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BF Theory
The BF model or BF theory is a topological field, which when quantized, becomes a topological quantum field theory. BF stands for background field B and F, as can be seen below, are also the variables appearing in the Lagrangian of the theory, which is helpful as a mnemonic device. We have a 4-dimensional differentiable manifold M, a gauge group G, which has as "dynamical" fields a 2-form B taking values in the adjoint representation of G, and a connection form A for G. The action is given by :S=\int_M K mathbf\wedge \mathbf/math> where K is an invariant nondegenerate bilinear form over \mathfrak (if G is semisimple, the Killing form will do) and F is the curvature form :\mathbf\equiv d\mathbf+\mathbf\wedge \mathbf This action is diffeomorphically invariant and gauge invariant. Its Euler–Lagrange equations are :\mathbf=0 (no curvature) and :d_\mathbf\mathbf=0 (the covariant exterior derivative of B is zero). In fact, it is always possible to gauge away any local deg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Field (physics)
In physics, a field is a physical quantity, represented by a scalar (mathematics), scalar, vector (mathematics and physics), vector, or tensor, that has a value for each Point (geometry), point in Spacetime, space and time. For example, on a weather map, the surface temperature is described by assigning a real number, number to each point on the map; the temperature can be considered at a certain point in time or over some interval of time, to study the dynamics of temperature change. A surface wind map, assigning an vector (mathematics and physics), arrow to each point on a map that describes the wind velocity, speed and direction at that point, is an example of a vector field, i.e. a 1-dimensional (rank-1) tensor field. Field theories, mathematical descriptions of how field values change in space and time, are ubiquitous in physics. For instance, the electric field is another rank-1 tensor field, while electrodynamics can be formulated in terms of Mathematical descriptions of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diffeomorphism
In mathematics, a diffeomorphism is an isomorphism of smooth manifolds. It is an invertible function that maps one differentiable manifold to another such that both the function and its inverse are differentiable. Definition Given two manifolds M and N, a differentiable map f \colon M \rightarrow N is called a diffeomorphism if it is a bijection and its inverse f^ \colon N \rightarrow M is differentiable as well. If these functions are r times continuously differentiable, f is called a C^r-diffeomorphism. Two manifolds M and N are diffeomorphic (usually denoted M \simeq N) if there is a diffeomorphism f from M to N. They are C^r-diffeomorphic if there is an r times continuously differentiable bijective map between them whose inverse is also r times continuously differentiable. Diffeomorphisms of subsets of manifolds Given a subset X of a manifold M and a subset Y of a manifold N, a function f:X\to Y is said to be smooth if for all p in X there is a neighbor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spin Foam
In physics, the topological structure of spinfoam or spin foam consists of two-dimensional faces representing a configuration required by functional integration to obtain a Feynman's path integral description of quantum gravity. These structures are employed in loop quantum gravity as a version of quantum foam. In loop quantum gravity The covariant formulation of loop quantum gravity provides the best formulation of the dynamics of the theory of quantum gravity – a quantum field theory where the invariance under diffeomorphisms of general relativity applies. The resulting path integral represents a sum over all the possible configurations of spin foam. Spin network A spin network is a one-dimensional graph, together with labels on its vertices and edges which encode aspects of a spatial geometry. A spin network is defined as a diagram like the Feynman diagram which makes a basis of connections between the elements of a differentiable manifold for the Hilbert spaces d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plebanski Action
General relativity and supergravity in all dimensions meet each other at a common assumption: :''Any configuration space can be coordinatized by gauge fields A^i_a, where the index i is a Lie algebra index and a is a spatial manifold index.'' Using these assumptions one can construct an effective field theory in low energies for both. In this form the action of general relativity can be written in the form of the Plebanski action which can be constructed using the Palatini action to derive Einstein's field equations of general relativity. The form of the action introduced by Plebanski is: :S_ = \int_ \epsilon_ B^ \wedge F^ (A^i_a) + \phi_ B^ \wedge B^ where i, j, l, k are internal indices,F is a curvature on the orthogonal group SO(3, 1) and the connection variables (the gauge fields) are denoted by A^i_a. The symbol \phi_ is the Lagrangian multiplier and :\epsilon_ is the antisymmetric symbol valued over SO(3, 1). The specific definition :B^ = e^i \wedge e^j f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dual Graviton
In theoretical physics, the dual graviton is a hypothetical elementary particle that is a dual of the graviton under electric-magnetic duality, as an S-duality, predicted by some formulations of supergravity in eleven dimensions. The dual graviton was first hypothesized in 1980. It was theoretically modeled in 2000s, which was then predicted in eleven-dimensional mathematics of SO(8) supergravity in the framework of electric-magnetic duality. It again emerged in the ''E''11 generalized geometry in eleven dimensions, and the ''E''7 generalized vielbein-geometry in eleven dimensions. While there is no local coupling between graviton and dual graviton, the field introduced by dual graviton may be coupled to a BF model as non-local gravitational fields in extra dimensions. A ''massive'' dual gravity of Ogievetsky–Polubarinov model can be obtained by coupling the dual graviton field to the curl of its own energy-momentum tensor. The previously mentioned theories of dual gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barrett–Crane Model
The Barrett–Crane model is a model in quantum gravity, first published in 1998, which was defined using the Plebanski action. The B field in the action is supposed to be a so(3, 1)-valued 2-form, i.e. taking values in the Lie algebra of a special orthogonal group. The term :B^ \wedge B^ in the action has the same symmetries as it does to provide the Einstein–Hilbert action. But the form of :B^ is not unique and can be posed by the different forms: *\pm e^i \wedge e^j *\pm \epsilon^ e_k \wedge e_l where e^i is the tetrad and \epsilon^ is the antisymmetric symbol of the so(3, 1)-valued 2-form fields. The Plebanski action can be constrained to produce the BF model which is a theory of no local degrees of freedom. John W. Barrett and Louis Crane modeled the analogous constraint on the summation over spin foam. The Barrett–Crane model on spin foam quantizes the Plebanski action, but its path integral amplitude corresponds to the degenerate B field and not the specif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Background Field Method
In theoretical physics, background field method is a useful procedure to calculate the effective action of a quantum field theory by expanding a quantum field around a classical "background" value ''B'': : \phi(x) = B(x) + \eta (x). After this is done, the Green's functions are evaluated as a function of the background. This approach has the advantage that the gauge invariance is manifestly preserved if the approach is applied to gauge theory. Method We typically want to calculate expressions like : Z[J] = \int \mathcal D \phi \exp\left(\mathrm \int \mathrm^d x (\mathcal L [\phi(x)] + J(x) \phi(x))\right) where ''J''(''x'') is a source, \mathcal L(x) is the Lagrangian density of the system, ''d'' is the number of dimensions and \phi(x) is a field. In the background field method, one starts by splitting this field into a classical background field ''B''(''x'') and a field η(''x'') containing additional quantum fluctuations: : \phi(x) = B(x) + \eta(x) \,. Typically, ''B''(''x'') ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linking Number
In mathematics, the linking number is a numerical invariant that describes the linking of two closed curves in three-dimensional space. Intuitively, the linking number represents the number of times that each curve winds around the other. In Euclidean space, the linking number is always an integer, but may be positive or negative depending on the orientation of the two curves (this is not true for curves in most 3-manifolds, where linking numbers can also be fractions or just not exist at all). The linking number was introduced by Gauss in the form of the linking integral. It is an important object of study in knot theory, algebraic topology, and differential geometry, and has numerous applications in mathematics and science, including quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, and the study of DNA supercoiling. Definition Any two closed curves in space, if allowed to pass through themselves but not each other, can be moved into exactly one of the following standard positions. Thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Witten
Edward Witten (born August 26, 1951) is an American mathematical and theoretical physicist. He is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Witten is a researcher in string theory, quantum gravity, supersymmetric quantum field theories, and other areas of mathematical physics. Witten's work has also significantly impacted pure mathematics. In 1990, he became the first physicist to be awarded a Fields Medal by the International Mathematical Union, for his mathematical insights in physics, such as his 1981 proof of the positive energy theorem in general relativity, and his interpretation of the Jones invariants of knots as Feynman integrals. He is considered the practical founder of M-theory.Duff 1998, p. 65 Early life and education Witten was born on August 26, 1951, in Baltimore, Maryland, to a Jewish family. He is the son of Lorraine (née Wollach) Witten and Louis Witten, a theoretical physicist specializing in gra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robbert Dijkgraaf
Robertus Henricus "Robbert" Dijkgraaf Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (Help:IPA for Dutch, Dutch: [ ]; born 24 January 1960) is a Dutch mathematical physics, theoretical physicist, mathematician and string theory, string theorist, and the current Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Netherlands), Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Netherlands. From July 2012 until his inauguration as minister in January 2022, he had been the director and Leon Levy professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and a full professor, tenured professor at the University of Amsterdam. Early life and education Robertus Henricus Dijkgraaf was born on 24 January 1960 in Ridderkerk, Netherlands. Dijkgraaf attended the Erasmiaans Gymnasium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He started his education in physics at Utrecht University in 1978. After completing his Candidate (degree), candidate's degree (equivalent to Bachelor of Science, BSc degree) in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Covariant Exterior Derivative
In the mathematical field of differential geometry, the exterior covariant derivative is an extension of the notion of exterior derivative to the setting of a differentiable principal bundle or vector bundle with a connection. Definition Let ''G'' be a Lie group and be a principal ''G''-bundle on a smooth manifold ''M''. Suppose there is a connection on ''P''; this yields a natural direct sum decomposition T_u P = H_u \oplus V_u of each tangent space into the horizontal and vertical subspaces. Let h: T_u P \to H_u be the projection to the horizontal subspace. If ''ϕ'' is a ''k''-form on ''P'' with values in a vector space ''V'', then its exterior covariant derivative ''Dϕ'' is a form defined by :D\phi(v_0, v_1,\dots, v_k)= d \phi(h v_0 ,h v_1,\dots, h v_k) where ''v''''i'' are tangent vectors to ''P'' at ''u''. Suppose that is a representation of ''G'' on a vector space ''V''. If ''ϕ'' is equivariant in the sense that :R_g^* \phi = \rho(g)^\phi where R_g(u) = ug, then ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euler–Lagrange Equation
In the calculus of variations and classical mechanics, the Euler–Lagrange equations are a system of second-order ordinary differential equations whose solutions are stationary points of the given action functional. The equations were discovered in the 1750s by Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler and Italian mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange. Because a differentiable functional is stationary at its local extrema, the Euler–Lagrange equation is useful for solving optimization problems in which, given some functional, one seeks the function minimizing or maximizing it. This is analogous to Fermat's theorem in calculus, stating that at any point where a differentiable function attains a local extremum its derivative is zero. In Lagrangian mechanics, according to Hamilton's principle of stationary action, the evolution of a physical system is described by the solutions to the Euler equation for the action of the system. In this context Euler equations are usually called Lagrange ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
