No Arabic abstract
We investigate the combined effects of boundaries and topology on the vacuum expectation values (VEVs) of the charge and current densities for a massive 2D fermionic field confined on a conical ring threaded by a magnetic flux. Different types of boundary conditions on the ring edges are considered for fields realizing two inequivalent irreducible representations of the Clifford algebra. The related bound states and zero energy fermionic modes are discussed. The edge contributions to the VEVs of the charge and azimuthal current densities are explicitly extracted and their behavior in various asymptotic limits is considered. On the ring edges the azimuthal current density is equal to the charge density or has an opposite sign. We show that the absolute values of the charge and current densities increase with increasing planar angle deficit. Depending on the boundary conditions, the VEVs are continuous or discontinuous at half-integer values of the ratio of the effective magnetic flux to the flux quantum. The discontinuity is related to the presence of the zero energy mode. By combining the results for the fields realizing the irreducible representations of the Clifford algebra, the charge and current densities are studied in parity and time-reversal symmetric fermionic models. If the boundary conditions and the phases in quasiperiodicity conditions for separate fields are the same the total charge density vanishes. Applications are given to graphitic cones with edges (conical ribbons).
The fermion condensate (FC) is investigated for a (2+1)-dimensional massive fermionic field confined on a truncated cone with an arbitrary planar angle deficit and threaded by a magnetic flux. Different combinations of the boundary conditions are imposed on the edges of the cone. They include the bag boundary condition as a special case. By using the generalized Abel-Plana-type summation formula for the series over the eigenvalues of the radial quantum number, the edge-induced contributions in the FC are explicitly extracted. The FC is an even periodic function of the magnetic flux with the period equal to the flux quantum. Depending on the boundary conditions, the condensate can be either positive or negative. For a massless field the FC in the boundary-free conical geometry vanishes and the nonzero contributions are purely edge-induced effects. This provides a mechanism for time-reversal symmetry breaking in the absence of magnetic fields. Combining the results for the fields corresponding to two inequivalent irreducible representations of the Clifford algebra, the FC is investigated in the parity and time-reversal symmetric fermionic models and applications are discussed for graphitic cones.
We investigate combined effects of nontrivial topology, induced by a cosmic string, and boundaries on the fermionic condensate and the vacuum expectation value (VEV) of the energy-momentum tensor for a massive fermionic field. As geometry of boundaries we consider two plates perpendicular to the string axis on which the field is constrained by the MIT bag boundary condition. By using the Abel-Plana type summation formula, the VEVs in the region between the plates are decomposed into the boundary-free and boundary-induced contributions for general case of the planar angle deficit. The boundary-induced parts in both the fermionic condensate and the energy-momentum tensor vanish on the cosmic string. Fermionic condensate is positive near the string and negative al large distances, whereas the vacuum energy density is negative everywhere. The radial stress is equal to the energy density. For a massless field, the boundary-induced contribution in the VEV of the energy-momentum tensor is different from zero in the region between the plates only and it does not depend on the coordinate along the string axis. In the region between the plates and at large distances from the string, the decay of the topological part is exponential for both massive and massless fields. This behavior is in contrast to that for the VEV of the energy-momentum tensor in the boundary-free geometry with the power law decay for a massless field. The vacuum pressure on the plates is inhomogeneous and vanishes at the location of the string. The corresponding Casimir forces are attractive.
We derive a closed expression for the vacuum expectation value (VEV) of the fermionic current density in a (D+1)-dimensional locally AdS spacetime with an arbitrary number of toroidally compactified Poincare spatial dimensions and in the presence of a constant gauge field. The latter can be formally interpreted in terms of a magnetic flux treading the compact dimensions. In the compact subspace, the field operator obeys quasiperiodicity conditions with arbitrary phases. The VEV of the charge density is zero and the current density has nonzero components along the compact dimensions only. They are periodic functions of the magnetic flux with the period equal to the flux quantum and tend to zero on the AdS boundary. Near the horizon, the effect of the background gravitational field is small and the leading term in the corresponding asymptotic expansion coincides with the VEV for a massless field in the locally Minkowski bulk. Unlike the Minkowskian case, in the system consisting an equal number of fermionic and scalar degrees of freedom, with same masses, charges and phases in the periodicity conditions, the total current density does not vanish. In these systems, the leading divergences in the scalar and fermionic contributions on the horizon are canceled and, as a consequence of that, the charge flux, integrated over the coordinate perpendicular to the AdS boundary, becomes finite. We show that in odd spacetime dimensions the fermionic fields realizing two inequivalent representations of the Clifford algebra and having equal phases in the periodicity conditions give the same contribution to the VEV of the current density. Combining the contributions from these fields, the current density in odd-dimensional C-,P- and T -symmetric models are obtained. As an application, we consider the ground state current density in curved carbon nanotubes.
The Casimir effect arises from the zero-point energy of particles in momentum space deformed by the existence of two parallel plates. For degrees of freedom on the lattice, its energy-momentum dispersion is determined so as to keep a periodicity within the Brillouin zone, so that its Casimir effect is modified. We study the properties of Casimir effect for lattice fermions, such as the naive fermion, Wilson fermion, and overlap fermion based on the Mobius domain-wall fermion formulation, in the $1+1$-, $2+1$-, and $3+1$-dimensional space-time with the periodic or antiperiodic boundary condition. An oscillatory behavior of Casimir energy between odd and even lattice size is induced by the contribution of ultraviolet-momentum (doubler) modes, which realizes in the naive fermion, Wilson fermion in a negative mass, and overlap fermions with a large domain-wall height. Our findings can be experimentally observed in condensed matter systems such as topological insulators and also numerically measured in lattice simulations.
We investigate the influence of a brane on the vacuum expectation value (VEV) of the current density for a charged fermionic field in background of locally AdS spacetime with an arbitrary number of toroidally compact dimensions and in the presence of a constant gauge field. Along compact dimensions the field operator obeys quasiperiodicity conditions with arbitrary phases and on the brane it is constrained by the bag boundary condition. The VEVs for the charge density and the components of the current density along uncompact dimensions vanish. The components along compact dimensions are decomposed into the brane-free and brane-induced contributions. The behavior of the latter in various asymptotic regions of the parameters is investigated. It particular, it is shown that the brane-induced contribution is mainly located near the brane and vanishes on the AdS boundary and on the horizon. An important feature is the finiteness of the current density on the brane. Applications are given to $Z_2$-symmetric braneworlds of the Randall-Sundrum type with compact dimensions for two classes of boundary conditions on the fermionic field. In the special case of three-dimensional spacetime, the corresponding results are applied for the investigation of the edge effects on the ground state current density induced in curved graphene tubes by an enclosed magnetic flux.