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G. 't Hooft

Publications and source records attributed to G. 't Hooft.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2009

Dimensional Reduction in Quantum Gravity

The requirement that physical phenomena associated with gravitational collapse should be duly reconciled with the postulates of quantum mechanics implies that at a Planckian scale our world is not 3+1 dimensional. Rather, the observable degrees of freedom can best be described as if they were Boolean variables defined on a two-dimensional lattice, evolving with time. This observation, deduced from not much more than unitarity, entropy and counting arguments, implies severe restrictions on possible models of quantum gravity. Using cellular automata as an example it is argued that this dimensional reduction implies more constraints than the freedom we have in constructing models. This is the main reason why so-far no completely consistent mathematical models of quantum black holes have been found. Essay dedicated to Abdus Salam.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2008

A Theory of Scalar Mesons

We discuss the effect of the instanton induced, six-fermion effective Lagrangian on the decays of the lightest scalar mesons in the diquark--antidiquark picture. This addition allows for a remarkably good description of light scalar meson decays. The same effective Lagrangian produces a mixing of the lightest scalars with the positive parity q-qbar states. Comparing with previous work where the q-qbar mesons are identified with the nonet at 1200-1700 MeV, we find that the mixing required to fit the mass spectrum is in good agreement with the instanton coupling obtained from light scalar decays. A coherent picture of scalar mesons as a mixture of tetraquark states (dominating in the lightest mesons) and heavy q-qbar states (dominating in the heavier mesons) emerges.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2005

The holographic mapping of the Standard Model onto the black hole horizon, Part I: Abelian vector field, scalar field and BEH Mechanism

Interactions between outgoing Hawking particles and ingoing matter are determined by gravitational forces and Standard Model interactions. In particular the gravitational interactions are responsible for the unitarity of the scattering against the horizon, as dictated by the holographic principle, but the Standard Model interactions also contribute, and understanding their effects is an important first step towards a complete understanding of the horizon's dynamics. The relation between in- and outgoing states is described in terms of an operator algebra. In this paper, the first of a series, we describe the algebra induced on the horizon by U(1) vector fields and scalar fields, including the case of an Englert-Brout-Higgs mechanism, and a more careful consideration of the transverse vector field components.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2002

Large N

In the first part of this lecture, the 1/N expansion technique is illustrated for the case of the large-N sigma model. In large-N gauge theories, the 1/N expansion is tantamount to sorting the Feynman diagrams according to their degree of planarity, that is, the minimal genus of the plane onto which the diagram can be mapped without any crossings. This holds both for the usual perturbative expansion with respect to powers of {tilde g}^2=g^2 N, as well as for the expansion of lattice theories in positive powers of 1/{tilde g}^2. If there were no renormalization effects, the tilde g expansion would have a finite radius of convergence. The zero-dimensional theory can be used for counting planar diagrams. It can be solved explicitly, so that the generating function for the number of diagrams with given 3-vertices and 4-vertices, can be derived exactly. This can be done for various kinds of Feynman diagrams. We end with some remarks about planar renormalization.

hep-th↗
arXiv1998

TransPlanckian Particles and the Quantization of Time

Trans-Planckian particles are elementary particles accelerated such that their energies surpass the Planck value. There are several reasons to believe that trans-Planckian particles do not represent independent degrees of freedom in Hilbert space, but they are controlled by the cis-Planckian particles. A way to learn more about the mechanisms at work here, is to study black hole horizons, starting from the scattering matrix Ansatz. By compactifying one of the three physical spacial dimensions, the scattering matrix Ansatz can be exploited more efficiently than before. The algebra of operators on a black hole horizon allows for a few distinct representations. It is found that this horizon can be seen as being built up from string bits with unit lengths, each of which being described by a representation of the SO(2,1) Lorentz group. We then demonstrate how the holographic principle works for this case, by constructing the operators corresponding to a field in space-time. The parameter t turns out to be quantized in Planckian units, divided by the period R of the compactified dimension.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1997

Distinguishing causal time from Minkowski time and a model for the black hole quantum eigenstates

A discussion is presented of the principle of black hole com- plementarity. It is argued that this principle could be viewed as a breakdown of general relativity, or alternatively, as the introduction of a time variable with multiple `sheets' or `branches' A consequence of the theory is that the stress-energy tensor as viewed by an outside observer is not simply the Lorentz-transform of the tensor viewed by an ingoing observer. This can serve as a justification of a new model for the black hole atmosphere, recently re-introduced. It is discussed how such a model may lead to a dynamical description of the black hole quantum states.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1997

The self-screening Hawking atmosphere

A model is proposed in which the Hawking particles emitted by a black hole are treated as an envelope of matter that obeys an equation of state, and acts as a source in Einstein's equations. This is a crude but interesting way to accommodate for the back reaction. For large black holes, the solution can be given analytically, if the equation of state is $p=κρ$, with $0<κ<1$. The solution exhibits a singularity at the origin. If we assume $N$ free particle types, we can use a Hartree-Fock procedure to compute the contribution of one such field to the entropy, and the result scales as expected as $1/N$. A slight mismatch is found that could be attributed to quantum corrections to Einstein's equations, but can also be made to disappear when $\k$ is set equal to one. The case $κ=1$ is further analysed.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1997

Quantummechanical behaviour in a deterministic model

A deterministic model with a large number of continuous and discrete degrees of freedom is described, and a statistical treatment is proposed. The model exactly obeys a Schrodinger equation, which has to be interpreted exactly according to the Copenhagen prescriptions. After applying a Hartree-Fock approximation, the model appears to describe genuine quantum particles that could be used as a starting point for field variables in a quantum field theory. In the deterministic model it is essential that information loss occurs, but the corresponding quantum system is unitary and exactly preserves information. (To be published in Foundations of Physics Letters, Vol. 10, No 4.)

quant-ph↗
arXiv1997

Gauge theory and renormalization (Erice, August 1994)

Early developments leading to renormalizable non-Abelian gauge theories for the weak, electromagnetic and strong interactions, are discussed from a personal viewpoint. They drastically improved our view of the role of field theory, symmetry and topology, as well as other branches of mathematics, in the world of elementary particles.

hep-th↗
arXiv1996

Quantization of Space and Time in 3 and in 4 Space-time Dimensions

The fact that in Minkowski space, space and time are both quantized does not have to be introduced as a new postulate in physics, but can actually be derived by combining certain features of General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. This is demonstrated first in a model where particles behave as point defects in 2 space dimensions and 1 time, and then in the real world having 3+1 dimensions. The mechanisms in these two cases are quite different, but the outcomes are similar: space and time form a (non-cummutative) lattice. These notes are short since most of the material discussed in these lectures is based on two earlier papers by the same author (gr-qc/9601014 and gr-qc/9607022), but the exposition given in the end is new.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1996

The scattering matrix approach for the quantum black hole, an overview

If one assumes the validity of conventional quantum field theory in the vicinity of the horizon of a black hole, one does not find a quantum mechanical description of the entire black hole that even remotely resembles that of conventional forms of matter; in contrast with matter made out of ordinary particles one finds that, even if embedded in a finite volume, a black hole would be predicted to have a strictly continuous spectrum. Dissatisfied with such a result, which indeed hinges on assumptions concerning the horizon that may well be wrong, various investigators have now tried to formulate alternative approaches to the problem of ``quantizing" the black hole. We here review the approach based on the assumption of quantum mechanical purity and unitarity as a starting point, as has been advocated by the present author for some time, concentrating on the physics of the states that should live on a black hole horizon. The approach is shown to be powerful in not only producing promising models for the quantum black hole, but also new insights concerning the dynamics of physical degrees of freedom in ordinary flat space-time.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1996

Quantization of Point Particles in 2+1 Dimensional Gravity and Space-Time Discreteness

By investigating the canonical commutation rules for gravitating quantized particles in a 2+1 dimensional world it is found that these particles live on a space-time lattice. The space-time lattice points can be characterized by three integers. Various representations are possible, the details depending on the topology chosen for energy-momentum space. We find that an $S_2\times S_1$ topology yields a physically most interesting lattice within which first quantization of Dirac particles is possible. An $S_3$ topology also gives a lattice, but does not allow first quantized particles.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1995

Quantum information and information loss in General Relativity

When it comes to performing thought experiments with black holes, Einstein-Bohr like discussions have to be re-opened. For instance one can ask what happens to the quantum state of a black hole when the wave function of a single ingoing particle is replaced by an other one that is orthogonal to the first, while keeping the total energy and momentum unaffected. Observers at $t\rightarrow\infty$ will not notice any difference, or so it seems in certain calculational schemes. If one argues that this cannot be correct for the complete theory because a black hole should behave in accordance with conventional quantum mechanics, implying a unitary evolution, one is forced to believe that local quantum field theory near the black hole horizon is very different from what had hitherto been accepted. This would give us very valuable information concerning physics in the Planck length region, notably a mathematical structure very close to that of super string theory, but it does lead to conceptual difficulties. An approach that is somewhat related to this is to suspect a breakdown of General Relativity for quantum mechanical systems. It is to some extent unavoidable that Hilbert space is not invariant under general coordinate transformations because such transformations add and remove some states. Finally the cosmological constant problem also suggests that flat space-time has some special significance in a quantum theory. We suggest that a new causality principle could lead to further clues on how to handle this problem.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1994

Lattice Regularization of Gauge Theories Without Loss of Chiral Symmetry

A lattice regularization procedure for gauge theories is proposed in which fermions are given a special treatment such that all chiral flavor symmetries that are free of Adler-Bell-Jackiw anomalies are kept intact. There is no doubling of fermionic degrees of freedom. A price paid for this feature is that the number of fermionic degrees of freedom per unit cell is still infinite, although finiteness of the complete functional integrals can be proven (details are outlined in an Appendix). Therefore, although perhaps of limited usefulness for numerical simulations, our scheme can be applied for studying aspects such as analytic convergence questions, spontaneous symmetry breakdown and baryon number violation in non-Abelian gauge theories.

hep-th↗
arXiv1994

Horizon Operator Approach to Black Hole Quantization

The $S$-matrix Ansatz for the construction of a quantum theory of black holes is further exploited. We first note that treating the metric tensor $g_{\m\n}$ as an operator rather than a background allows us to use a setting where information is not lost. But then we also observe that the 'trans-Planckian' particles (particles with kinetic energies beyond the Planck energy) need to be addressed. It is now postulated that they can be transformed into 'cis-Planckian particles' (having energies less that the Planck energy). This requires the existence of a delicate algebra of operators defined at a black hole horizon. Operators describing ingoing particles are mapped onto operators describing outgoing ones, preserving their commutator algebra. At short distance, the transverse gravitational back reaction dictates a discrete lattice of data points, and at large distance the algebra must reproduce known interactions of the Standard Model of elementary particles. It is suggested that further elaboration of these ideas requiring complete agreement with general relativity and unitarity should lead to severe restrictions concerning the inter-particle interactions.

gr-qc↗
arXiv1993

Black Hole Evaporation without Information Loss

An approach to black hole quantization is proposed wherein it is assumed that quantum coherence is preserved. A consequence of this is that the Penrose diagram describing gravitational collapse will show the same topological structure as flat Minkowski space. After giving our motivations for such a quantization procedure we formulate the background field approximation, in which particles are divided into "hard" particles and "soft" particles. The background space-time metric depends both on the in-states and on the out-states. We present some model calculations and extensive discussions. In particular, we show, in the context of a toy model, that the $S$-matrix describing soft particles in the hard particle background of a collapsing star is unitary, nevertheless, the spectrum of particles is shown to be approximately thermal. We also conclude that there is an important topological constraint on functional integrals.

gr-qc↗