SearcharxivSearch

arXiv · hep-th/9205037

Global Analysis of New Gravitational Singularities in String and Particle Theories

Abstract

We present a global analysis of the geometries that arise in non-compact current algebra (or gauged WZW) coset models of strings and particles propagating in curved space-time. The simplest case is the 2d black hole. In higher dimensions these geometries describe new and much more complex singularities. For string and particle theories (defined in the text) we introduce general methods for identifying global coordinates and give the general exact solution for the geodesics for any gauged WZW model for any number of dimensions. We then specialize to the 3d geometries associated with $SO(2,2)/SO(2,1)$ (and also $SO(3,1)/SO(2,1)$) and discuss in detail the global space, geodesics, curvature singularities and duality properties of this space. The large-small (or mirror) type duality property is reformulated as an inversion in group parameter space. The 3d global space has two topologically distinct sectors, with patches of different sectors related by duality. The first sector has a singularity surface with the topology of ``pinched double trousers". It can be pictured as the world sheet of two closed strings that join into a single closed string and then split into two closed strings, but with a pinch in each leg of the trousers. The second sector has a singularity surface with the topology of ``double saddle", pictured as the world sheets of two infinite open strings that come close but do not touch. We discuss the geodesicaly complete spaces on each side of these surfaces and interpret the motion of particles in physical terms. A cosmological interpretation is suggested and comments are mode on possible physical applications.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

I. Bars, K. Sfetsos. 1992-05-13. Global Analysis of New Gravitational Singularities in String and Particle Theories. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.46.4495

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Timelike Entanglement from Spacetime Density Matrices: A Lattice Realization

We investigate timelike entanglement in quantum field theory using spacetime density matrices and provide a microscopic lattice realization. For a two-dimensional free real scalar field, we extend Gaussian diagonalization methods to the generally non-Hermitian reduced spacetime density matrix and determine its complete nonzero spectrum in the generic regular case, together with all integer R\'enyi moments. The real-time replica construction identifies these moments with Lorentzian branch-point twist-operator correlation functions. We test this identification against the full four-point function on a circle, boundary two-point functions with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions, and massive form-factor predictions, finding quantitative agreement in both magnitude and phase across distinct causal regimes. The boundary setup exhibits a finite causally connected window in which every integer R\'enyi entropy is real, showing that reality is not equivalent to causal disconnection. These results provide a microscopic lattice foundation for timelike entanglement and for Lorentzian twist-operator methods beyond equal-time regions.

hep-th

Landau-Ginzburg description of an exceptional ${\mathcal N}=1$ minimal model

The $\mathcal N=1$ superconformal minimal model with $m=12$ and the exceptional modular invariant $(E_6,D_8)$ is the unitary minimal model of the super-$W_3$ algebra. We propose its Landau-Ginzburg description using two real scalar superfields with the cubic superpotential ${\cal W}=g_1 XY^2/2 + g_2X^3/6$. For $g_1=g_2$, this superpotential is known to describe a product of two $m=3$ $\mathcal N=1$ superconformal minimal models, which is the $m=10$ model with the $(D_6,E_6)$ modular invariant. The exceptional $m=12$ superconformal minimal model is realized at a different fixed point of the same theory. Testing this Landau-Ginzburg description requires the fusion ring of the minimal model, which we obtain from the modular data of the extended algebra. The fusion ring has a $\mathbb Z_2$ grading by chiral fermion parity that the ordinary fusion coefficients do not determine. This grading, composed with conjugation, gives the generator of the R-parity $\mathbb Z_2^{R}$ of the Landau-Ginzburg theory. We then treat the theory with superpotential $\cal W$ as a Gross-Neveu-Yukawa model in $d=4-\epsilon$ and find a weakly coupled infrared fixed point with $g_1/g_2=3/2+\mathcal O(\epsilon)$, at which supersymmetry emerges. We also describe the renormalization group flow from this fixed point to the decoupled fixed point with $g_1=g_2$. The operator dimensions at the coupled fixed point, continued to $d=2$, agree approximately with their values in the $m=12$ superconformal minimal model. Finally, we estimate the scaling dimensions in the new interacting $d=3$ $\mathcal N=1$ superconformal field theory.

hep-th

Detecting one-dimensional bosonic SPT phases via twisted entropic order parameter

Entanglement asymmetry, introduced by F. Ares, S. Murciano and P. Calabrese, provides a density-matrix diagnostic of symmetry breaking and successfully captures the Landau data associated with a broken symmetry pattern. However, it is by now well established that gapped quantum many-body systems can exhibit phases which are not characterized solely by Landau symmetry breaking. A fundamental example is a symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase, and the ordinary definition of entanglement asymmetry is insensitive to this topological information. In this work we introduce a refined quantity, which we call the twisted entropic order parameter, designed to detect SPT phases from reduced density matrices, particularly focusing on one-dimensional bosonic systems. The key ingredient in our construction is an ancilla degrees of freedom that coherently records the untwisted state and the twisted state associated to a one-ended topological defect of unbroken symmetry, so that the enlarged density matrix retains the charge carried by the defect endpoint. We demonstrate our proposal in concrete lattice models and further generalize it beyond ordinary group symmetries, establishing its ability to diagnose SPT phases. This provides a first step toward a unified entanglement-asymmetry framework for diagnosing quantum phases of matter.

hep-th