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Jan Smit

Publications and source records attributed to Jan Smit.

51 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Curvature and scaling in 4D dynamical triangulation

We study the average number of simplices $N'(r)$ at geodesic distance $r$ in the dynamical triangulation model of euclidean quantum gravity in four dimensions. We use $N'(r)$ to explore definitions of curvature and of effective global dimension. An effective curvature $R_V$ goes from negative values for low $κ_2$ (the inverse bare Newton constant) to slightly positive values around the transition $κ_2^c$. Far above the transition $R_V$ is hard to compute. This $R_V$ depends on the distance scale involved and we therefore investigate a similar explicitly $r$ dependent `running' curvature $R_{\rm eff}(r)$. This increases from values of order $R_V$ at intermediate distances to very high values at short distances. A global dimension $d$ goes from high values in the region with low $κ_2$ to $d=2$ at high $κ_2$. At the transition $d$ is consistent with 4. We present evidence for scaling of $N'(r)$ and introduce a scaling dimension $d_s$ which turns out to be approximately 4 in both weak and strong coupling regions. We discuss possible implications of the results, the emergence of classical euclidean spacetime and a possible `triviality' of the theory.

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Sphaleron transition rate at high temperature in the 1+1 D abelian Higgs model

New results for the rate are presented using the canonical ensemble in the classical approximation on a spatial lattice. We find that the rate at high temperatures is proportional to $T^2$, and strongly dependent on the lattice spacing $a$. We conclude that a better effective action is needed for the classical approximation.

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Fermion production despite fermion number conservation

Lattice proposals for a nonperturbative formulation of the Standard Model easily lead to a global U(1) symmetry corresponding to exactly conserved fermion number. The absence of an anomaly in the fermion current would then appear to inhibit anomalous processes, such as electroweak baryogenesis in the early universe. One way to circumvent this problem is to formulate the theory such that this U(1) symmetry is explicitly broken. However we argue that in the framework of spectral flow, fermion creation and annihilation still in fact occurs, despite the exact fermion number conservation. The crucial observation is that fermions are excitations relative to the vacuum, at the surface of the Dirac sea. The exact global U(1) symmetry prohibits a state from changing its fermion number during time evolution, however nothing prevents the fermionic ground state from doing so. We illustrate our reasoning with a model in two dimensions which has axial-vector couplings, first using a sharp momentum cutoff, then using the lattice regulator with staggered fermions. The difference in fermion number between the time evolved state and the ground state is indeed in agreement with the anomaly. A study of the vacuum energy shows that the perturbative counterterm needed for restoration of gauge invariance is insufficient in a nonperturbative setting. For reference we also study a closely related model with vector couplings, the Schwinger model, and we examine the emergence of the $θ$-vacuum structure of both theories.

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Volume dependence of the phase boundary in 4D dynamical triangulation

The number of configurations of the dynamical triangulation model of 4D euclidean quantum gravity appears to grow faster than exponentially with the volume, with the implication that the system would end up in the crumpled phase for any fixed $κ_2$ (inverse bare Newton constant). However, a scaling region is not excluded if we allow $κ_2$ to go to infinity together with the volume.

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Fermion Number Conservation Isn't Fermion Conservation

A nonperturbative regularization of the Standard Model may have a superficially undesirable exact global U(1) symmetry corresponding to exact fermion number conservation. We argue that such a formulation can still have the desired physics of fermion nonconservation, i.e. fermion particle creation and annihilation by sphaleron transitions. We illustrate our reasoning in massless axial QED in 1+1 dimensions.

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Euclidean gravity attracts

We look at gravitational attraction in simplicial gravity using the dynamical triangulation method. On the dynamical triangulation configurations we measure quenched propagators of a free massive scalar field. The masses measured from these propagators show that gravitational attraction is present.

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Chiral gauge theories on the lattice and restoration of gauge symmetry

We investigate a proposal for the construction of models with chiral fermions on the lattice using staggered fermions. In this approach the gauge invariance is broken by the coupling of the staggered fermions to the gauge fields. We aim at a dynamical restoration of the gauge invariance in the full quantum model. If the gauge symmetry breaking (SB) is not too severe, this procedure could lead in the continuum limit to the desired gauge invariant chiral gauge theory.

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Non-gauge fixing approach to chiral gauge theories using staggered fermions

We investigate a proposal for the construction of models with chiral fermions on the lattice using staggered fermions. In this approach the gauge invariance is broken by the coupling of the staggered fermions to the gauge fields. Motivated by previous results in the non-gauge invariant massive Yang-Mills theory and certain gauge-fermion models we aim at a dynamical restoration of the gauge invariance in the full quantum model. If the gauge symmetry breaking is not too severe, this procedure could lead in the continuum limit to the desired gauge invariant chiral gauge theory. This scenario is very attractive since it does not rely on gauge fixing. We investigate a simple realization of this approach in a U(1) axial-vector model with dynamical fermions in four dimensions.

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Staggered fermions for chiral gauge theories: Test on a two-dimensional axial-vector model

As a first step towards constructing chiral models on the lattice with staggered fermions, we study a U(1) model with axial-vector coupling to an external gauge field in two dimensions. In our approach gauge invariance is broken, but it is restored in the classical continuum limit. We find that the continuum divergence relations for the vector and axial-vector currents are reproduced, up to contact terms, which we determine analytically. The current divergence relations are also studied numerically for smooth external gauge fields with topological charge zero. We furthermore investigate the effect of fluctuating gauge transformations and of gauge configurations with non-trivial topological charge.

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Can the Couplings in the Fermion-Higgs Sector of the Standard Model be Strong?

We present results for the renormalized quartic self-coupling $λ_R$ and the Yukawa coupling $y_R$ in a lattice fermion-Higgs model with two SU(2)$_L$ doublets, mostly for large values of the bare couplings. One-component (`reduced') staggered fermions are used in a numerical simulation with the Hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm. The fermion and Higgs masses and the renormalized scalar field expectation value are computed on $L^3 24$ lattices, where $L$ ranges from $6$ to $16$. In the scaling region these quantities are found to have a $1/L^2$ dependence, which is used to determine their values in the infinite volume limit. We then calculate the $y_R$ and $λ_R$ from their tree level definitions in terms of the masses and renormalized scalar field expectation value, extrapolated to infinite volume. The scalar field propagators can be described for momenta up to the cut-off by one fermion loop renormalized perturbation theory and the results for $λ_R$ and $y_R$ come out to be close to the tree level unitarity bounds. There are no signs that are in contradiction with the triviality of the Yukawa and quartic self-coupling.

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Chiral fermions in two dimensions?

Quenched studies of a global U(1) symmetric Wilson-Yukawa model in two dimensions show no evidence of a charged fermion in the vortex phase at strong Wilson-Yukawa coupling while there is strong indication of a massive neutral fermion. However, with the U(1)$_L$ gauge field turned on, we use dimensional arguments to suggest that the neutral fermion appears to couple chirally to a massive vector boson state.

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Fermion-Higgs model with strong Wilson-Yukawa coupling in two dimensions

The fermion mass spectrum is studied in the quenched approximation in the strong coupling vortex phase (VXS) of a globally U(1)$_L \otimes$U(1)$_R$ symmetric scalar-fermion model in two dimensions. In this phase fermion doublers can be completely removed from the physical spectrum by means of a strong Wilson-Yukawa coupling. The lowest lying fermion spectrum in this phase consists most probably only of a massive Dirac fermion which has charge zero with respect to the $U(1)_L$ group. We give evidence that the fermion which is charged with respect to that subgroup is absent in the VXS phase. When the $U(1)_L$ gauge fields are turned on, the neutral fermion may couple chirally to the massive vector boson state in the confinement phase. The outcome is very similar to our findings in the strong coupling symmetric phase (PMS) of fermion-Higgs models with Wilson-Yukawa coupling in four dimensions, with the exception that in four dimensions the neutral fermion does most probably decouple from the bosonic bound states.

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Fermion-Higgs model with Reduced Staggered Fermions

We introduce a lattice fermion-Higgs model with one component `reduced staggered' fermions. In order to use the fermion field as efficiently as possible we couple the two {\em staggered} flavors to the O(4) Higgs field leading to a model with only one SU(2) doublet in the scaling region. The number of fermions is doubled in a numerical investigation of the model with the hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm. We present results for the phase diagram, particle masses and renormalized couplings on lattices ranging in size from $6^3 24$ to $16^3 24$.

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