arXiv subjects

Nicola Maggiore

Publications and source records attributed to Nicola Maggiore.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Constraints on interacting dynamical dark energy and a new test for $Λ$CDM

We consider a generic description of interacting dynamical Dark Energy, characterized by an equation of state with a time dependent coefficient $w(t)$, and which may interact with both radiation and matter. Without referring to any particular cosmological model, we find a differential equation which must be satisfied by $w(t)$ and involving the function $Q(t)$ which describes the interaction between Dark Energy and the other cosmological fluids. The relation we find represents a constraint for various models of interacting dynamical Dark Energy. In addition, an observable is proposed, depending on kinematic variables and on density parameters, which may serve as a new test for $Λ$CDM.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2019

Topologically protected duality on the boundary of Maxwell-BF theory

The Maxwell-BF theory with a single-sided planar boundary is considered in Euclidean four dimensional spacetime. The presence of a boundary breaks the Ward identities which describe the gauge symmetries of the theory, and, using standard methods of quantum field theory, the most general boundary conditions and a nontrivial current algebra on the boundary are derived. The electromagnetic structure which characterizes the boundary is used to identify the three dimensional degrees of freedom, which turn out to be formed by a scalar field and a vector field, related by a duality relation. The induced three dimensional theory shows a strong-weak coupling duality which separates different regimes described by different covariant actions. The role of the Maxwell term in the bulk action is discussed, together with the relevance of the topological nature of the bulk action for the boundary physics.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Conserved chiral currents on the boundary of 3D Maxwell theory

In this paper the 3D Maxwell theory with single-sided planar boundary is studied. As a consequence of the existence, on the boundary, of two Ward identities, we find two chiral conserved edge currents satisfying a Kaç-Moody algebra with central charge equal to the inverse of the Maxwell coupling constant. We show that the boundary degrees of freedom are two 2D scalar chiral bosons whose chiralities depend on the parameters of the bulk Maxwell theory. In particular, the edge chiral bosons may have opposite chiralities, in close analogy with the "spinon" and "holon" currents characterizing the 3D topological insulators.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Holographic reduction of Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory

The 3D Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory with planar, single-edged, boundary is considered. It is shown that its holographic reduction on a flat euclidean 2D spacetime is a scalar field theory describing a conserved chiral current, which corresponds to the electric continuity equation. Differently from the theory with planar, double-edged boundary, in this holographic bulk-boundary approach physical quantities like the chiral velocity of the edge excitations depend also on the non-topological Maxwell term.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Analysis of the angular dependence of time delay in gravitational lensing

We consider an alternative formula for time delay in gravitational lensing. Imposing a smoothness condition on the gravitationally deformed paths followed by the photons from the source to the observer, we show that our formula displays the same degrees of freedom as the standard one. In addition to this, it is shown that the standard expression for time delay is recovered when small angles are involved. These two features strongly support the claim that the formula for time delay studied in this paper is the generalization to the arbitrary angles of the standard one, which is valid at small angles. This could therefore result in a useful tool in Astrophysics and Cosmology which may be applied to investigate the discrepancy between the various estimates of the Hubble constant. As an aside, two interesting consequences of our proposal for time delay are discussed: the existence of a constraint on the gravitational potential generated by the lens and a formula for the mass of the lens in the case of central potential.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

From Chern-Simons to Tomonaga-Luttinger

A single-sided boundary is introduced in the three-dimensional Chern-Simons model. It is shown that only one boundary condition for the gauge fields is possible, which plays the twofold role of chirality condition and bosonization rule for the two-dimensional Weyl fermion describing the degrees of freedom of the edge states of the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect. It is derived the symmetry on the boundary which determines the effective two dimensional action, whose equation of motion coincides with the continuity equation of the Tomonaga-Luttinger theory. The role of Lorentz symmetry and of discrete symmetries on the boundary is also discussed.

hep-th↗

arXiv2017

Towards a new proposal for the time delay in gravitational lensing

One application of the Cosmological Gravitational Lensing in General Relativity is the measurement of the Hubble constant H_0 using the time delay Delta t between multiple images of lensed quasars. This method has already been applied, obtaining a value of H_0 compatible with that obtained from the SNe 1A, but non compatible with that obtained studying the anisotropies of the CMB. This difference could be a statistical fluctuation or an indication of new physics beyond the Standard Model of Cosmology, so it desirable to improve the precision of the measurements. At the current technological capabilities it is possible to obtain H_0 to a percent level uncertainty, so a more accurate theoretical model could be necessary in order to increase the precision about the determination of H_0. The actual formula which relates Delta t with H_0 is approximated; in this paper we expose a proposal to go beyond the previous analysis and, within the context of a new model, we obtain a more precise formula than that present in the Literature.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

Massive gravity and Fierz-Pauli theory

Linearized gravity is considered as an ordinary gauge field theory. This implies the need for gauge fixing in order to have well defined propagators. Only after having achieved this, the most general mass term is added. The aim of this paper is to study of the degrees of freedom of the gauge fixed theory of linearized gravity with mass term. The main result is that, even outside the usual Fierz-Pauli constraint on the mass term, it is possible to choose a gauge fixing belonging to the Landau class, which leads to a massive theory of gravity with the five degrees of freedom of a spin two massive particle.

hep-th↗

arXiv2017

Massive deformations of rank-2 symmetric tensor theory (a.k.a. BRS characterization of Fierz-Pauli massive gravity)

In this paper we consider the issue of massive gravity from a pure field theoretical point of view, as the massive deformation of the gauge theory for a symmetric rank-2 tensor field. We look for the most general massive theory with well defined propagators, imposing the absence of unphysical poles (ghosts). We find several possibilities, depending on the choice of the gauge fixing term. {Amongst these, two solutions with good massless limit are found.} The request of the absence of ghosts, alone, does not isolate the Fierz-Pauli case: several examples of massive theories, which may include or not the Fierz-Pauli mass term, are given. On the other hand, the Fierz-Pauli theory can be uniquely identified by means of a symmetry: it turns out the the Fierz-Pauli massive gravity is the only element of the cohomology of a BRS operator.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Analytic DC thermo-electric conductivities in holography with massive gravitons

We provide an analytical derivation of the thermo-electric transport coefficients of the simplest momentum-dissipating model in gauge/gravity where the lack of momentum conservation is realized by means of explicit graviton mass in the bulk. We rely on the procedure recently described by Donos and Gauntlett in the context of Q-lattices and holographic models where momentum dissipation is realized through non-trivial scalars. The analytical approach confirms the results found previously by means of numerical computations.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

On the introduction of a boundary in topological field theories

We study the consequences of the presence of a boundary in topological field theories in various dimensions. We characterize, univocally and on very general grounds, the field content and the symmetries of the actions which live on the boundary. We then show that these actions are covariant, despite appearances. We show also that physically relevant theories like the 2D Luttinger liquid model, or the 4D Maxwell theory, can be seen as boundary reductions of higher dimensional topological field theories, which do not display local observables.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Thermo-electric transport in gauge/gravity models with momentum dissipation

We present a systematic definition and analysis of the thermo-electric linear response in gauge/gravity systems focusing especially on models with massive gravity in the bulk and therefore momentum dissipation in the dual field theory. A precise treatment of finite counter-terms proves to be essential to yield a consistent physical picture whose hydrodynamic and beyond-hydrodynamics behaviors noticeably match with field theoretical expectations. The model furnishes a possible gauge/gravity description of the crossover from the quantum-critical to the disorder-dominated Fermi-liquid behaviors, as expected in graphene.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Holography in flat spacetime: 4D theories and electromagnetic duality on the border

We consider a free topological model in 5D euclidean flat spacetime, built from two rank-2 tensor fields. Despite the fact that the bulk of the model does not have any particular physical interpretation, on its 4D planar edge nontrivial gauge field theories are recovered, whose features are entirely determined by the gauge and discrete symmetries of the bulk. In particular no 4D dynamics can be obtained without imposing a Time Reversal invariance in the bulk. Remarkably, one of the two possible edge models selected by the Time Reversal symmetries displays a true electromagnetic duality, which relates strong and weak coupling regimes. Moreover this same model, when considered on-shell, coincides with the Maxwell theory, which therefore can be thought of as a 4D boundary theory of a seemingly harmless 5D topological model.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Coexistence of two vector order parameters: a holographic model for ferromagnetic superconductivity

We study a generalization of the standard holographic p-wave superconductor featuring two interacting vector order parameters. Basing our argument on the symmetry and linear response properties of the model, we propose it as a holographic effective theory describing a strongly coupled ferromagnetic superconductor. We show that the two order parameters undergo concomitant condensations as a manifestation of an intrinsically interlaced electric/magnetic dynamics. Such intertwined dynamics is confirmed by the study of the transport properties. We characterize thoroughly the equilibrium and the linear response (i.e. optical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility) of the model at hand by means of a probe approximation analysis. Some insight about the effects of backreaction in the normal phase can be gained by analogy with the s-wave unbalanced holographic superconductor.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

3+1D Massless Weyl spinors from bosonic scalar-tensor duality

We consider the fermionization of a bosonic free theory characterized by the 3+1D scalar - tensor duality. This duality can be interpreted as the dimensional reduction, via a planar boundary, of the 4+1D topological BF theory. In this model, adopting the Sommerfield tomographic representation of quantized bosonic fields, we explicitly build a fermionic operator and its associated Klein factor such that it satisfies the correct anticommutation relations. Interestingly, we demonstrate that this operator satisfies the massless Dirac equation and that it can be identified with a 3+1D Weyl spinor. Finally, as an explicit example, we write the integrated charge density in terms of the tomographic transformed bosonic degrees of freedom.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

Duality and Dimensional Reduction of 5D BF Theory

A planar boundary introduced à la Symanzik in the 5D topological BF theory, with the only requirement of locality and power counting, allows to uniquely determine a gauge invariant, non topological 4D Lagrangian. The boundary condition on the bulk fields is interpreted as a duality relation for the boundary fields, in analogy with the fermionization duality which holds in the 3D case. This suggests that the 4D degrees of freedom might be fermionic, although starting from a bosonic bulk theory. The method we propose to dimensionally reduce a Quantum Field Theory and to identify the resulting degrees of freedom can be applied to a generic spacetime dimension.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

3D Dynamics of 4D Topological BF Theory With Boundary

We consider the four dimensional abelian topological BF theory with a planar boundary introduced following the Symanzik's method. We find the most general boundary conditions compatible with the fields equations broken by the boundary. The residual gauge invariance is described by means of two Ward identities which generate an algebra of conserved currents. We interpret this algebra as canonical commutation relations of fields, which we use to construct a three dimensional Lagrangian. As a remarkable by-product, the (unique) boundary condition which we found, can be read as a duality relation between 3D dynamical variables.

hep-th↗

arXiv2011

Let's Twist Again: N=2 Super Yang Mills Theory Coupled To Matter

We give the twisted version of N=2 Super Yang Mills theory coupled to matter, including quantum fields, supersymmetry transformations, action and algebraic structure. We show that the whole action, coupled to matter, can be written as the variation of a nilpotent operator, modulo field equations. An extended Slavnov-Taylor identity, collecting gauge symmetry and supersymmetry, is written, which allows to define the web of algebraic constraints, in view of the algebraic renormalization and of the extension of the non-renormalization theorems holding for N=2 SYM theory without matter.

hep-th↗