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F. R. Klinkhamer

Publications and source records attributed to F. R. Klinkhamer.

142 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
arXiv2001

Torsion, topology and CPT anomaly in two-dimensional chiral U(1) gauge theory

We consider the CPT anomaly of two-dimensional chiral U(1) gauge theory on a torus with topologically nontrivial zweibeins corresponding to the presence of spacetime torsion. The resulting chiral determinant can be expressed in terms of the standard chiral determinant without torsion, but with modified spinor boundary conditions. This implies that the two-dimensional CPT anomaly can be moved from one spin structure to another by choosing appropriate zweibeins. Similar results apply to higher-dimensional chiral gauge theories.

hep-th↗
arXiv2001

Spectral flow of chiral fermions in nondissipative Yang-Mills gauge field backgrounds

Real-time anomalous fermion number violation is investigated for massless chiral fermions in spherically symmetric SU(2) Yang-Mills gauge field backgrounds which can be weakly dissipative or even nondissipative. Restricting consideration to spherically symmetric fermion fields, the zero-eigenvalue equation of the time-dependent effective Dirac Hamiltonian is studied in detail. For generic spherically symmetric SU(2) gauge fields in Minkowski spacetime, a relation is presented between the spectral flow and two characteristics of the background gauge field. These characteristics are the well-known ``winding factor,'' which is defined to be the change of the Chern-Simons number of the associated vacuum sector of the background gauge field, and a new ``twist factor,'' which can be obtained from the zero-eigenvalue equation of the effective Dirac Hamiltonian but is entirely determined by the background gauge field. For a particular class of (weakly dissipative) Luscher-Schechter gauge field solutions, the level crossings are calculated directly and nontrivial contributions to the spectral flow from both the winding factor and the twist factor are observed. The general result for the spectral flow may be relevant to electroweak baryon number violation in the early universe.

hep-th↗
arXiv2001

Causality and CPT violation from an Abelian Chern-Simons-like term

We study a class of generalized Abelian gauge field theories where CPT symmetry is violated by a Chern-Simons-like term which selects a preferred direction in spacetime. Such Chern-Simons-like terms may either emerge as part of the low-energy effective action of a more fundamental theory or be produced by chiral anomalies over a nonsimply connected spacetime manifold. Specifically, we investigate the issues of unitarity and causality. We find that the behaviour of these gauge field theories depends on whether the preferred direction is spacelike or timelike. For a purely spacelike preferred direction, a well-behaved Feynman propagator exists and microcausality holds, which indicates the possibility of a consistent quantization of the theory. For timelike preferred directions, unitarity or causality is violated and a consistent quantization does not seem to be possible.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2001

Causality and radiatively induced CPT violation

We consider quantum electrodynamics with an additional Lorentz- and CPT-violating axial-vector term in the fermionic sector and discuss the possibility that radiative corrections induce a Lorentz- and CPT-violating Chern-Simons-like term for the gauge field. From the requirement of causality and the assumed validity of perturbation theory, we conclude that the induced Chern-Simons-like term must be absent in the full quantum field theory.

hep-th↗
arXiv2001

CPT anomaly in two-dimensional chiral U(1) gauge theories

The CPT anomaly, which was first seen in perturbation theory for certain four-dimensional chiral gauge theories, is also present in the exact result for a class of two-dimensional chiral U(1) gauge theories on the torus. Specifically, the chiral determinant for periodic fermion fields changes sign under a CPT transformation of the background gauge field. There is, in fact, an anomaly of Lorentz invariance, which allows for the CPT theorem to be circumvented.

hep-th↗
arXiv2000

A CPT anomaly

We consider chiral gauge theories defined over a four-dimensional spacetime manifold with a Cartesian product structure for at least one compact spatial dimension. For a simple setup, we calculate the effective gauge field action by integrating out the chiral fermions, while maintaining gauge invariance. Due to a combination of infrared and ultraviolet effects, there appears a CPT-odd term in the effective gauge field action. This CPT anomaly could occur in chiral gauge theories relevant to elementary particle physics, provided the spacetime manifold has the appropriate topology. Two possible applications for cosmology are discussed.

hep-th↗
arXiv1999

Z-string global gauge anomaly and Lorentz non-invariance

Certain (3+1)-dimensional chiral non-Abelian gauge theories have been shown to exhibit a new type of global gauge anomaly, which in the Hamiltonian formulation is due to the fermion zero-modes of a Z-string-like configuration of the gauge potential and the corresponding spectral flow. Here, we clarify the relation between this Z-string global gauge anomaly and other anomalies in both 3+1 and 2+1 dimensions. We then point out a possible trade-off between the (3+1)-dimensional Z-string global gauge anomaly and the violation of CPT and Lorentz invariance.

hep-th↗
arXiv1998

Fermion zero-modes of a new constrained instanton in Yang-Mills-Higgs theory

Self-consistent Ansaetze are presented for the left- and right-handed isodoublet fermion zero-modes of the constrained instanton Istar in the vacuum sector of euclidean SU(2) Yang-Mills-Higgs theory. These left- and right-handed fermion wave functions do not coincide and, most likely, have maxima at different positions. This may be important for the fermion zero-mode contribution to the euclidean 4-point Green's function in chiral Yang-Mills-Higgs theory and the high-energy behaviour of fermion-fermion scattering processes.

hep-th↗
arXiv1998

Electroweak defects

A brief, non-technical review is given of certain defect-like configurations in the electroweak standard model, which may have played an important role in the physics of the early universe.

hep-ph↗
arXiv1997

A global anomaly from the Z-string

The response of isodoublet fermions to classical backgrounds of essentially 2-dimensional boson fields in SU(2) Yang-Mills-Higgs theory is investigated. In particular, the spectral flow of Dirac eigenvalues is calculated for a non-contractible sphere of configurations passing through the vacuum and the Z-string (the embedded vortex solution). Also, a non-vanishing Berry phase is established for adiabatic transport "around" the Z-string. These results imply the existence of a new type of global (non-perturbative) gauge anomaly in SU(2) Yang-Mills-Higgs quantum field theory with a single doublet of left-handed fermions. Possible extensions to other chiral gauge field theories are also discussed.

hep-th↗
arXiv1994

Another Look at the Electroweak Vortex Solution

We discuss the position in configuration space of the electroweak vortex solution. (Talk given at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop "Electroweak Physics and the Early Universe", Sintra, Portugal, March 1994)

hep-ph↗
arXiv1994

A New Perspective on Electroweak Strings

The vortex solution (Z-string) of the electroweak interactions can be interpreted as the 2-dimensional sphaleron at the top of a non-contractible sphere. The same holds for another type of solution, the W-string.

hep-ph↗
arXiv1993

Construction of a New Electroweak Sphaleron

We present a self-consistent ansatz for a new sphaleron in the electroweak standard model. The resulting field equations are solved numerically. This sphaleron sets the height of the energy barrier for the global SU(2) anomaly.

hep-ph↗
arXiv1993

Existence of a New Instanton in Constrained Yang-Mills-Higgs Theory

Our goal is to discover possible new 4-dimensional euclidean solutions (instantons) in fundamental SU(2) Yang-Mills-Higgs theory, with a constraint added to prevent collapse of the scale. We show that, most likely, there exists one particular new constrained instanton (\Istar) with vanishing Pontryagin index. This is based on a topological argument that involves the construction of a non-contractible loop of 4-dimensional configurations with a certain upperbound on the action, which we establish numerically. We expect \Istar to be the lowest action non-trivial solution in the vacuum sector of the theory. There also exists a related static, but unstable, solution, the new sphaleron \Sstar. Possible applications of \Istar to the electroweak interactions include the asymptotics of perturbation theory and the high-energy behaviour of the total cross-section.

hep-ph↗