the treatment of the loop diagrams.