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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 703 records · Page 39
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DOE OSTI2021

Comments on the quantum field theory of the Coulomb gas formalism

The holomorphic Coulomb gas formalism, as developed by Feigin-Fuchs, Dotsenko-Fateev and Felder, is a set of rules for computing minimal model observables using free field techniques. We attempt to derive and clarify these rules using standard techniques of quantum field theory. We begin with a careful examination of the timelike linear dilaton. Although the background charge of the model breaks the scalar field’s continuous shift symmetry, the exponential of the action remains invariant under a discrete shift because the background charge is imaginary. Gauging this symmetry makes the dilaton compact and introduces winding modes into the spectrum. One of these winding operators corresponds to the anti-holomorphic completion of the BRST current first introduced by Felder, and the full left/right cohomology of this BRST charge isolates the irreducible representations of the Virasoro algebra within the degenerate Fock space of the linear dilaton. The “supertrace” in the BRST complex reproduces the minimal model partition function and exhibits delicate cancellations between states with both momentum and winding. The model at the radius $R=\sqrt{pp^{\prime }}$ has two marginal operators corresponding to the Dotsenko-Fateev “screening charges”. Deforming by them, we obtain a model that might be called a “BRST quotiented compact timelike Liouville theory”. The Hamiltonian of the zero-mode quantum mechanics of this model is not Hermitian, but it is PT -symmetric and exactly solvable. Its eigenfunctions have support on an infinite number of plane waves, suggesting an infinite reduction in the number of independent states in the full quantum field theory. Applying conformal perturbation theory to the exponential interactions reproduces the Coulomb gas calculations of minimal model correlation functions. In contrast to spacelike Liouville, these “resonance correlators” are finite because the zero mode is compact. We comment on subtleties regarding the reflection operator identification, as well as naive violations of truncation in correlators with multiple reflection operators inserted. This work is part of an attempt to understand the relationship between the JT model of two dimen- sional gravity and the worldsheet description of the (2 , p ) minimal string as suggested by Seiberg and Stanford.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Fracton fusion and statistics

We introduce and develop a theory of fusion and statistical processes of gapped excitations in Abelian fracton phases. The key idea is to incorporate lattice translation symmetry via its action on superselection sectors, which results in a fusion theory endowed with information about the nontrivial mobility of fractons and subdimensional excitations. This results in a description of statistical processes in terms of local moves determined by the fusion theory. Our results can be understood as providing a characterization of translation-invariant fracton phases. We obtain simple descriptions of the fusion theory in the X-cube and checkerboard fracton models, as well as for gapped electric and magnetic excitations of some gapless U(1) tensor gauge theories. An alternate route to the X-cube model fusion theory is provided by starting with a system of decoupled two-dimensional toric code layers, and giving a description of the p-string condensation mechanism within our approach. We discuss examples of statistical processes of fractons and subdimensional excitations in the X-cube and checkerboard models. As an application of the ideas developed, we prove that the X-cube and semionic X-cube models realize distinct translation-invariant fracton phases, even when the translation symmetry is broken corresponding to an arbitrary but finite enlargement of the crystalline unit cell.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Real-time dynamics of the Schwinger model as an open quantum system with Neural Density Operators

Ab-initio simulations of multiple heavy quarks propagating in a Quark-Gluon Plasma are computationally difficult to perform due to the large dimension of the space of density matrices. This work develops machine learning algorithms to overcome this difficulty by approximating exact quantum states with neural network parametrisations, specifically Neural Density Operators. As a proof of principle demonstration in a QCD-like theory, the approach is applied to solve the Lindblad master equation in the 1 + 1d lattice Schwinger Model as an open quantum system. Neural Density Operators enable the study of in-medium dynamics on large lattice volumes, where multiple-string interactions and their effects on string-breaking and recombination phenomena can be studied. Thermal properties of the system at equilibrium can also be probed with these methods by variationally constructing the steady state of the Lindblad master equation. Scaling of this approach with system size is studied, and numerical demonstrations on up to 32 spatial lattice sites and with up to 3 interacting strings are performed.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Solving puzzles in deformed JT gravity: phase transitions and non-perturbative effects

Recent work has shown that certain deformations of the scalar potential in Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity can be written as double-scaled matrix models. However, some of the deformations exhibit an apparent breakdown of unitarity in the form of a negative spectral density at disc order. We show here that the source of the problem is the presence of a multi-valued solution of the leading order matrix model string equation. While for a class of deformations we fix the problem by identifying a first order phase transition, for others we show that the theory is both perturbatively and non-perturbatively inconsistent. Aspects of the phase structure of the deformations are mapped out, using methods known to supply a non-perturbative definition of undeformed JT gravity. Some features are in qualitative agreement with a semi-classical analysis of the phase structure of two-dimensional black holes in these deformed theories.

2D gravity↗
DOE OSTI2019

Resolving the Weinberg paradox with topology

Long ago Weinberg showed, from first principles, that the amplitude for a single photon exchange between an electric current and a magnetic current violates Lorentz invariance. The obvious conclusion at the time was that monopoles were not allowed in quantum field theory. Since the discovery of topological monopoles there has thus been a paradox. On the one hand, topological monopoles are constructed in Lorentz invariant quantum field theories, while on the other hand, the low-energy effective theory for such monopoles will reproduce Weinberg’s result. We examine a toy model where both electric and magnetic charges are perturbatively coupled and show how soft-photon resummation for hard scattering exponentiates the Lorentz violating pieces to a phase that is the covariant form of the Aharonov-Bohm phase due to the Dirac string. The modulus of the scattering amplitudes (and hence observables) are Lorentz invariant, and when Dirac charge quantization is imposed the amplitude itself is also Lorentz invariant. For closed paths there is a topological component of the phase that relates to aspects of 4D topological quantum field theory.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Cuts and contours

The traditional formulation of string amplitudes via worldsheet integrals provides a parametrization of the moduli space that fails to expose the complete singularity structure of the amplitudes. This problem is solved by the positive parametrization of string amplitudes given by surfaceology. In this work, we use this formalism to study a number of properties of string amplitudes at tree-level and one-loop. We introduce several global prescriptions for an integration contour for which the integrals are finite everywhere in kinematic space. At tree-level, this is done in two ways: one directly implements the Feynman iε to analytically continue from Euclidean to Lorentzian worldsheets; the other is a generalization of the closed Pochhammer contour to arbitrary number of points. At loop-level, we present a systematic way of extracting cuts directly from the worldsheet integrand. This provides a powerful set of unitarity constraints, which we use to test the consistency of different “stringy” UV regularizations of field theory amplitudes. In addition, we identify the massive threshold expansion of the integrand, which allows us to reduce the problem to a finite set of Feynman integrals in Schwinger parametrization and provide a straightforward contour prescription reminiscent of its field-theory version.

Bosonic Strings↗
DOE OSTI2022

Negative string tension of a higher-charge Schwinger model via digital quantum simulation

We study some properties of generalized global symmetry for the charge- q Schwinger model in the Hamiltonian formalism, which is the (1 + 1)D quantum electrodynamics with a charge- q Dirac fermion. This model has the |$\mathbb {Z}_q\, 1$| -form symmetry, which is a remnant of the electric |$U(1)\, 1$| -form symmetry in the pure Maxwell theory. It is known that, if we put the theory on closed space, then the Hilbert space is decomposed into q distinct sectors, called universes, and some states with higher energy density do not decay to the ground state due to the selection rule of the 1-form symmetry. Even with open boundaries, we can observe the stability of such states by seeing a negative string tension behavior, meaning that opposite charges repel each other. In order to see negative string tensions, the vacuum angle θ has to be large enough and the standard path-integral Monte Carlo method suffers from the sign problem. We develop a method based on the adiabatic state preparation to see this feature with digital quantum simulation and confirm it using a classical simulator of quantum devices. In particular, we measure the local energy density and see how it jumps between the inside and outside of the insertion of the probe charges. We explicitly see that the energy density inside is lower than that outside. This is a clear signature of the negative string tension.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Toward precision holography in type IIA with Wilson loops

We study the one-loop effective action of certain classical type IIA string configurations in AdS 4 × CP 3 . These configurations are dual to Wilson loops in the N = 6 U( N ) k × U( N ) –k Chern-Simons theory coupled to matter whose expectation values are known via supersymmetric localization. We compute the one-loop effective actions using two methods: perturbative heat kernel techniques and full ζ-function regularization. We find that the result of the perturbative heat kernel method matches the field theory prediction at the appropriate order while the ζ-function approach seems to lead to a disagreement.

't Hooft and Polyakov loops↗
DOE OSTI2025

Cosmological perturbations from a new approach to inflation

In a previous paper, we proposed a new approach to the beginning of inflation—a lingering universe [Melcher et al. Phys. Rev. D 110, 063517 (2024).]—that is a quasistatic phase prior to inflation. The Universe begins in a lingering state with a nearly vanishing Hubble parameter. This calls into question the absolute age of the Universe, as the Hubble time can be nearly infinite. It also provides promise for addressing the initial singularity of inflation and issues with quantum field theory in de Sitter spacetime. Such models arise in classical cosmologies with nonvanishing spatial curvature (inspired by PLANCK 2018 data) and independently by models that arise in string cosmology. Here, in this paper, we consider the importance of cosmological perturbations for the stability of the lingering phase and how this influences cosmological observations. Our goal is to establish observables in this new paradigm for the origin of inflation, which is in contrast to eternal inflation and cyclic cosmologies. We also address questions of stability and the transition to inflation.

cosmology↗
DOE OSTI2020

Functional equations and separation of variables for exact g -function

The g-function is a measure of degrees of freedom associated to a boundary of two-dimensional quantum field theories. In integrable theories, it can be computed exactly in a form of the Fredholm determinant, but it is often hard to evaluate numerically. In this paper, we derive functional equations — or equivalently integral equations of the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz (TBA) type — which directly compute the g-function in the simplest integrable theory; the sinh-Gordon theory at the self-dual point. The derivation is based on the classic result by Tracy and Widom on the relation between Fredholm determinants and TBA, which was used also in the context of topological string. We demonstrate the efficiency of our formulation through the numerical computation and compare the results in the UV limit with the Liouville CFT. As a side result, we present multiple integrals of Q-functions which we conjecture to describe a universal part of the g-function, and discuss its implication to integrable spin chains.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Loop equation and exact soft anomalous dimension in $ \mathcal{N} $ = 4 super Yang-Mills

BPS Wilson loops in supersymmetric gauge theories have been the subjects of active research since they are often amenable to exact computation. So far most of the studies have focused on loops that do not intersect. In this paper, we derive exact results for intersecting 1/8 BPS Wilson loops in $ \mathcal{N} $ = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, using a combination of supersymmetric localization and the loop equation in 2d gauge theory. The result is given by a novel matrix-model-like representation which couples multiple contour integrals and a Gaussian matrix model. We evaluate the integral at large N, and make contact with the string worldsheet description at strong coupling. As an application of our results, we compute exactly a small-angle limit (and more generally near-BPS limits) of the cross anomalous dimension which governs the UV divergence of intersecting Wilson lines. The same quantity describes the soft anomalous dimension of scattering amplitudes of W-bosons in the Coulomb branch.

't Hooftand Polyakov loops↗
DOE OSTI2022

Supervised learning and the finite-temperature string method for computing committor functions and reaction rates

A central object in the computational studies of rare events is the committor function. Though costly to compute, the committor function encodes complete mechanistic information of the processes involving rare events, including reaction rates and transition-state ensembles. Under the framework of transition path theory, Rotskoff et al. [Proceedings of the 2nd Mathematical and Scientific Machine Learning Conference, Proceedings of Machine Learning Research (PLMR, 2022), Vol. 145, pp. 757–780] proposes an algorithm where a feedback loop couples a neural network that models the committor function with importance sampling, mainly umbrella sampling, which collects data needed for adaptive training. Here, in this work, we show additional modifications are needed to improve the accuracy of the algorithm. The first modification adds elements of supervised learning, which allows the neural network to improve its prediction by fitting to sample-mean estimates of committor values obtained from short molecular dynamics trajectories. The second modification replaces the committor-based umbrella sampling with the finite-temperature string (FTS) method, which enables homogeneous sampling in regions where transition pathways are located. We test our modifications on low-dimensional systems with non-convex potential energy where reference solutions can be found via analytical or finite element methods, and show how combining supervised learning and the FTS method yields accurate computation of committor functions and reaction rates. We also provide an error analysis for algorithms that use the FTS method, using which reaction rates can be accurately estimated during training with a small number of samples. The methods are then applied to a molecular system in which no reference solution is known, where accurate computations of committor functions and reaction rates can still be obtained.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Lepto-axiogenesis

We propose a baryogenenesis mechanism that uses a rotating condensate of a Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry breaking field and the dimension-five operator that gives Majorana neutrino masses. The rotation induces charge asymmetries for the Higgs boson and for lepton chirality through sphaleron processes and Yukawa interactions. The dimension-five interaction transfers these asymmetries to the lepton asymmetry, which in turn is transferred into the baryon asymmetry through the electroweak sphaleron process. QCD axion dark matter can be simultaneously produced by dynamics of the same PQ field via kinetic misalignment or parametric resonance, favoring an axion decay constant ƒ a ≲ 10 10 GeV, or by conventional misalignment and contributions from strings and domain walls with ƒ a ~ 10 11 GeV. The size of the baryon asymmetry is tied to the mass of the PQ field. In simple supersymmetric theories, it is independent of UV parameters and predicts the supersymmtry breaking mass scale to be $ \mathcal{O} $(10 - 10 4 ) TeV, depending on the masses of the neutrinos and whether the condensate is thermalized during a radiation or matter dominated era. The high supersymmetry breaking mass scale may be free from cosmological and flavor/CP problems. We also construct a theory where TeV scale supersymmetry is possible. Parametric resonance may give warm axions, and the radial component of the PQ field may give signals in rare kaon decays from mixing with the Higgs and in dark radiation.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

More exotic field theories in 3+1 dimensions

We continue the exploration of nonstandard continuum field theories related to fractons in 3+1 dimensions. Our theories exhibit exotic global and gauge symmetries, defects with restricted mobility, and interesting dualities. Depending on the model, the defects are the probe limits of either fractonic particles, strings, or strips. One of our models is the continuum limit of the plaquette Ising lattice model, which features an important role in the construction of the X-cube model.

Gorantla, Pranay↗
DOE OSTI2025

New state of matter between the hadronic phase and the quark-gluon plasma?

Lattice-quantum chromodynamics (QCD) simulations and theoretical arguments hint at the existence of an intermediate phase of strongly interacting matter between a confined hadron gas and a deconfined quark-gluon plasma (QGP). We qualitatively and semiquantitatively explore and differentiate the phase structures in the temperature window from the QCD pseudocritical temperature 𝑇 c ≃ 160 MeV to the pure gluonic deconfinement temperature 𝑇 d ≃ 285 MeV. We propose a three-regime picture using a hadron resonance gas description augmented with the exponential spectrum of strings, corresponding to highly excited mesons and glueballs, based on the analysis of a large number 𝑁 c of colors. We estimate the entropy density from our model to confirm that the lattice-QCD data are bracketed with three regimes, i.e., a hadron gas, a QGP, and a new phase for 𝑇 c ≲ 𝑇 ≲ 𝑇 d . In this new phase, which we name a spaghetti of quarks with glueballs (SQGBs), thermal degrees of freedom of quarks are liberated, yet gluons remain confined in glueballs. Since the Hagedorn temperature 𝑇 H ∼ 285 MeV is universal in the meson and the glueball sectors, in the infinite-𝑁 c limit, the phase diagram in the plane of the baryon chemical potential and the temperature is reduced to one with the confined and deconfined phases and quarkyonic matter at high density. At large but finite 𝑁 c , an SQGB window may open between these phases. We point out that the SQGB has interesting similarities with quarkyonic matter and that this matter in the large-𝑁 c limit is confined as measured by the interaction between heavy quarks, but behaves in other respects like a quasifree gas of quarks. As a result of the extrapolation to 𝑁 c = 3, we present a revised phase diagram with the SQGB phase bounded by thermal crossovers. Finally, we give a quantitative analysis of chiral-symmetry restoration in the SQGB phase.

Color confinement↗