arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Nick E. Mavromatos.
I review briefly various models and ways of Quantum-Gravity induced CPT violation, and discuss in some detail their phenomenology, in particular precision CPT tests in neutral mesons, and hydrogen/antihydrogen spectroscopy. As I shall argue, severe constraints can be placed in CPT violating parameters, with sensitivities that can safely exclude models with effects suppressed by a single power of Planck mass.
I review some aspects of non-critical strings in connection with Lorentz-Invariance violating approaches to quantum gravity. I also argue how non-critical strings may provide a unifying framework where string Cosmology and quantum gravity may be tackled together.
Starting from a microscopic t-J like model and a SU(2) spin-charge separation ansatz, a relativistic continuum gauge lagrangian is obtained in the vicinity of a nodal point of the Fermi surface. The excitations in the pseudogap phase are described by topological excitations in the dual model which has a Z_2 global symmetry due to the effect of instantons. Confinement of spinon and holons emerge from this picture. The adjoint and fundamental strings are associated with stripes. As the spin gap decreases a local Z_2 symmetry emerges.
In the context of a toy model we discuss the phenomenon of colliding five-branes, with two of the extra space dimensions compactified on tori. In one of the branes (hidden world) the torus is magnetised. Assuming opposite-tension branes, we argue that the collision results eventually in a (time-dependent) cosmological vacuum energy, whose value today is tiny, lying comfortably within the standard bounds by setting the breaking of the four-dimensional supersymmetry at a TeV scale. The small value of the vacuum energy as compared with the supersymmetry-breaking scale is attributed to transient phenomena with relaxation times of order of the Age of the Universe. An interesting feature of the approach is the absence of a cosmic horizon, thereby allowing for a proper definition of an S-matrix.As a result of the string non-criticality induced at the collision,our model does not provide an alternative to inflation, given that arguments can be given supporting the occurence of an inflationary phase early after the collision. The physics before the collision is not relevant to our arguments on the cosmological constant hierarchy, which are valid for asymptotically long times after it.
In this article we extend previous work by the authors, and elaborate further on the structure of the general solution to the graviton and dilaton equations of motion in brane world scenaria, in the context of five-dimensional effective actions with O(α')$ higher-curvature corrections, compatible with bulk string-amplitude calculations. We consider (multi)brane scenaria, dividing the bulk space into regions, in which one matches two classes of general solutions, a linear Randall-Sundrum solution and a (logarithmic) dilatonic domain wall (bulk naked singularity).We pay particular attention to examining the possibility of resolving the mass hierarchy problem together with the vanishing of the vacuum energy on the observable world, which is taken to be a positive tension brane. The appearance of naked dilatonic domain walls provides a dynamical restriction of the bulk space time. Of particular interest is a dilatonic-wall solution, which after appropriate coordinate transformation, results in a linear dilaton conformal field theory. The latter may provide a holographic resolution of the naked singularity problem. All the string-inspired models involved have the generic feature that the brane tensions are proportional to the string coupling $g_s$; it remains a challenge for string theory, therefore, to show whether microscopic models respecting this feature can be constructed.
Starting from a N=1 scalar supermultiplet in 2+1 dimensions, we demonstrate explicitly the appearance of induced N=1 vector and scalar supermultiplets of composite operators made out of the fundamental supersymmetric constituents. We discuss an extension to a N=2 superalgebra with central extension, due to the existence of topological currents in 2+1 dimensions. As a specific model we consider a supersymmetric $CP^1$ $σ$-model as the constituent theory, and discuss the relevance of these results for an effective description of the infrared dynamics of planar high-temperature superconducting condensed matter models with quasiparticle excitations near nodal points of their Fermi surface.
`Old' String Theory is a theory of one-dimensional extended objects, whose vibrations correspond to excitations of various target-space field modes including gravity. In these lectures I will give an introduction to low-energy Effective Target-Space Actions derived from conformal invariance conditions of the underlying sigma models in string theory, discuss cosmology, emphasizing the role of the dilaton field in inducing inflationary scenaria and in general expanding string universes. Specifically, I shall analyse some exact solutions of string theory with a linear dilaton, and discuss their role in inducing expanding Robertson-Walker Universes. I will mention briefly pre-Big-Bang scenaria of String Cosmology, in which the dilaton plays a crucial role. In view of recent claims on experimental evidence on the existence of cosmic acceleration in the universe today, with a positive non-zero cosmological constant (de Sitter type), I shall also discuss difficulties of incorporating such Universes with eternal acceleration in the context of critical string theory, and present scenaria for a graceful exit from such a phase.
We discuss one-loop radiatively-induced magnetic moment in four-dimensional quantum electrodynamics (QED) with anisotropic coupling, and examine various cases which may be of interest in effective gauge theories of antiferromagnets, whose planar limit coresponds to highly anisotropic QED couplings. We find a different scaling with the magnetic field intensity in case there are extra statistical gauge interactions in the model with spontaneous symmetry breaking. Such a case is encountered in the CP-1 sigma-model sector of effective spin-charge separated gauge theories of antiferromagnetic systems. Our work provides therefore additional ways of possible experimental probing of the gauge nature of such systems.
We construct the consistent supersymmetric extensions of the operators describing the recoil of a D-brane and show that they realize an N=1 logarithmic superconformal algebra. The corresponding supersymmetric vertex operator is related to the action of a twisted superparticle with twist field determined by the angular momentum of the recoiling D-brane and with explicitly broken kappa-symmetry. We show that the superconformal completion removes the logarithmic modular divergences that are present in the bosonic string loop scattering amplitudes. These features are all consequences of the relationship that exists in these models between worldsheet rescaling and the time evolution of the D-brane in target space.
Critical String Theory is by definition an $S$-matrix theory. In this sense, (quantum) gravity situations where a unitary $S$-matrix may not be a well-defined concept, as a consequence of the existence of macroscopic (global) or microscopic (local) gravitational fluctuations with event horizons, present a challenge to string theory. In this article, we take some modest steps in suggesting alternative treatments of such cases via non-critical (Liouville) strings,which do not have a well-defined S matrix, but for which a superscattering \$ matrix is mathematically consistent. After a brief review of the underlying mathematical formalism, we consider a specific stringy model of induced non-criticality, with dynamical formation of horizons, associated with the recoil of a D-particle defect, embedded in our four-dimensional space time, during its scattering with a (macroscopic) number of closed string states. We study in detail the associated spacetime distortion in the neighbourhood of the defect, which has the form of a finite-radius curved `bubble', matched with a Minkowskian space-time in the exterior. As a consequence of the non-criticality of the underlying sigma-model, the space time is unstable, and has non-trivial stochastic properties: thermal properties due to its ``Rindler accelerating nature'', and entropy growth for an asymptotic observer, associated with information being carried away by the `recoil' degrees of freedom. We also discuss phenomenological (and cosmological) constraints on the model.
We demonstrate that an impulse action (`recoil') on a D-particle embedded in a (four-dimensional) cosmological Robertson-Walker (RW) spacetime is described, in a $σ$-model framework, by a suitably extended higher-order logarithmic world-sheet algebra of relevant deformations. We study in some detail the algebra of the appropriate two-point correlators, and give a careful discussion as to how one can approach the world-sheet renormalization group infrared fixed point, in the neighborhood of which the logarithmic algebra is valid. It is found that, if the initial RW spacetime does not have cosmological horizons, then there is no problem in approaching the fixed point. However, in the presence of horizons, there are world-sheet divergences which imply the need for Liouville dressing in order to approach the fixed point in the correct way. A detailed analysis on the subtle subtraction of these divergences in the latter case is given. In both cases, at the fixed point, the recoil-induced spacetime is nothing other than a coordinate transformation of the initial spacetime into the rest frame of the recoiling D-particle. However, in the horizon case, if one identifies the Liouville mode with the target time, which expresses physically the back reaction of the recoiling D-particle onto the spacetime structure, it is found that the induced spacetime distortion results in the removal of the initial cosmological horizon and the eventual stopping of the acceleration of the Universe. In this latter sense, our model may be thought of as a conformal field theory description of a (toy) Universe characterized by a sort of `phase transition' at the moment of impulse, implying a time-varying speed of light.
In a previous study we showed that D0-branes (particles) can operate as sources of very-high-energy radiation, as a result of an unstable spacetime distortion that follows a D0-particle/closed string state scattering. The effect can happen only if the energy of the incident particle/closed string state exceeds a certain threshold, which is of order of the subsequently radiated energy. In this letter we speculate on the possibility of detection of the D-particles due to this phenomenon. The energies of the emitted radiation range in a narrow window of size less than one order of magnitude. Observation-wise, this radiation will appear as an excess of photons in a narrow band in the spectrum of high energy cosmic rays. From their energy we can then read off the value of the product of the string mass scale times the string coupling. We speculate on the possibility that high energy neutrinos from GRB's play the rôle of the necessary high energy flux that triggers the effect, by striking D-particles lying inside the mean free path of the photons as measured from Earth. The possibilty of this effect operating as a mechanism of GZK cutoff violation is also pointed out.
We study a four-dimensional spacetime induced by the recoil of a D(irichlet)-particle, embeded in it, due to scattering by a moving string. The induced spacetime has curvature only up to a radius that depends on the energy of the incident string. Outside that region (`bubble') the spacetime is matched with the Minkowski spacetime. The interior of the bubble is consistent with the effective field theory obtained from strings, with non-trivial tachyon-like and antisymmetric tensor fields (in four dimensions the latter gives rise to an axion pseudoscalar field). The tachyonic mode, however, does not represent the standard flat-spacetime string tachyon, but merely expresses the instability of the distorted spacetime. Due to the non-trivial matter content of the interior of the bubble, there is entropy production, which expresses the fact that information is carried away by the recoil degrees of freedom. We also demonstrate that a particle can be captured by the bubble, depending on the particle's impact parameter. This will result in information loss for an external asymptotic observer, corresponding to production of entropy propotional to the area of the bubble. For the validity of our approach it is essential that the string length is a few orders of magnitude larger than the Planck length, which is a typical situation encountered in many D-brane-world models. A very interesting feature of our model is the emission of high-energy photons from the unstable bubble, which might be related to the observed apparent ``violations'' of the GZK cutoff.
I discuss a specific model of space-time foam, inspired by the modern non-perturbative approach to string theory (D-branes). The model views our world as a three brane, intersecting with D-particles that represent stringy quantum gravity effects, which can be real or virtual. In this picture, matter is represented generically by (closed or open) strings on the D3 brane propagating in such a background. Scattering of the (matter) strings off the D-particles causes recoil of the latter, which in turn results in a distortion of the surrounding space-time fluid and the formation of (microscopic, i.e. Planckian size) horizons around the defects. As a mean-field result, the dispersion relation of the various particle excitations is modified, leading to non-trivial optical properties of the space time, for instance a non-trivial refractive index for the case of photons or other massless probes. Such models make falsifiable predictions, that may be tested experimentally in the foreseeable future. I describe a few such tests, ranging from observations of light from distant gamma-ray-bursters and ultra high energy cosmic rays, to tests using gravity-wave interferometric devices and terrestrial particle physics experients involving, for instance, neutral kaons.
We consider the O(a') string effective action, with Gauss-Bonnet curvature-squared and fourth-order dilaton-derivative terms, which is derived by a matching procedure with string amplitudes in five space-time dimensions. We show that a non-factorizable metric of the Randall-Sundrum (RS) type, with four-dimensional conformal factor Exp(-2 k|z|), can be a solution of the pertinent equations of motion. The parameter k is found proportional to the string coupling g_s and thus the solution appears to be non-perturbative. It is crucial that the Gauss-Bonnet combination has the right (positive in our conventions) sign, relative to the Einstein term, which is the case necessitated by compatibility with string (tree) amplitude computations. We study the general solution for the dilaton and metric functions, and thus construct the appropriate phase-space diagram in the solution space. In the case of an anti-de-Sitter bulk, we demonstrate that there exists a continuous interpolation between (part of) the RS solution at z=infinity and an (integrable) naked singularity at z=0. This implies the dynamical formation of domain walls (separated by an infinite distance), thus restricting the physical bulk space time to the positive z axis. Some brief comments on the possibility of fine-tuning the four-dimensional cosmological constant to zero are also presented.
Using a SU(2)x U(1) gauge theory for a t-J model around a node of the Fermi surface, we discuss patterns of dynamical symmetry breaking, which may lead to a pseudogap phase and to the appearance of narrow one-dimensional spatial structures, induced by the presence of holes. A possible connection with stripe phases is briefly discussed by passing to an appropriate dual theory. We discuss confinement properties of spinons and holons and derive the spectrum of the (gapful) physical excitations which are composites of holons corresponding to `mesons', and composites of spinons corresponding to `baryons'.
We discuss the properties of matter in a D-dimensional anti-de-Sitter-type space time induced dynamically by the recoil of a very heavy D(irichlet)-particle defect embedded in it. The particular form of the recoil geometry, which from a world-sheet view point follows from logarithmic conformal field theory deformations of the pertinent sigma-models, results in the presence of both infrared and ultraviolet (spatial) cut-offs. These are crucial in ensuring the presence of mass gaps in scalar matter propagating in the D-particle recoil space time. The analogy of this problem with the Liouville-string approach to QCD, suggested earlier by John Ellis and one of the present authors, prompts us to identify the resulting scalar masses with those obtained in the supergravity approach based on the Maldacena's conjecture, but without the imposition of any supersymmetry in our case. Within reasonable numerical uncertainties, we observe that agreement is obtained between the two approaches for a particular value of the ratio of the two cut-offs of the recoil geometry. Notably, our approach does not suffer from the ambiguities of the supergravity approach as regards the validity of the comparison of the glueball masses computed there with those obtained in the continuum limit of lattice gauge theories.
We formulate an effective Schroedinger wave equation describing the quantum dynamics of a system of D0-branes by applying the Wilson renormalization group equation to the worldsheet partition function of a deformed sigma-model describing the system, which includes the quantum recoil due to the exchange of string states between the individual D-particles. We arrive at an effective Fokker-Planck equation for the probability density with diffusion coefficient determined by the total kinetic energy of the recoiling system. We use Galilean invariance of the system to show that there are three possible solutions of the associated non-linear Schroedinger equation depending on the strength of the open string interactions among the D-particles. When the open string energies are small compared to the total kinetic energy of the system, the solutions are governed by freely-propagating solitary waves. When the string coupling constant reaches a dynamically determined critical value, the system is described by minimal uncertainty wavepackets which describe the smearing of the D-particle coordinates due to the distortion of the surrounding spacetime from the string interactions. For strong string interactions, bound state solutions exist with effective mass determined by an energy-dependent shift of the static BPS mass of the D0-branes.