arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Kenneth Halpern.
Inspired by the question of whether one can create a visually informative map in which distances reflect travel-times rather than physical proximity, we examine whether it is possible to construct a meaningful travel time function between points in a region. We argue that such a function should constitute a mathematical metric, and we offer a reasonable candidate using a max-min approach.
In an effort to understand the physical implications of the newly discovered non-trivial directions in scalar field theory, we compute lowest order scattering amplitudes, cross sections, and the 1-loop effective potential. To lowest order, the primary effect of the nonpolynomial nature of the theories is a renormalization of the field. The high energy scaling of the 2-->2 cross section is studied and found to differ significantly from that of pure phi^4 theory. From the 1-loop effective potential we determine that in some cases radiative corrections destroy classical symmetry breaking, resulting in a phase boundary between symmetry broken and unbroken theories. No radiatively induced symmetry breaking is observed.
We search for alternatives to the trivial $ϕ^4$ field theory by including arbitrary powers of the self-coupling. Such theories are renormalizable when the natural cutoff dependencies of the coupling constants are taken into account. We find a continuum of fixed points, which includes the well-known Gaussian fixed point. The fixed point density has a maximum at a location corresponding to a theory with a Higgs mass of approximately 2700 GeV. The Gaussian fixed point is UV stable in some directions in the extended parameter space. Along such directions we obtain non-trivial asymptotically free theories.