Scale and Conformal Invariance in Quantum Field Theory

量子场论中的尺度和共形不变性

• 批准号: SAPIN-2015-00033
• 负责人: Fortin, JeanFrancois
• 金额: $ 2.7万
• 依托单位: Université Laval
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Subatomic Physics Envelope - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=614386
• 关键词: Scale; Conformal; Invariance; Quantum; Field

The two pillars of modern theoretical physics are quantum mechanics and general relativity. Although they cannot be combined together into a consistent framework yet (a notable exception being string theory), the union of quantum mechanics and special relativity, the basis for general relativity, leads to a consistent framework. This framework, called quantum field theory, gives rise to the most precise theory of elementary particles found thus far. One of the most important discoveries in physics of the twentieth century, the renormalization group, is an unavoidable consequence of the framework of quantum field theory. The renormalization group, which is an iterative process where high-momentum degrees of freedom are integrated out, generates a flow in the space of all theories which determines the changes a physical system undergoes as viewed at different distance scales. It is of paramount importance in modern physics, especially in quantum field theory and condensed matter physics, since it allows the systematic study of long-distance physics (emergent phenomena) through universality classes. The proposed research program deals with the implications of scale and conformal invariance in quantum field theory. Scale-invariant and conformal-invariant quantum field theories exhibit interesting renormalization group flows and have applications in several areas of research including string theory and second-order phase transitions in condensed matter physics. A better understanding of scale and conformal invariance could have far-reaching consequences, leading to a complete classification of all quantum field theories in terms of relevant deformations of conformal field theories. More specifically, the proposal investigates two important issues: the connections between scale invariance, conformal invariance and the c-theorem (a long-lasting conjecture which has not been proved in all generality as of now) in quantum field theory; and the existence of scale-invariant but not conformal-invariant non-relativistic field theories. Over the past years, some remarkable progress has been made on the implications of scale invariance and conformal invariance for quantum field theory. The research program proposes to extend these results to the more technically-challenging realm of strongly-coupled quantum field theory as well as the non-relativistic limit relevant to condensed matter physics. For the non-relativistic case, charting the novel behaviours encountered in such theories could lead to interesting developments in condensed matter physics.

现代理论物理的两大支柱是量子力学和广义相对论。尽管它们还不能结合在一起形成一个一致的框架(一个明显的例外是弦理论)，但量子力学和狭义相对论的结合--广义相对论的基础--导致了一个一致的框架。这个被称为量子场论的框架产生了迄今为止发现的最精确的基本粒子理论。重整化群是二十世纪物理学中最重要的发现之一，它是量子场论框架下不可避免的结果。重整化群是一个迭代过程，其中高动量自由度被积分出来，它在所有理论的空间中产生流，该流决定了物理系统在不同距离尺度下所经历的变化。它在现代物理学，特别是在量子场论和凝聚态物理中具有极其重要的意义，因为它允许通过普适性类系统地研究远程物理(浮现现象)。 拟议的研究计划涉及到量子场论中的标度和共形不变性的含义。标度不变和共形不变量子场理论展示了有趣的重整化群流，并在多个研究领域有应用，包括弦理论和凝聚态物理中的二阶相变。更好地理解标度和共形不变性可能会产生深远的影响，导致根据共形场论的相关形变对所有量子场论进行完整的分类。更具体地说，该提议研究了两个重要的问题：尺度不变、共形不变与量子场论中的c-定理(一个到目前为止还没有得到普遍证明的长期猜想)之间的联系；以及尺度不变但不共形不变的非相对论场论的存在。 在过去的几年里，关于标度不变性和共形不变性对量子场论的影响已经取得了一些显著的进展。该研究计划建议将这些结果扩展到更具技术挑战性的强耦合量子场论领域，以及与凝聚态物理相关的非相对论极限。对于非相对论的情况，绘制这些理论中遇到的新行为的图表可能会导致凝聚态物理学的有趣发展。