No Arabic abstract
In this work we present a formalism of abstract quantum field theory for fat graphs and its realizations. This is a generalization of an earlier work for stable graphs. We define the abstract correlators $mathcal F_g^mu$, abstract free energy $mathcal F_g$, abstract partition function $mathcal Z$, and abstract $n$-point functions $mathcal W_{g,n}$ to be formal summations of fat graphs, and derive quadratic recursions using edge-contraction/vertex-splitting operators, including the abstract Virasoro constraints, an abstract cut-and-join type representation for $mathcal Z$, and a quadratic recursion for $mathcal W_{g,n}$ which resembles the Eynard-Orantin topological recursion. When considering the realization by the Hermitian one-matrix models, we obtain the Virasoro constraints, a cut-and-join representation for the partition function $Z_N^{text{Herm}}$ which proves that $Z_N^{text{Herm}}$ is a tau-function of KP hierarchy, a recursion for $n$-point functions which is known to be equivalent to the E-O recursion, and a Schrodinger type-equation which is equivalent to the quantum spectral curve. We conjecture that in general cases the realization of the quadratic recursion for $mathcal W_{g,n}$ is the E-O recursion, where the spectral curve and Bergmann kernel are constructed from realizations of $mathcal W_{0,1}$ and $mathcal W_{0,2}$ respectively using the framework of emergent geometry.
We show that the combinatorial numbers known as {em Bell numbers} are generic in quantum physics. This is because they arise in the procedure known as {em Normal ordering} of bosons, a procedure which is involved in the evaluation of quantum functions such as the canonical partition function of quantum statistical physics, {it inter alia}. In fact, we shall show that an evaluation of the non-interacting partition function for a single boson system is identical to integrating the {em exponential generating function} of the Bell numbers, which is a device for encapsulating a combinatorial sequence in a single function. We then introduce a remarkable equality, the Dobinski relation, and use it to indicate why renormalisation is necessary in even the simplest of perturbation expansions for a partition function. Finally we introduce a global algebraic description of this simple model, giving a Hopf algebra, which provides a starting point for extensions to more complex physical systems.
Lecture notes for the course Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism and applications in topological quantum field theory given at the University of Notre Dame in the Fall 2016 for a mathematical audience. In these lectures we give a slow introduction to the perturbative path integral for gauge theories in Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism and the associated mathematical concepts.
In this note, we present a natural proof of a recent and surprising result of Gregory Berkolaiko (arXiv 1110.5373) interpreting the Courant nodal defect of a Schrodinger operator on a finite graph as a Morse index associated to the deformations of the operator by switching on a magnetic field. This proof is inspired by a nice paper of Miroslav Fiedler published in 1975.
According to a well-know theorem by Sturm, a vibrating string is divided into exactly N nodal intervals by zeros of its N-th eigenfunction. Courant showed that one half of Sturms theorem for the strings applies to the theory of membranes: N-th eigenfunction cannot have more than N domains. He also gave an example of a eigenfunction high in the spectrum with a minimal number of nodal domains, thus excluding the existence of a non-trivial lower bound. An analogue of Sturms result for discretizations of the interval was discussed by Gantmacher and Krein. The discretization of an interval is a graph of a simple form, a chain-graph. But what can be said about more complicated graphs? It has been known since the early 90s that the nodal count for a generic eigenfunction of the Schrodinger operator on quantum trees (where each edge is identified with an interval of the real line and some matching conditions are enforced on the vertices) is exact too: zeros of the N-th eigenfunction divide the tree into exactly N subtrees. We discuss two extensions of this result in two directions. One deals with the same continuous Schrodinger operator but on general graphs (i.e. non-trees) and another deals with discrete Schrodinger operator on combinatorial graphs (both trees and non-trees). The result that we derive applies to both types of graphs: the number of nodal domains of the N-th eigenfunction is bounded below by N-L, where L is the number of links that distinguish the graph from a tree (defined as the dimension of the cycle space or the rank of the fundamental group of the graph). We also show that if it the genericity condition is dropped, the nodal count can fall arbitrarily far below the number of the corresponding eigenfunction.
We propose a suitable formulation of the Hamiltonian formalism for Field Theory in terms of Hamiltonian connections and multisymplectic forms where a composite fibered bundle, involving a line bundle, plays the role of an extended configuration bundle. This new approach can be interpreted as a suitable generalization to Field Theory of the homogeneous formalism for Hamiltonian Mechanics. As an example of application, we obtain the expression of a formal energy for a parametrized version of the Hilbert--Einstein Lagrangian and we show that this quantity is conserved.